alright, let's talk about donnie | analyzing rise of the tmnt's autistic coding
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- Опубліковано 15 чер 2024
- as someone who realized they were autistic as an adult, seeing rise's donnie be treated so well is a bigger comfort than rise's writers may even realize. and clearly, i'm not the only one who feels this way. i'm still learning, but i hope that with characters like donnie, more of us will be able to learn together. 🐢💜
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🐢 / heybuwan
INTRO: 00:00
WHAT IS AUTISM?: 01:38
HOW IS AUTISM PORTRAYED IN MEDIA?: 05:14
DONNIE'S AUTISTIC TRAITS: 09:06
HOW DONNIE'S AUTISM IS PORTRAYED REALLY WELL: 15:34
IS DONNIE A STEREOTYPE? / OUTRO: 20:56 - Фільми й анімація
The coding of donnie in rise feels realistic and complex which is huge. Rather than being “the autistic” or the butt of the joke, he’s a genuine character with autism. An accurate representation of what it COULD look like while being a character with real personality and individualism. It’s refreshing and exciting! Donnie is among my favorites from rise (next to mikey!) so I think he’s written amazingly well
Honestly I was really confused with people going "the autistic" and making it seem bad and creepy when you cannot separate someone from their autism. It isn't a roommate and isn't an allergy, you are literally born with it. That's why people mostly prefer being addressed as autistic, because they are embracing their symptoms and C-PTSD eventually or always have.
I feel like another great example is Abed from Community. In Community it’s more clear Abed has Autism compared to Donie but they use that in the show, not by making fun of stereotypes but making situations only Abed would find himself and his friends in because of his Autism.
@@anglepsycho i might actually be able to help with that, when they talk about being able to 'separate' the characters from their autism, they don't mean that in a literal sense, instead they mean that the characters shouldn't be defined solely by the term 'autistic'. you should be able to describe their personality without using that word at all. for example, i could say that donnie is witty, sarcastic, intelligent, and a bit of a smartass. sure, these elements tie into his autism, but he's just as much of a character without the label. hope this helps!
I agree this is amazing representation! But I always feel bitter sweet when I think about the fact that having good autistic representation is so rare that if we’re so much as portrayed as actual character it deserves a celebration. The fact that we’re jumping for joy at the fact that Donnie has feeling makes my stomach churn, yes I’m absolutely overjoyed that us neurodivergents are getting more, and better, representation, but the fact that there’s so little absolutely sucks
As someone on the spectrum who has seen some of the WORST representations of autism in movies and tv, Donatello was the breath of fresh air that I needed
As an autistic/ADHD person, the way Donnie was portrayed is SO important to me. It's the little things, like how Donnie goes on his phone in almost every scene he isn't directly speaking in, or how his family doesn't alienate him. How he speaks in a monotone/formal way or uses his battle shell to accommodate him. The writers never make him seem odd or any weirder than the rest of his weird family.
He's the type of character I would've loved to have to related to as a kid, and would've made me feel a lot less different than others. Representation like his matters, and it's so unfortunate that rise was discontinued (at the time of writing this).
Tbh I just think the rise writers REALLY know how to write nd characters because they did I really good job with Mikey too
(Sorry for rambling in your comments lmao) I love this video so much, great job!!
this this this! i'm very touch averse like donnie because of sensory problems, and was always criticized for it and basically "trained" out of it like a lot of autistic kids are. seeing his family respect him and his needs is so important and comforting to me, and it makes me happy to know children will get to see themselves where we didn't get to. and yes mikey!! please someone make an adhd analysis for mikey so i can watch it! 😭
THE PHONE THING IS SO RELATABLE. I can NOT function correctly if i do not have my phone with me😭❌
@@heybuwan I got you covered!! This is one of my favorite UA-camr friends to watch when it comes to analysis! ua-cam.com/video/jC5ED0d6wZw/v-deo.html
@@ne0nrayz LITERALLY SAME HERE OMG
@@CreativelyCAN101 Thank you so much, I'll definitely give this a watch! 🙏👀
But we just gotta admit he is the top Donnie out of all of the Donnies ✨🐢
Yeah,in personality,desing and even how he fights.
rise donnie is by far my favorite donnie so far ngl
Rise donnie isn't a god damn simp, woo
@@senacario5942 les gooo
Him and 2012 Donnie are my favs, but rise D wins bcs he's not a simp+acts lk a queer coded mad scientist and I love it
Donnie's relationship with his family is the best, I love that they always punch up and not down with him. They rib him but it never feels mean or malicious and it's just the best. Bar none my fav interaction is the scene where Donnie says Basketball wrong and Raph is just like, "I know what your doing, you PoS. STOP."
Agreed! It's not his autism that's the butt of the joke, it's just that he's their brother and no brother is spared from the sibling ribbing lmao
also the joke isn't "Donnie says basketball wrong" it's "Donnie knows how to say basketball but chooses to say it wrong"
This, exactly! I've had a hard time putting it into words, but I think "punching up" is the perfect way to describe how the other boys razz Donnie. They never tease him about anything that could actually be hurtful or ableist-like the basketball example, they only call him out when he intentionally plays up his "condescending intellectual" schtick.
This is true of the show as a whole, too. Donnie's autism is never treated like a flaw that need to be overcome. The jokes are never about the fact that he has special interests or sensory issues, or that he's low empathy. Even in the Donnie-centric episodes where he has to learn some kind of lesson, the takeaway is more often that he needs to be more of a team player and understand that he can't use tech to solve all his problems.
Something that's really important to me is that in the rare instances where the jokes *are* about those things, it's always Donnie himself who's making them. He zings himself about being low empathy with all his jokes about not feeling emotions, he gives himself the nickname "Vomitello" about his sensory issues, etc.
It's just good writing. You love to see it.
(Edit: I just finished watching the full video, and a lot of these points are already made!!! I guess it just goes to show how good the show's writing is, if all of this is so clearly identifiable and relatable to its audience!)
Whenever I see an analysis of Donnies Autism Coding I get so unbelievably happy because it’s portrayed so well and he’s so unabashedly him. We barely see autism characters treated as “normal” or something other than their “function” in their group or show. With how complex Donnie is and being the (self claimed) funniest brother, we get a character that’s both Autistic and Human (turtle??) when so many autism character are stripped of it. Treated as an asset more so than a member. The use of family dynamics is amazing too and gah great video!!
Agreed. As much as I love characters like Reid from Criminal Minds, it's a shame that they feel more like a human encyclopedia than a person. Donnie is just allowed to exist and it feels so nice to see.
bro yes 100% and also the fact that a turtle man has better rep than *ahem* other shows with humans (shera)
As a Donnie fan something else that I noticed and have take great admiration for is that even though Donnie doesn’t like to initiate touch and has a slight aversion to it he seems to be comfortable when it comes to Mikey.
I’ve rewatched scenes of Donnie and Mikey together and lot of the time they are both physically affectionate towards the other. Like when Donnie let Mikey hold his arm, or in the movie where pulls Mikey to him in a one arm hug when he sees how scared Mikey is after they fail to save Raph. I don’t know if it’s due to just Donnie being a protective older brother but I find it rather wholesome that he’s the most comfortable around the youngest of the family.
