Love on the Spectrum: The “Entertainment” in Mental Disability
Image Courtesy: TV Insider/Netflix
Reality television is very much “in” right now. The Kardashians, the continuation of the famous, 20-season-long Keeping Up with the Kardashians, has finished its fourth season in two years. Additionally, The Bachelor franchise remains popular after 22 years of run time. Regardless of how scripted reality shows may be, there is an allure to watching real people act like themselves. Reality TV is also less expensive to produce compared to shows that require extensive screenwriting or special effects. This appeals to television studios because they can profit more off of less effort. All you need to make a reality TV show is a group of entertaining people and a novel idea to gather them together.
With any competitive market, there needs to be some sort of innovation or a way to get a leg-up on the competition. To succeed in the reality TV business, studios must come up with an idea that is unique, entertaining, and has a sustainable novelty. This is presumably what Cian O’Clery had in mind when developing the Australian reality TV series Love on the Spectrum. Love on the Spectrum focuses on individuals who have been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, or ASD, trying to find love “in spite” of their disorder. The show reached new heights of popularity when the American adaptation premiered on Netflix in January of 2024.
Image Courtesy: CNN/Netflix
The series has caused some discourse in the autism community as some praise its empathetic portrayal of autistic people and their struggles to relate to other people, while others criticize it for turning disability into a spectacle. As someone who has difficulty relating to other people and has been formally diagnosed as “on the spectrum,” something about the show doesn’t completely sit right with me. Humanizing those with ASD and promoting awareness of what they go through is important, and while watching the show may have that effect on some, I feel that the show uses autism and its “quirks” as entertainment.
Despite what the show may claim, there are plenty of things that the subjects of the show say or do that are presented as humorous, followed by a mischievous musical cue. If the creators of the series didn’t find any kind of entertainment value in the various aspects of the lives of those with ASD, there wouldn’t be a show at all. A show about people finding love has been done before. In order to generate a following, there must be a factor of originality. That factor is autism.
Image Courtesy: CNN/Netflix
I’m hesitant to refer to the subjects of the series “victims” as it would take away their agency in this situation. They are all consenting adults who agreed to give the camera crews special insight into their attempts at finding love. Despite this, it is undeniable that the show is profiting off of using disability in a calculated manner.
Strike Out,
Writer: Matias Civita
Editor: Lindsey Limbach
Tallahassee