Extraordinary Attorney Woo and Autism Representation - Part 1 

As an autistic person, I was weary about the show, but I decide to give it a watch. Honestly, I don’t care that the autistic person wasn’t played by an autistic actor. I can see how that can be problematic, but the actress tried so hard and did an excellent job, so I’m sorry I have to let this one slide, it’s not like she was playing a Sheldon cooper, she actually did research and prepared. Plus, the writing is was really got me. Not only was there representation, but there were many discussions about discrimination, sensory overload, autistic experiences both internal and external. What really solidified my faith in the k drama was the mention of Hans Asperger, because it really showed that the writing team did their research. Young-woo wasn’t looked at as a pet to take care of, she was looked at as an individual that was very capable as well as very human. Autistic representation in media is so rare, and often times isn’t good when it is present, but this show exceeded my expectations and I honestly believe this is some of the best representation I’ve seen over the years of progressiveness, of course we still have a long way to go, but extraordinary attorney woo shows that we are on the right track.

As a person with autism, extraordinary attorney woo makes me feel seen. I feel like it did a great job at addressing larger issues, especially like the episode where they stress that it is a spectrum

Just my opinion, but I had no problem with it. They did a great job of covering the subjects of eye contact, bullying, discrimination, noise sensitivity, autistic visual memory. I myself have trouble negotiating things that move too fast like escalators and revolving doors so I found the door related bits kind of amusing. Some of it was silly and saccharine but it's just a K-drama and it educated a lot of people who wouldn't normally care. I didn't see anything remotely "ableist" and had no problem that an autistic role was played by a non-autistic actor. I think it's too easy to get sucked into a "culture of grievance" because of the opportunities it affords to assert one's identity. I hope the autistic community doesn't go that route. It's seductive but pathetic.

Park Eun-bin actually rejected the role at first because she was worried about this, but I believe she was encouraged by the production team. She put so much effort and research into this role and while I can’t speak for this as a neurotypical person, I made sure that autistic people gave it the thumbs-up before I started watching and I saw some incredible reviews from people with autism about how they felt seen and represented by this show. Also, notice how not a single autistic actor named was Korean? It’s a Korean show for a Korean audience, the culture is very different there. You don’t know how the autistic community in South Korea feels about the casting so it’s not your place to gripe about it.

I'm autistic and loved the show. Park Eunbin did a great job!

You have some good points but first of all: This isn't a Netflix show, the show was made in Korea for a Korean tv channel, Netflix only bought it like many other K-Drama. Also, sure Hollywood or in this case Korea should hire autistic actors for autistic roles but if the acting is great and doesn't make fun of autistic people but helps the viewers realize that they are people too and should be loved and let them live their lives how they want and most importantly these great representations help ending the discrimination against people with ASD, I don't care about who plays who if it's helps autistic people to live a better life.

A good actor should be able to play anyone.That's literally their job.

There's a drama called "Our Blues," in which a person with real Down syndrome appears as an actor

I disagree with this take. We can't expect actors to only portray roles similar to their own lived experience. Thats why it's called acting lol. It'd be silly to say that fictional soldiers can only be portrayed by real soldiers. It'd be silly to say that fictional characters with significant trauma can only he played by actors with significant trauma. It'd be silly to say that fictional NT people can only be portrayed by NT actors. And it's silly to say that fictional autistic people can only be portrayed by autistic actors. No one hired a NT person to be autisitc; they hired an NT person to *portray* and autistic *character*. And as long as it's done respectfully, thats fine with me. 🤷

Wow!!! Right? But can u name ONE korean autistic actor for me pls?🙂🙃 All the names u said are american actors but the thing is this is a korean show. So, of course, wouldn't it be nice to hire an autistic actor to play the role? But don't u think there may not be an autistic actor who is ready to act for the show? Plus this is 'Acting' that's why they have actor and also Park Eunbin, the actress who protray this role is killing it too. So I just don't get what the fuss is all abt? If u want the disability ppl to be represented, then tell me if there are any way to do it without having any problem on the set? Just to have an autistic actor to protray the role, they still have to act anyway. So what's diff between hire a professional actor to take the role and get an autistic actor to ACTUALLY act on this role anyway?🤔🤔

I agree Korea representation is okay so

Like casting a black actor in case the character is black? What a good idea.

I had no problem with the representation of autism in the show. The problems I did have were things I only see in eastern media (not that western media is better, just different problems). One point made was that a client didn't badly beat up a victim, it was her husband who brutalised her. After her witness testimony, we never hear from her, no justice for this victim of domestic abuse or knowledge that her husband was prosecuted. All we know is they're still living together and everyone knows, no one cares apart from the land lady who has made a habit of calling the police but doesn't do so sincerely anymore. Another problem was when they were defending someone accused of raping a mentally disabled girl. They made a fantastic point of when you're disabled, people rarely listen to you and instead your guardian. The girl doesn't want her boyfriend to go to jail because she loves him but he's sentenced anyway and Woo is saddened because how could he go to jail of the girl loves him. However, that's not the point. We never learn if he raped her or not. The testimony went she agreed to have sex with him at first but she later wanted to stop but he pressured her on anyway, using her mental disability to his advantage. Her mother then pressured to tell law enforcement that, even though the girl didn't want to. But we never learn the extent of the lie. If he raped her, he would go on to do it with someone else. They had already established a pattern of him targetting mentally ill women to date. Even the disabled girl knows he's a scumbag. There's a difference between loving someone and agreeing to have sex. Rape is never justicified.

this wasn't a netflix show and you have no idea about korea

#netflix

Only 22% of Austin Koreans are employed, and the average salary for these people is $800 a month. Respectfully, where would they find an Autistic actor for the role? They don’t just appear out of thin air. Those actors don’t exist. And even if they did, they wouldn’t be diagnosed. Autistic people searching for employment in these industries in South Korea are denied, and if they are accepted, Korean companies have a history of denying them health insurance. In the beginning of the show, it highlights that fact that even with all of her qualifications, she just kept getting rejected and rejected. You cannot just look at this show from an American lens. None of those actors you just listed were Korean. All the people responsible for this film were aware of how it would come across to autistic people and families of autistic people, but the goal of the show was more important. The goal of the show was to show that Autistic people can succeed in the work environment. When you look up Autistic Korean Actors, you will not find one. I think that when you look at it from this perspective, it makes sense why they had to end up casting a neurotypical actor to play this autistic Korean woman in this show that takes place in Korea.

Wasn't one of the Buddhists played by a catholic?

A famous actor once said, if you have a autistic then you don't have ACT autistic, ACTING/portraying a person is the most important part of a movie/show...

Specious argument. It's called acting. John Wayne was never a cowboy nor a soldier. If you'd ever been on a film set, you'd see that there is too much going on for an autistic on Woo's level on the spectrum. A non-autistic actor is trained to study and learn from autistics.

EAW lead actor made a great effort on her acting skills compared to other over the top korean actors... Actually every korean drama is like a fantasy world without any real plot or scenario and all the actors are mediocre... Here the acting of lead was some what different from what is used to see from kdramas but the usual format of kdrama still persits in that show where attorneys are taking silly and pathetic cases like robbing an eraser or kids fights😅 like world of kids with minor issues and conflicts that doesn't make sny sense..! You want to watch realistic portrayal of autism with some interesting plot try watching a Malayalam movi called athiran staring fahad and sai pallavi