I feel like Donnie and Mikey had an especially close relationship, not just because they have a lot of episodes together, but because of how they interact with each other
It kinda reminds me of my sis and I because she (a Donny simp lol) has Autism, and also dislikes physical affection other than from hugging her best friend. However, when I'm really not feeling great emotionally, and no one else seems to understand (I have ADHD), she will hug me despite her aversion of that. It always means a lot to me when she does that because I know she really cares for me. Lol, I don't know if it's been confirmed, but it would be funny if Mikey had ADHD because he's literally so much like me. (drama queen, creative as heck, and side note off-topic- loves pineapples on pizza, draws on self with pen, etc...) I think we can all agree that Donnie and Mikey are the best turtles from rise. (Imagine if all the turtles from rise represented something different idk...) Sry for the rant lol.
You know those sonic forces kind of thing or wait am i even saying the right game sonic forces it's hard to tell there's to with f in the name one is cringe you know those robots in sonic forces they kind of remind me of like the dystopia of the krang I'm calling it that just because i don't know what it's actually called
one thing i really love about rise's depiction of donnie's autistic traits is in how his family/the people around him respond. or rather, the fact that donnie is never shown to be the butt of the joke because of his autistic traits (obviously he is often the butt of the joke, they are brothers after all). More specifically, he is not treated as being in the wrong for his low empathy, or touch aversion. In fact, the characters often go out of their way to accomodate for him, without it being made a big deal of . Raph's "this is not a hug! its a rescue" and mikey knowing that donnie's worst nightmare would be touching the awful goo are just two examples of this, as well as all the brothers happily accepting the affection of donnie's robo-arms, without shaming him for not being able to provide "more".
I find that this kind of reaction is very rare in media, as often the autistic character is shown to "grow" by suddenly being able to be empathetic, and touchy when the NT characters prove that its the "better" way to be. That never happens in rise, donnie's allowed to be touch averse, and show little empathy, and he is never told he's wrong for doing or feeling those things. :) amazing video i cant wait for more !
I also love that when Donnie goes into an info heavy speech, the rest of the family accepts it and shows patience, like they give a casual "this will be awhile".
Having watched the movie earlier today- there was also the scene where Leo reunited with Donnie and Mikey after they're unable to save Raph, and Leo ran straight past Donnie to hug Mikey (and Donnie quietly got out of their way). It was such a simple moment but really powerful nonetheless. Even in the heat of the moment, running high on emotion and stress, Leo remembered and respected Donnie's touch aversion. And this just made it even more heartwarming when Donnie happily went in to hug Leo in the end. Jfc these four are sibling goals.
And going back to the scene where Donnie is forced to touch the goo to control the Krang ship, I REALLY appreciate how Donnie's discomfort wasn't played as a joke, and they framed it in a manner that looked genuinely terrifying. Because it was most likely a legitimate hell for him, especially when he had to leave his soft shell exposed to feel it too.
OK WAIT BUT MYSTICS BEING TIED TO EMOTIONS MAKES. SO MUCH SENSE.
Mikey is the most emotionally inclined, hence why his weapon was the first to activate, Raph's strong feelings of protective-ness and urgency to save Leo during the rooftop scene with Draxum are what allowed him to activate his complete aura ability, Leo struggles with his portals because of his struggle with his self-worth, and all the stuff you mentioned for Donnie makes sense for him. It all makes so much sense now! I love this so, so much.
Not only was Mikey able to activate his mystic powers first but he's also becomes the most powerful with it (spoiler alert in the movie)
This also explains why Mikey is such a powerful mystic in the movie. He’s such a ball of empathy and emotions and loves his family so openly that it results in stronger power (and in the dark timeline he dies trying to help Leo and Casey).
Donnie is the opposite extreme: his emotions are muted and he’s not very open, and struggles with using it as a result.
Personally, I headcanon all of the boys to be autistic/ADHD in different ways
Thank you so much this video was so cathartic. To me Donnie is the perfect representation of autism. I don't feel he's stereotypical. He is definitely my favorite character in rise he is so relatively. To see a character on screen like him just makes me happy.
agreed! i can definitely see how he could be labeled as a stereotype but as i said, i think it goes way deeper than that. we definitely need more characters like him on screen.
Finally, a Donatello that isn't just "does machines" and "smart"
Whenever I see attempts at autistic representation as an autistic person it feels like it’s supposed to teach the allistic people about autism. In that situation that autistic person is a lesson, not a person.
I’ve always struggled with not seeing characters like me being portrayed. They’re always logical and are portrayed with having no emotions. I am a logical and emotional person so I’m glad to see that Donnie isn’t just a stereotype he is so much more than what he contributes to the team.
he has just as much depth as any other character in the team and it’s lovely! I can relate to the fact that he talks very formally and grammatically correct. I’ve been told I speak like a writer, grammatically correct and riddled with expressive words.
That's true, and sometimes seeing "educationally autistic" characters is fine for the sake of bridging the gap, considering the stage of understanding that we're at right now, but it does get exhausting that every autistic character is a Thing. I love Donnie for that reason, it feels like he was meant to be seen by us rather than someone who exists for allistic people.
I had a bit of the same thought on an episode of a show my parents were watching about a year ago.
It was a show that dove into a number of social topics, and one of the episodes was about people with autism, and featured a number of people who all expressed their autism very differently.
And I think thats great.
However, speaking as someone who has lived those experiences their entire life, I feel like the way the show ultimately approached or said a lot of things was kind of shallow, overly simplified or reductive, at least for my tastes. Not so much in a harmful or malicious way, mind you, but more in a "we want this to be accessible and understandable for people who dont know anything about this stuff" kinda way, which I do think is a very valuable thing to have, and was also the idea of the show in general on a variety of other topics as well, so good on them, I do think that is a good thing.
But, again, as someone who lives that experience, thats just not the type of thing I wanna watch myself... And thats fine because it wasnt made for people like me, but I still would like some media that manages to do people like me well in a way I can also enjoy, like TMNT mannaged to do with Donnie.
This turned into a bit of an essay... my apologies...
@@TheSpeep don’t worry about your comment being too long, I found it quite enjoyable to read! And you put in a way that I I couldn’t quite figure out, but it explains how I feel
You know it's good rep when you routinely have to explain it to neurotypical people because they're confused, you know I'm right lol
By far one of my favorite parts about rise is the way donnie's family handles him. They treat him like a complete person while also managing to meet him half-way with things he clearly struggles with (EX: leo complimenting the bikes and clarifying hes not being sarcastic; raph making it vocal that he isn't hugging donnie when saving him). They don't tend to get their feelings hurt from his low empathy bc they know that's just how he is, and that there's no negative intent behind it. They love him exactly as he is, and express no interest in him needing to change.
One of the episodes that was cut actually explored another interest of Donnie’s: gardening. Also, this video is so well-done, thank you for making this
Oh I would've loved that episode! 😭 Please Nick give us S3 so we can have this
I love that you mentioned about people with autism that also have high empathy. I am autistic and have high empathy, which many people don’t understand. I am also extremely extroverted with also makes people confused as well. Even with this, I am still autistic and there is no one way of being autistic.
your analysis of donnie's staff weapon actually made me tear up. I like dance and I like martial arts because it helps me to train the parts of myself that I am not naturally proficient in and helps me to feel more connected to my body and strengthen my personal shortcomings.
