9/1/2023 0 Comments Rick glassman as we see it![]() ![]() Questions of body image and adult loneliness are dealt with elegantly, giving Harrison support, never judgement. Rutecki plays Harrison, and his character deals with an anxiety that’s more tender, offering a subtle portrayal of the sensitive discomfort that comes with processing sensory information as an autistic person. Glassman’s performance is one of impressive precision, with similar coming timing to the likes of master of awkwardness Jesse Eisenberg. Jack’s focus is his job – in which he considers himself the smartest person in the room at all times, much to the frustration of his colleagues – and his relationship with his father, who is suffering from a new physical health diagnosis. Newcomers Rick Glassman (Jack), Albert Rutecki (Harrison) and Sue Ann Pień (Violet) play the lead roles (and all identify on the autism spectrum in real life). It’s often wry and heartfelt without being cloying, entertaining and sharp without ever making fun of anyone. The series tells the story of three roommates on the autistic spectrum, and gives space to their individual wants and worries as they navigate life as modern adults. It can be a case of box-ticking rather than truthful storytelling, which makes Amazon’s refreshing and humble As We See It a welcome addition to the modern canon. As fans of Friday Night Lights may well already know: clear eyes, full heart, can’t lose.Representation can be used as a reductive catchall in stories shining a light on underserved perspectives – namely in the coming of age genre. (It appears to be billed as a comedy on Amazon, but, based on the first three episodes, I’m not sure that sets a fair expectation.) Yes, it can be a little sweet at times, but it is so generous and genuine that it is hard to judge it for that. Netflix’s comedy Atypical recently came to an end after a charming run, Love on the Spectrum was a lovely look at dating with autism, but it feels like the perfect time for a drama like this to come along. He immediately regrets it, of course, but it shows that this is not just pushing a simple idea of what it would take for that situation to change. ![]() One of its most important scenes, I think, shows Van losing his patience with his sister, whom he loves very much, berating her for not being “normal”. People are often cruel, both deliberately and inadvertently. It makes the point, again and again, that the world is not always built for people on the autism spectrum, and that sometimes life will be tough. The only solace in one episode comes from a robotic vacuum cleaner. And Violet wants a boyfriend, as she tells Van, in great detail, but her literal-minded approach to finding love leads her into scrape after scrape. Jack is anxious and blunt with his assessments of certain situations, telling his boss that he believes him to be of inferior intelligence when asked to redo his work. Harrison begins to make friends with a young boy living upstairs the boy’s mother sees this in an understandable, but inaccurate, light. All three are living with Mandy in order to work towards greater independence, and all have goals they are supposed to achieve each week, whether that is making new friends, or asking how a relative is feeling about a difficult emotional situation.īut its warmth is part of a far more complex picture, and this is careful to strike a balance between its more saccharine instincts and what its three leads have to navigate on a daily basis. Harrison barely leaves the flat, while Jack has a job as a programmer, and Violet works at a fast-food restaurant (it’s a real chain, and it gets a lot of mentions). Their families pay Mandy (Sosie Bacon, last seen as the mother of Kate Winslet’s grandson in Mare of Easttown) a salary to live in as their support worker. This new drama follows three roommates on the spectrum, all played by actors who are on the spectrum themselves. Each noise and potential trigger is cleverly pushed in the mix, to give viewers who may not understand Harrison’s fears a chance to experience them. And then a dog appears, starts barking, and chaos ensues. With each step, Mandy reassures him that it’s fine. He worries that a woman with a crying baby is looking at him. Traffic might be a little loud, she warns him. She calls him on his phone, so that she can talk him through his walk around the block, and slowly, carefully, he begins. Harrison, a man in his 20s, is carefully coaxed out of his Los Angeles apartment by his live-in aide, Mandy. The first few minutes of As We See It (Amazon Prime) show a remarkable demonstration of how auditory processing can be difficult for some people on the autism spectrum. ![]()
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