This is the exact reason I love those things as well! Feeling in tune with your own body is so rewarding, I don't really know how to explain it. When I used to regularly practice martial arts, the bo was one of my favorites for this reason. I'm so glad that part resonated with you! 💕
This is how I feel with rhythm games! My reflexes have gotten way better since hyperfixating on FNF
@@heybuwan :0!!!
I do martial arts, have been for 8 years, and the bo is such a fun weapon!!
I relate to Donnie in a lot of ways. One of the biggest ways was how he goes about physical affection and touch. It makes him uncomfortable and he often would rather have it avoided unless he’s the one initiating it. I relate to this and my family used to think that I felt “too cool” to hug them or as if I hated them because of this when in reality it just makes me uncomfortable. (sensory issues) My body physically recoils from hugs 😭 I just rather people not show their love for me like that and the way his brothers acknowledge how he doesn’t like to be touched in a way that isn’t demonized made me very happy. Great video, I am a new subscriber 😈
(a few other things he does/has that i relate to: stimming, big vocabulary bc i love my silly words, mispronouncing words for fun [bAs-kAy-bAll] and his love for dance :))
I feel this so hard, and I'm sad that so many people do. I have always been really avoidant of physical touch because of sensory stuff but, like a lot of autistic kids, got "trained" out of it for allistic people's comfort. Being touch averse doesn't mean we don't feel affection or love, and I'm so glad to see Donnie displaying that and his family accepting it. You deserve to be met where you are because you're wonderful as you are.
@@heybuwan thank you, i didn’t realize how much i needed to hear that last bit. :((
I can tell you’re also pretty wonderful 👉👈
I’m glad I found this community because it’s the first time i’ve felt so seen. I MEAN HECK I DIDNT EVEN KNOW WHY I WAS DOING HALF OF THE STUFF I WAS UNTIL I SAW DONNIE DOING IT💀
I actually cried while watching this. My school put me down as autistic from a young age, but when I finally went to get it diagnosed at 18 I was told I didn't qualify. I've been trying to 'fix' my autistic traits ever since. Hearing all my traits called out with examples - as something positive no less - was really vindicating for me. While I'm still unsure if I'm autistic or not, it means the world knowing whatever traits I do have aren't negative. Thank you so much.
Of course! Above all else, please know this: there is nothing wrong with you or your (possible) autism. You are valid and wonderful just the way you are and deserve to be met where you are, and you aren't alone. We're all working towards a better understanding together. Thanks for watching! 🐢💜
Just know that whether you are autistic or not, you are valid
It could be ADHD or something that presents like autisim. Just a suggestion. You could have both.
I am not autistic, but I always try to learn more and more about autism and other disorders so I can understand my neurodivergent friends better and recognize their needs. Representation is really really important and it needs to be made with care and accuracy. Thank you for this video! I really like analysis videos about donnie's autistic representation because while I learn and understand more about autism and autistic people's experiences, I also understand more my favorite character of rottmnt!
A personal thing I love about Donnies autistic coding is how his autistic traits aren't made fun of. Yeah they've been the joke (the feet tappy dance, "Ohmigosh dreams do come true!", ect-) it's only funny given the context that they're put in. It's not "look at this autistic trait, that's funny isn't it?" And it's "these autistic traits are treated in the same way anyone else's character traits would be used and that's the comedy, not the traits themselves"
Leo being cocky bastard is funny, but it's a character trait.
Raphs anger is funny, but it's still a character trait.
Mikeys high empathy is funny, and still a character trait.
Same goes with donnies autism.
And the show has always gone out of his way to treat all those traits SERIOUSLY and not make caricatures of them.
Leo's cockiness is acknowledged as a serious thing he needs to work on, or the fact it's hiding away his deep rooted insecurities and fear of vulnerability.
Raphs anger is acknowledged and justified given the fact he's scared for the safety of his family. A thing he believes he's solely responsible for.
Mikeys high empathy is shown to boost Mikeys emotional intelligence and he shares what he knows with the rest of his family. Him also being outwardly upset has been treated seriously before.
And with Donnie it's no different, his outbursts, genuine happiness and sensory issues have been treated with the seriousness they deserve.
I'm glad the writers didn't shy away from making the autistic character funny WITH his autistic traits. It's such a hard line to walk, considering it borders on "making fun of autism" or "it can't take the autistic traits lightheartedly and it always treats it as this BIG THING", BUT THEY DID SUCH A WONDERFUL JOB WITH UT.
I'm not autistic, but a lot of the people closest to me are, and so seeing the lighthearted yet serious and non malicious take on Donnie is something I actually treasure a lot.
Agreed! Context is important in the comedy of the show, because Donnie's autism isn't the joke. It's the way he refuses to say "basketball" correctly or how he doesn't think his lying is /that/ bad. It's jokes we can find funny because it feels like it was written for us, not for everyone else and we just get to come along for the ride.
I love how the movie treats his touch sensory issue with touching the krang as a difficult obstacle he has to overcome to save the day and that he's not treated as a coward or has a touch love moment to him like "get over your stupid phobia soldier!". Mikey encourages him and knows that this is the hardest trial Donnie has ever had to overcome.
Your intro was such a breath of fresh air- the amount of people I hear spouting shit like "everyone has a little autism" is aggravating. This video is amazing by the way- I learned way more in this video then even what my therapist has told me.
Honestly, as an autistic person? Donnie’s behavior is..super similar to mine. The part of analyzing his behaviors, the choice of weapon (a weapon I myself was trained to use when I was younger), and on top of all of that the ‘nice’ way of discussing the attributes without attacking Donnie or his writing? It..actually made me tear up a little. I guess I felt seen. Thank you for making this video :3
Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed! I relate a lot to this Donnie and wanted to handle him with care. And same! The bo was one of my favorite weapons to train with!
Okay something I don’t see brought up because it’s REALLLLY tiny but very telling is in “Breaking Purple” (which I’m just realizing it a Breaking Bad reference).
There’s a scene where Mikey asks him about emotions he lists “Hot, cold, sleepy, and hungry”
These are feelings yeah, but not in the same way “happy” or “sad” are- being very physical and objective feelings, that are comparatively easier to name and express giving reason for someone with low empathy like Donnie to think of them first.
That's true, I forgot about that scene! Good eye!
You definitely need more subscribers, this is great
Rottmnt has a special place in my heart, my dad once came into the room while i was telling my brothers about this stuff and he didnt really understand, he was like “low empathy just means your a dick with no feelings” and i got pretty ticked off at that, wish some people would actually do research on things and think before they speak
In all Im glad donnie was written this well, its a good that more things are getting out there like alot of lgbtq representations and just some mental disabilities
Even if theyre not 100% conformed, it helps alot of people understand those types of things and topics
agreed!! even if the word isn't said, it doesn't mean that person isn't autistic. characters like donnie are helping us bridge the gap in understanding and i'm so excited to see it.
He doesn't know love is shown in a lot more ways besides kisses/hugs and it shows.
As a High Functioning Autistic person myself, Donnie became my favorite character instantly.
I also have trouble with socializing, I have my own personal stims, and I still have some motor function issues.
But like this show, my family doesn't alienate me because of this. They acknowledge that I have it and still love me for it.
I actually really enjoy it when characters with autistic/ADHD traits are inhuman in some physical way too like being an alien or mutant. It does create a “normal vs not normal” visual metaphor, but it oddly makes it seem more “for us”, like out there somewhere there is a society that finds autistic/ADHD traits entirely normal and acceptable without having to justify it to anyone. And I just enjoy inhuman character designs more, but that’s just me.
This is a fantastic video and was very informative, thank you! The portrayal of Donnie and even Raph in Rise helped me realize and accept a lot about myself, and I’m glad others have found that in this show too!
That's super valid, I actually really like the Angara for this reason too! When I played Mass Effect Andromeda, I was shocked to find how much I liked the idea of their culture and how comforting I found Jaal's honesty to be. And I do love a cool alien. On the other hand though, I can see why this repetitive depiction can be as harmful as it is in good fun.
Donnie in my opinion is the best character in a show I’ve ever watch (I’m being fr). When I first watched the show I didn’t really understand what autism was like and how it shows (symptoms) and for some reason I didn’t realize him as ‘different’ or anything. When I think of Donnie and how he thinks it reminds me of myself and ig it didn’t even phase me that he was autistic.
I’m not autistic (I believe) but I really connect with him and idek why. Maybe his sarcasm or empathy or something but I always feel comforted and safe when watching the show especially when he’s on screen 💜(anyone else? Or is it just me?)
omg same!! he was the one I identified the most, and actually made look more into the topic (autism spectrum), and I noticed I have a lot of the symptoms, I want to talk with my therapist about it but unfortunately I didn't have the time yet.
anyway Donnie it's definitely a great character I hope other shows get inspired to do characters written like him 💜🐢
This is such an incredible video essay. I'm not autistic, but I am neurodivergent, and you perfectly explained all my jumbled feelings on why I resonated so much with the way Rise!Donnie was written. Your point about him feeling like "a character that just so happens to be autistic" instead of "the autistic character" encapsulates it perfectly.
Both queerness and neurodivergence feel so inherent to the show and its characters. The representation may not be explicitly mentioned, but everything from the writing to the art style seems intentional. Maybe it wasn't, but like you said, it's a hell of a coincidence if it's not!
Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed! Representation and coding can be really hard to pinpoint and tackle, but with this show where everything feels very intentional combined with two groups (neurodivergent and queer) that have been essentially trained to look for nuances and subtext for their rep, I find it hard to believe that any of it was done unintentionally.
i love donnie so much and am happy as someone with an autisic brother and friends that there are repersatation like rise donnie. now something about this is I've now come to realize I may too be autistic, I relate to donnie a lot. but the thing is that it could just be my ADHD cause I'm diagnosed with ADHD but then again it could be a misdiagnose or maybe I have both! I've seen many MANY things and they all point to me being autistic. idk if I do have it though, its confusing me! yes i do have times being over stimulated by noise and then keep focusing on it making it worse or when i cant understand something. i would ask my parents to get a diagnoses for me but they said that its just my ADHD
it's different for everyone! i'm no doctor so i can't make a suggestion, but i do hope you're able to learn about that part of yourself!
@@heybuwan thanks, i hope you have a good day/night
I saw the first video essay, loved it, immediately subscribed and turned on notifications, and I'm SO GLAD I DID!!! I watched this with my sibling (We're both on the autistic spectrum) and we both were super happy! Such a great video!
My sibling especially really loved it. They see so much of themselves in Donnie and a huge part of that is because of their Neurodivergence, and to see this character that they connect with so much analyzed through the lens of his autism makes them, really happy!
I personally see more of myself in Mikey, but I'd be lying if I said that the representation Donnie gives is unappreciated.
Also PLEASE make a Mikey video essay, he is my favorite and I relate to him an unhealthy amount! He needs all the love!!!
thank you so much this is so sweet!! 😭it makes me so happy to hear so many people seeing themselves in this donnie. we need so much more rep like this, he's a step in a really good direction. mikey will DEFINITELY be getting an essay cuz i love him, he needs some love too 🐢🧡
As someone who’s going to be evaluated for audhd soon, the Donnie and Mikey solidarity is everything to me. They feel like such good adhd autism rep, and I love their bond. Sidenote, 2012 Donnie and Mikey kinda feel like autism-adhd solidarity as well, though of course less fleshed out. Both versions have been my favorite characters in the franchise.
Great video essay!
I absolutely love Donnie. His representation is amazing, and his family is so understanding. I related to him from the first episode. I'm so glad I came across this video, your analysis is so well done! I wish my family was as understanding as Donnies family.
Thank you! And agreed, we all deserve the acceptance Donnie gets!
I would like to point out Donnie being very relatable on the fact that he has these little quirks that some of us also do have, as someone in the autism spectrum I literally see Donnie as another me sometimes when I watch him. Even his color, purple, even plays a role into his character with purple being a very compassionate color among other meanings. Donnie exhibits personality quirks most commonly found in the spectrum, of course like you said it's not the same for everyone but in some cases it's incredibly similar. Donnie being written this way may very well have been some weird accident like Luz from the owl house, the creators saw this and decided to wing it which... I think happens a lot if I think hard enough on it. When writing a quirky character like this it's often a very good idea to actually pace it out to where it's not overdone and well in this case it is. It works brilliantly
OMG YESSS I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU TO POST AND ALSO AMAZING VIDEO WHOOO!! Honestly Donnie is such an incredible representation for the autistic community, my sister is autistic and I see her in Donnie when it comes to stimulation and stimming. Also I love being surrounded by people with Donnie’s personality they are such talented, funny, creative, interesting and intelligent people THAT ARE ABSOLUTELY BADASSES!!
Also it’s so cool that you find comfort in Donnie’s character we need more representation like him!! I’m sure your all the traits I listed as well!! (You seem really interesting and intelligent- I find people that make and create videos, art and scripts for analysis really smart!)
thank you so much, that's very sweet!! we definitely need more representation like donnie, it makes me so happy to know that characters like him can be visible to children now since i didn't have that growing up. he represents so much more than a funky little purple turtle 🐢💜
one of the BEST Donnie analysis videos I've seen, and I don't say that lightly. Amazing script, editing, and music choice, keep up the good work ^-^
thank you so much! :D
Being autistic myself I can relate to all Donnie's actions can say that it's pretty accurate to how I acted before course my dad still getting used to it but that's okay we then got me officially confirmed about me having autism until last year so yeah I can relate with Donnie here
Idk if I’m autistic or if it’s mainly stemming from how I was raised, and it’s been bothering me for a while cause I don’t wanna be one of those people who are just eager to fit into a particular category. As of now, I’m trying to tell myself that autistic or not, this is who I am and just try to navigate the world as best I can
I don't really like to bring up my place on the spectrum very often, given that I have a multitude of disabilities as it is (ADHD, high-functioning autism, aspberger's, even vertigo). But I have to admit this series got me into TMNT and I immediately resonated with Donnie as I watched the show. It's important to remember that as humans, we all have our stuff. Basically everyone has some form of "disability", wether it be physical, emotional, mental, whatever. Donnie feels like a person BECAUSE he's flawed, but also brilliant and creative in his own individual way. Funny how this is all coming from the haha funny turtle show, but I really gotta hand it to the creators for their writing of the characters in general, but especially Donatello.
I have been diagnosed with ADHD and autism since I was very young. In older years my autism has become more apparent and as I never got any information about either of my diagnosis, but especiallymy autism, this has become a bit of a problem. But this video somehow helped me better understand some things about my autism that I wasn't aware of before. Like the whole thing with not handling change, I've always thought this was just me being, well, me, and while my autism is indeed a part of me, knowing why I have trouble with changes somehow helps. When I first started watching rise, I didn't pay too much attention to Donnie, but after hearing it mentioned about him being autistic, I payed more attention to him and ended up loving him as a character. I relate to some parts of him and I see other things about relating to my best friend who's also autistic. And while we gave autistic traits that overlap, a lot of traits are different for each of us.
Thank you for making this video, it really helped me.
I think analyzing Donnie's character in regards to being "the savant" is so interesting because, like you mentioned in this video, there definitely are SOME parts of Donnie that could make him labeled as "the savant autistic who's autism is 'acceptable' cause he contributes"; what's amazing tho is that Rise manages to tackle that by addressing Donnie's insecurities with serving a purpose or having a "use" on the team. For one, Donnie vs. Witch Town is all about Donnie feeling like his special interest with tech is his only redeeming factor and how he gets over that (his whole monalogue had me in my feels). Secondly, despite his insecurities, his family never ONCE reduces him to "the tech guy" or just what he contributes to the team. This complexity in Donnies character+autism is what makes me love him and Rise so much, and your video really highlighted that. Keep up the great work!
Thank you! I think the whole "contribution-based value" thing is, unfortunately, something that often gets forgotten in autistic characters. At least we got one of them right tho lmao
You were able to articulate so many things that are so hard for me and many other autistic people to put to words, ESPECIALLY with the beginning of the video. And I never actually realized that he tends to like consistently outwardly take more stressful situations worse than the others. I'm really glad you really broke down all of those episodes for an in-depth analysis on his traits and specifically to tie them into how they contribute to his personality because I think that's one thing a lot of allistic people get wrong. They kind of tend to write the symptoms, but not the personality (and the rottmnt writers get that RIGHT they put it into his personality)
This video just did a really amazing job explaining and describing what it is about Donnie that makes him such a good example of an autistic character. He's just like me fr.
AND THAT ENDING BIT. AGH THAT HIT ME IN MY FEELINGS.
Hello! I love your Donnie video too, thank you for watching!! And thank you, I was worried I overanalyzed these episodes so I'm glad the message got through! :'D Personalities with autism can be hard to grasp for people who aren't autistic but it's not impossible. With more characters like Donnie, I think we'll be able to bridge the gap someday. 🐢💜
ooo that ending scene was so good + definitely looking forward to the Mikey analysis when u have time ♥️
thank you!! i definitely want to get around to him, he deserves attention! 🐢🧡
He’s a really well written character and I really want rise back season 3! Personally, Leo’s my favorite but Donnie is a close second!
same! leo is my fav in this version but the one i relate to the most is definitely donnie!
best donnie
.
I love how he isn’t super generalized. Donnie is clearly a unique character with strengths, weaknesses, and preferences. Usually with autistic rep it’ll either be heavily stereotyped or incredibly broad, with only a few traits displayed. The way Donnie is in the show just makes him feel more realistic and not one-dimensional. I absolutely love that, and this point is proved by me, an autistic, being able to relate to some parts of his character but not others. Autism is a spectrum and that is definitely shown in Rise.
Also, love the highlight of him and his weapon. I heard that the turtles' weapons actually have a lot of meaning, but it's so SO true about how interesting it is that he learns to use the bo staff as an extension of himself, but can't do most other sporty things until we see him in Lair Games. Arguably another special interest that doesn't transfer, which I think is great and not just a joke of him being bad at sports because tech and sports don't mix.
Thank you! I love looking into the meaning of their weapons and I definitely believe they have significant symbolism to the characters, but this one in particular feels like it has multiple. I'm glad you liked it!
there’s just so much to rise, it’s really clear that they put so much effort into writing these new turtles. i think they’re really really neat
I love your work! Your knowledge mixed with your perspective has a really satisfying effect
thank you!! i'm glad you enjoyed!
im not diagnosed as autistic or ADHD but donnie's character means a lot to me, i relate to him so much. And seeing the little things that he does that i do makes me feel seen. Not only that seeing him be loved and cared for by his family makes me want to breakdown and sob :')
i absolutely love donnie as a character. i have issues with touch-aversion, and it’s always stood out to me how well his is handled. the little moment where he hesitates before hugging sheldon always comes to mind, and the moment in the movie where raph assures him that he’s rescuing him and it’s not a hug genuinely made me tear up a little the first time i saw it. i still wish this show had been given more of a chance.
Beautifully done! Thank you! The positive talk surrounding Donnie as a good representation of autism is actually what got me into Rise, and has also lifted the stigma and fear I felt toward autism to a degree that I can finally start looking into my own lifelong struggles with the symptoms, so… I’m kind of all about this right now. 😂
Will be watching for that Mikey analysis! 👀
9:05 is where it pans back to Donnie.
Very nice vid! ^v^ I'd also like to add that both I and my best friend firmly headcanon Raph as autistic as well. Given so many little moments and traits he has, he just strongly has that autistic vibe to me. One moment that always sticks out to me is his anger about his "just kidding" quotes getting completely misunderstood in the ep 'The Mutant Menace'. Another bit comes from 'Snow Day' - we see him happy stim as Mikey's explaining the rules of the snowball fight, and then later on he mentions how he gets 'stuck' in a pirate accent after watching that one Jupiter Jim movie which, yeah that's happened to me before, haha. I could also see the "I wasn't sure if they knew what a week was" bit in 'Pizza Pit' as him feeling like he needs to overexplain so that there isn't any miscommunication, which could also be considered an autistic trait.
Similar to Mikey, he can be highly empathetic (becoming incredibly attached to people like Frankenfoot and objects like Laceface the football), and Raph also shows signs of having anxiety ESPECIALLY when things change rapidly - like when he suddenly loses his brothers in 'Man VS Sewer'. He also has his own special interests - specifically wrestling and (possibly) bears, given his teddy collection and love of Ghostbear specifically. And speaking of THAT, we see him get overwhelmed either by his own emotions as well as by noise, as seen in episodes like "Mascot Melee" and "Shell in a Cell". And really, just the way Raph says certain things or phrases also just comes off as autistic to me - like Don, he just has a very particular way of speaking and, idk. Like I said, it's just a really strong inkling that both me (someone who only recently realized was very likely autistic) and my bff (someone who was lucky enough to get a diagnosis as a child) have.
That's really interesting, I know a lot of the fandom headcanons all of the boys as neurodivergent in some way but I never noticed how many traits Raph has! I love that so many of us can look at these characters and see ourselves in some way, especially when it comes to this. It's so comforting and refreshing to see characters that are just allowed to be. Thanks for watching!! 🐢❤
I love Donnie so much, and I love hearing people talk about him so much😭😭💕
Amazing video!!
As someone who is wondering if I'm on the spectrum, the amount I relate to Donnie really hits home for me. The sensory traits, stimming, meltdowns/shutdowns, and range of fixations vs just the one as usually seen in media especially. I also didn't actually realise that high empathy was a trait of autism and thought it was low empathy only so never related in that aspect. I'm a highly empathetic person, to the point of crying out of caring so much, even about little things (I cried at this when it got to the point of Donnie being insecure like heck no my baby), and even if it wasn't the focus of the video, it gave me a lil 'huh...' moment. I don't know if I want to/should get a diagnosis but I just want to thank you for making a video about an amazing character that helped me realise a bit more about myself too 🐢💜
i relate to this a lot! Aside from the low empathy i relate to him a lot, the way his actions are done and presented felt super close to me. I’ve only been diagnosed with adhd but my parents think i have asd.
As a neurodivergent kiddo, I really love seeing things like sensory stuff such as sensitivities and stimming, emotional disregulation and all the other fun brain stuff being portrayed in a fully fleshed out character as a person who deserves respect like anyone else. I'm not the most eloquent person but basically Donnie made me feel happy and seen. Great analysis, I could listen to your commentary all day :D
Thank you! And same, I was (am) very self-conscious of my autistic traits but seeing Donnie and seeing the autistic community love him actually has helped me really come to terms with and love things about myself that I used to be so ashamed of. The power of representation is truly underrated.
Buwan, once again you knocked this out of the fucking park. Amazing lead in, knowledgeable, and entertaining of a video!! Even helped me realize I....do some of those things myself, so haha learning more about my own mind every day 😂
Thank you, truly, for taking the time and care to talk about stuff like this. You're truly a treasure 😭🙏💜💜💜
...also remember to eat. Love you 😘
i would, and i cannot emphasize this enough, die for you. mwah. 💋
Only an hour after I finish your first rotmnt video, you post a Donnie video. Good timing
14:19
- on that note, I like to think that he takes a lot of pride in the fact that the aforementioned extension of himself is a missed-launching selfie-taking high-tech staff that he designed himself. Like having a robot arm without having to go through the motions of LOSING an arm to make room for a robot one, if that makes sense? Also, since I don't trust doctors for the life of me, I find a lot of comfort in this video when going through an in-depth self-diagnosis of my supposed autism. Thank you, and amazing video in general, man ✨✨✨
oh absolutely, that staff is probably one of his pride and joys. and thank you, glad you enjoyed!
I've really enjoyed the videos you have put so far. Like everyone else in the comments, I love Donnie and listening to more videos focused on how to write about autism has helped me understand a bit better the autistic experience and how to be a supportive friend for my autistic friends. I also just really like the way you write your videos, I think they're very nuanced and have lots of potential! Keep up the great work, I look forward to seeing your upcoming works!
thank you so much! i'm glad that you found it helpful!
One thing that upsets me the most is communication. It can naturally become upsetting that I can't explain things, "normally", in this sense, usually my Mom only understands what I'm saying. I often wave my hands around to show what I'm saying when I talk, my words often not sounding English to others is hard. She's taken the the time to understand me even though I'm different. Most of the times I don't understand what people are feeling and lack to help them, or have meltdowns that don't make sense until people actually ask me. Autism is hard handling once you say, "You've got Autism but that doesn't mean there's something wrong with you." It just means some things are harder or easier than others. For example, I'm decent at art, but when I was younger I'd ask why people draw the way they do. You see how that sounds mean- I was just curious because I didn't recognize art differently for everyone. I made a lot of enemies just because I couldn't understand why others would have a different art style. They thought I was saying their art looked bad but that wasn't on my mind at all.
Another amazing video!!! 2 for 2- and if that little hint at a Mikey analysis is anything to go by, 3 for 3 in the future? 👀I totally agree with your assessment of Donnie as a representation of an autistic person, and although I am autistic but do not behave in any way similar to Donnie (I'm much more similar to Mikey and will be an autistic Mikey truther until the day I die) I, like many others, adored how autism was portrayed in Rise through Donnie's character. Just seeing a character who stims in ways that I do that isn't put down or treated as weird for it is so incredible and I'm so happy that the creators and writers put so much care into Donnie's character and how his friends and family didn't treat him any differently for his behaviours.
thank you so much, i hope that i keep making good stuff lol mikey's neurodivergence is definitely something that needs to be discussed more, esp since he was mentioned in the same tweet that confirmed donnie's autism!
Y e s, another video analyzing Donnie~ 💜☺️
As a person with ADHD, I'm still coming to terms with things that I always thought were normal to do (happy dancing, talking with my hands, trying REALLY hard to repress my emotions and expressions of such emotions due to being told it was "weird"), and I'm learning new terms for things that I've done all my life (masking, stimming) and while it IS a bit of an identity crisis, I'm glad I found this show! If I didn't watch that one vid of "Donnie being canonically autistic for 10 minutes", I would've never gotten into the fandom, and I probably would've never seen such an accurate amalgam of how I used to be as a child (sarcastic, blunt, "know-it-all") and how I am today in the one character package that Donnie is. I feel so seen! It's overwhelming in a good way to see him do ANYTHING honestly cuz he's such a relatable and funny character, and I can't help but wish there was more rep like him when I was younger.
It would also explain why I love characters like Spencer Reid and Young Woo- Spencer was relatable too, but Donnie?? He's on another level, and while hyperfixating on ROTTMNT has given me so much serotonin, I can't help but think I need to get a proper diagnosis of whether I have just ADHD or Autism to some extent (I hear the two have overlapping symptoms, so I just wanna be sure, ya know?). You've made such a beautiful video! 💜💖🌈☺️🌈☺️
Long af ramble, because I'm getting emotional.
I'm happy to see how TMNT is reaching out to people, in a way I didn't realize when I was younger. In the older TMNT (2003, 2007, 2012) I often felt a connection to Leo and at times Mikey. It hasn't been until now, going through therapy for depression and getting into an assessment for ADHD, that I realized how much I actually related to those turtles. At this pretty stressful time in my life, I've gotten back to my old TMNT comfort characters, and is pretty surprised to find how much I have in common with some of the characters. The pressure Leo often would feel as a leader, and how de didn't see it as just him getting hurt, but straight as a failure and a let don't to him, his family and all the people he would try to protect, and how these "failures" would send him into depressive periods. It wasn't until I started getting checked for ADHD, that I realized how much of Mikeys way of being matched up with how I was feeling and thinking, and how he displays his emotions.
Seeing TMNT adapting with time and becoming more inclusive is touching to me. It makes me happy to know that TMNT will be a supportive factor in other people's lives, like they were to clueless little kindergarten me, who did not know the words ADHD or depression, but just knew that a bunch of Ninja Turtles was cool af. I had a way easier time relating to four mutant turtles, than I ever had with Disney Princesses, or the other kids in kindergarten for that matter.
No idea how to finish this or were I'm going. My emotions have taken a hold of me and I'm happy
I like what they did with Donnie's mystic powers and find it very fitting for him. They strike me as similar to Green Lantern's powers; Hard Light constructions which are made from the thoughts of the user. The more you understand what you are trying to create, the stronger it is and the closer to its physical counterpart it becomes. Because of how much he understands his tech, it's no surprise that it is just as powerful as the physical items. It honestly probably makes his powers the strongest out of everyone's ironically.
the way donnie describes feelings as "hot cold hungry..." is the example I usually use-
In the Todd scouts episode, I noticed that he completely recreates his normal apparel using bark and pinecones, whatever he can find- at first I thought the bark over his shell was protection. Totally makes sense.
But then I noticed the pinecones acting as his goggles, the strip of bark in place of his gauntlet- they provide no purpose whatsoever except to fill in the gaps where he feels like he’s physically missing something, and he was so uncomfortable without just the weight or the physical contact of his tech he had to just have SOMETHING THERE
I should also point out that while Donnie is clearly very intelligent and talented/skilled, he's not the typical savant stereotype. His tech can and has backfired enough times to where his brothers and april kinda just expect any new invention to turn evil (The bed short, albearto, shelldon, donnie vs witchtown). That plus his insecurities towards his place on the team make it clear that he's not a savant, It's more of a mix of a special interest + the anxiety of "If I cannot provide material worth then no one will love me" which that last part is honestly so fucking relatable.
Honestly I feel like if anyone's a savant it's Baxter Stockboy
I honestly love Donnie. The show really does a great job on portraying the way he experiences life as an autistic person as positive character traits. Most of the time, shows with ASD coded or canonical ASD characters tend to make their traits something that needs changing or negative in nature.
Donnie goes through character growth without changing things that are a huge aspect of who he is as an autistic coded character. He is loved, supported, and allowed to exist amongst family members. It's everything I could ask for and more :')
i love this video so so much! this means so much to me as a autistic person :) donnie is definitely my favorite autistic character and i’m so grateful for him representation wise
This was such a well done video!! I'm a new TMNT fan and seeing this kind of neurodivergent rep especially in shows targeted towards younger audiences is really nice to see, and you put it into words in a way I honestly couldn't do if I tried! This show does an incredible job at writing a character who has autism, and showing how it impacts their life WITHOUT defining them! cant wait to see more of your vids :)
gosh this is a rlly good video. you spoke rlly well, and made genuinely good points that i agreed with. i love donnie a lot, and i see a lot of my traits and habits in him, and a lot in mikey as well. this show holds a special place in my heart, and i love watching these kind of analysis videos that aren't talking about whether its good or bad (because i couldnt take someone calling my favourite show shit), but talking about the characters. ill probably be watching this video at least a few times, because its easy to watch but keeps me interested, is infortmative but doesnt take itself too seriously and all the things i love in a video.
again, incredible video
agreed! i'm surprised at the lack of analysis videos on this series considering how much praise it gets for the writing? my first video on this channel did review the show and refute criticisms, mostly for the sake of ice breaking, but my big goal is to do a lot of analysis cuz this show definitely deserves some dissecting. thanks for watching!! 🐢💜
i looked at donnie's behavior in rottmnt and i related to him alot more than i thought i would. i love him and the way he represents alot of autistic people (including myself cause i suspect myself to be autistic). his writing aswell as mikey's is just so incredlibly written to where, just like you said, that they are characters with autism/adhd instead of them being the autistic/adhd characters. i love this analysis video and your writing. its incredible :)
This show and the fans treatment of the way they wrote Donnie actually helped me with my own diagnosis since I found this all like a week before testing and came to terms with it waiting for the results
the whole phone part is really relatable since my phone helps me with anxiety and depression plus i have this whole fantasy of being an adopted sister since this is a very accepting environment and what i grew up with is shit
I'm very glad ROTTMNT exists, more so for the fandom and Donnie. While I find the show loud and overwhelming, these analyses have helped me finally figure out why I sometimes feel weird or defensive when a neurodivergent coded character exists, or why alien/robot characters sometimes make me happy in a certain way.
Thank you for this in-depth explanation and character breakdown
I just received my formal autism diagnosis! Thanks for introducing me to what autism actually is. I couldn’t have asked for a better video to find almost a year and a half ago. I’m also thankful for the posted time this video was uploaded, because time is a strange concept for me to try to hold to so I thought it had been much further into the past that I began my self-diagnosis process. This video holds a special place in my heart for helping me understand myself in a way I can’t imagine living without now. So thank you :)
This video made me so happy, I love Donnie so much, and as an autistic person he is so precious to me. Great analysis, had me feeling all sorts of ways
Progressive autism representation to me is when it isn’t used as a lesson for neurotypical viewers. When there’s an educational segment crammed in like “oh they’re autistic, this is what autism is…” “we need to try and accept them for who they are!” “I’m sorry we treated you poorly” etc etc, a neurotype becomes a narrative device and it just separates the autistic character from the rest of the cast. What I love about Rise is there’s an unspoken understanding among all the characters. When Donnie speaks or acts differently it’s just a regular Tuesday. He’s not “the autistic one”, he’s just Donnie! That is the kind of acceptance I crave in real life, for the people that I love to just be used to me, used to how I am. Donnie encapsulates that perfectly. His brothers just genuinely love him, all of him, and he never feels out of place because the show never alienates him
Hii!! Firstly, thank you SO SO SO much for making this, I identify with him as an autistic person so much, seeing a video as easily comprehensive and digestible as this is incredible!!!
Id also like to ask if you knew anything more about high empathy, particularly in autistic people.
I haven't seen much of it and I would love to put that sort of representation in my work, as well as understanding it more. However I'm not the best at grasping the concept of empathy in general, much less high empathy.
Again, awesome video thanks again
Thanks for watching! I'm not a professional, so my own knowledge is unfortunately pretty limited. However, I do know that the conversation surrounding autistic people and empathy usually has to do with alexithymia: a personality trait (not categorized as a disorder) that just so happens to be common in autistic people. You could do some research there to see if any comparisons are made between high or low empathy? If you're looking for more journals and articles, try the Google Scholar search engine too. Additionally, two books that get recommended to me a lot by other autistic people are *Unmasking Autism: Discovering the New Faces of Neurodiversity* by Devon Price and *We're Not Broken: Changing the Autism Conversation* by Eric Garcia. I've not read these books so they might not discuss high empathy specifically, but they might be a good place to start digging into the topic!
@@heybuwan thank you so much!! I'll be sure to look into these :)
The way Donnie's ASD is displayed is so nice because its the first one ive seen that's not portrayed through an Allistic and ableist lense.
YESSS YOURE BACK! Love your vids and your scripts!
thank you! :D welcome back!
@@heybuwan yay! Cant wait for the next vid
This... This is beautiful. I REALLY hope they make a season 3 so we can see more Donnie
Donnie, my man 😌👆
I was diagnosed with ASD at a young age back in the very early 90s when most people still didn’t know what it was. It didn’t help that I was going to a catholic school that had very high standards and few teachers who cared even when my mother spoke to them. Many of them would tell me to sit still, look them in the eyes, and sometimes they just lashed out, “Are you even listening to me?!” “Why can’t you be like ___?” “It’s like you don’t care!” “What’s wrong with you?!!” And the most hurtful, “You’ll never amount to anything!” (Fortunately there were enough good ones to not only help, but listen.) It didn’t help that my being on the spectrum and growing up in a home that didn’t want video games or violent shows caused me to be isolated from my peers. More than half my Kindergarten class saw Jurassic Park and despite my love of dinosaurs, I was ostracized. As you can imagine, I didn’t have friends. My asthma made me terrible at sports, even with an inhaler. It was not unusual for me to eat my lunch entirely alone. By 6th grade it had gotten to the point where I developed depression from being so different from everyone else and it may have destroyed my entire self image. Even as a child I often learned things by mimicking what I saw on television and sometimes wondered if I even had existed as a real person in my own mind. Am I really me, or am I just a reflection of something I’m copying? And then there was the homework. Good lord the homework. In my house homework was to be done immediately after school. No breaks, no tv, no eating, no nothing. I would often be stuck on the same page of my text book for hours trying to understand what it was trying to tell me and by the time I got everything done, dinner was cold and it was so late I had to go straight to bed only to wake up the next day and do it all over again. By the time I entered High School, the experiences of my previous 12 years of schooling had me segregating myself into the furthest corner of the classroom and I would refuse to talk to anyone. Even when classmates tried to reach out I wouldn’t talk to them and if I did it was usually “Go away.” or “Stop talking to me.” This was a public high school, lower standards, no uniforms, smaller classrooms, nobody from my old school was there, they all went to the fancy catholic high schools and I never saw them again. You have no idea how frightened and defensive I was. But there was a silver lining, this place never assigned homework. It was the first real step toward a self recovery that would completely turn me around. When I entered my sophomore year it was as if something changed in me. I started being social. I was open with my feelings and interests. The lack of homework allowed me to finally start watching tv after school. I watched Toonami all the time. Mom and dad even allowed video games into the house. I even started making real friends. For the first time in a long time, I was happy. I learned to love myself for who I was. I am real, I am not a freak, I’m just different. Being different is not bad. We are all different. My social experiences in high school allowed me to slowly develop what would become my sense of humor with a little sprinkling in of what I’d picked up from tv and early viral videos. I’m autistic. And I fucking love it!
This was absolutely beautiful. You described and explained everything so eloquently and just made all if your points flow and fit together so well it really felt like i was listening to a presentation at like a professional conference. This was a beautiful analysis and I can tell you were really passionate about the information you were putting out. I can't wait to see if you do more videos on subject matter similar to this!
I’m not autistic, but I have ADHD and characters like Donnie and Mickey (though Donnie feels a lot closer to me than sweet Mickey) it feels validating, to see just natural characters with mental illnesses portrayed as normal and “ok”. Honestly it helped me make me feel like myself for once, and not just me trying to battle against it the entire time. I damn near cried when I saw the similarities between me and them!
Although ADHD isn’t talked about as much, it’s representation still exists to an extent and it’s amazing, I wish more shows follow the example of this one.
Thank you for this video. I've been having all these question myself, being not an autistic person, but hearing all the talk about Donnie being representation, I was extra curious to hear from the actual community if they also agree with this. I didn't pick up on any of these traits of him, just found him to be a witty, sarcastic, smart guy, but now having had these things brought to my attention I find it both exciting and great that a character can speak so well to a community, but also be just "part of the group" instead of the "token guy." It good insight on how representation can be done well and what to hope for moving forward.
What a fantastic video, you have such a good pacing for these types of videos and I loved watching it! Can't wait to see more!
while I'm not autistic, I am neurodivergent (adhd) and I'm incredibly happy that we're getting more neurodivergent rep in media that isn't just stereotypes, and I'm hoping for more characters like this in the future
(side note: I also really like how the rest of the cast can also be read as neurodivergent without them being stereotypes either, especially Mikey, who has long been stuck as the goofy adhd "look a squirrel!" character. Everything about rise is very refreshing and I love it a lot)
On the bo staff part I’m pretty sure the weapons tie into what they may need. In tmnt’s past Donnie had the bo staff to get away from tech, now it can be seen as a weapon to assist in his learning of motor control, Mikey is the most talented knowing how to proficiently use everyone else’s weapons so he gets the nunchucks and other versions of those since it is known to be one of the hardest weapons to master and to help him with focus since it is hard to control a waving stick on a string without focus. Ralph, known as the hothead, got sais, a weapon only used in peace and seldom in violence. Leo got the most used in fighting weapon, to teach responsibility
I never actually made the connection between magic in Rise and emotion, but that actually makes so much sense. I initially assumed that Donnie's aversion to magic stemmed entirely from his need to be useful, but his progression towards having his magic and his tech work in tandem makes a lot of sense when magic is viewed to be in relation to emotion. I really liked this analysis, thank you for providing this.
I appreciate that they gave Donnie multiple special interests that don’t necessarily correlate with one another. As someone on the spectrum, my special interests are widely ranging and show up greater at certain times than others. It just goes to show that, like most people, people labeled as autistic have multiple things they are passionate about and may just express their passions in a different way.
I love these analyses that you make. I know that you’ve only really made two but I actually enjoy yours quite a bit. It goes in depth and you definitely put out what you know without trying to push any kind of agenda.
I know this video is old, but this is actually made me want to watch rise! I've seen clips and my god Donnie hits close to home. There's so many moments I can relate too that makes me go!!!!!! That's me!!! Also I really appreciate you adding such detailed subtitles I rarely see that at all so it's really cool.
OMG I saw ur first video and subbed and I'm super super hyped to watch this one
thank you very much! i hope you enjoy this one as well! 💕
My little brother has autism but for my entire life I've looked at him as being completely normal. Watching this video made me realize though that he does do some of these things that a person with autism may do (I say "may" because it's different for everyone) I'm so happy that this cartoon was able to depict autism as something more normal and not as a spotlight for donnie's entire character. We used sign language with my little brother to help him learn to speak and he will often look at people's faces very carefully for communication cues. He also hated having sticky or dirty hands when he was young but loves hugs now.
I love my little bro so much and he has the funniest personality. His autism does not compromise that in the least bit. Awesome show!
Its interesting that you used that scene from Star Trek, because there is a good chance that Dr. McCoy is also (almost certainly unintentionally) autistic coded: hyper-empathy, stimming, sensory issues, difficulty with emotional regulation, difficulty maintaining varied relationships, a knack for making unlikely connections and thinking outside the box, good intuition about people, but difficulty understanding and accepting approaches to life (his belief that Spock cannot be content unless he embraces emotion). Which is interesting, because it would be an example of almost opposing points on the spectrum being represented in the same show.
‘One flavourless juice!’ is perfect
It’s says a lot about autistic representation when a mutant turtle feels more real then most human autistics in current media
I love Donnie so much and it brings me so much joy to see him being treated like a fully fleshed person and not a shoehorned stereotype I adore rise and it’s writing so much
Fingers crossed other shows take notes from rise and we can get similarly cared for portrayals of neurodivergency
Wonderful video btw oh my gosh
One thing that I thought was interesting with his representation was Mikey helping Donnie with his shell or “disability”, it reminds me of someone who overstepped at some point (as someone with high empathy would) and then had to tone it back, only for a big thing to happen that required their help in that moment.