User Reviews

To keep it short, a very inaccurate description of what autism is and based off the ending, in real life, folks on the spectrumdo not have superpowers. I was diagnosed at age three and I know what my autism is like. No autistic person os the same. The writers must have taken a chapter from Sia's Music. It is backwards. This show needs to go. The reinforcement of negative and gives people the wrong idea of what autism is. Sesame Street and Arthur handled the subject of autism better than this. They were honest but gave us a better understanding of what autism is. I feel sorry for anyone who thinks that this is what autism is.

Synopsis: In this episode, Penny is stuck babysitting her younger siblings while she's trying to hang out with her friends in a museum. One of the twins, Bebe runs off and engages in risky behavior. After displaying the same type of behavior at home, Trudy (mom) suggests going to the doctor to check for injuries, and baby Bebe is referred to another doctor and believed to have autism.

While I don't think Disney handled this storyline in the best way, I'm glad that they handled it. One of the most heart wrenching parts is, after the doctor suggests Bebe may be on the spectrum, Oscar (dad) makes a comment like "Who are you to call my baby stupid?" As someone who has worked with people with special needs, this is a HUGE thought that so many people have, and I honestly found it brave of Disney to even point out the negative viewpoints. Oscar comes around and realizes that Bebe DOES need help.

What I disliked about this episode... They made it seem as if this just happened, and not like this is something Bebe deals with for his whole life. I understand it's only a 30 minute episode, but I wish they would have made a few small allusions to autism in other episodes this season to round out the storyline a bit.

All in all, props to Disney for bringing in a difficult storyline.

The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder is an animated show by Disney about a fourteen-year-old girl named Penny Proud and her family, as they navigate the challenges of being a family. Penny and her family face a variety of different challenges throughout the series but this episode she takes on a challenge that involves accepting things she cannot see. On this episode titled "Bebe", Penny faces a new challenge involving her younger brother Benjamin "Bebe" Proud. Penny is tasked with watching her two younger twin siblings, Bebe and Cece, while at museum with a group of friends.

The writer makes sure to explicitly show that Cece can listen to and following instructions but Bebe on the other hand, shows an inability to follow instructions that his sister can, while also displaying and irrational lack of fear. There is a scene in which Bebe disappears for about 2 minutes only for Penny to find him in a model plane high above the ground, happy and joyful as can be, in contrast to the frenzy of concern that has been going on in search of him. Penny tells her parents about what happens at the museum, and they decide to take Bebe to the doctor in which they discover that Bebe does not process pain like everyone else. The doctor attempted to draw reactions by using a feather to tickle, an ice cube to test if he would feel cold, and a slight pinch to see if he would feel pain. All attempts were unsuccessful as Bebe did not respond to the external stimulation.

Being that this is a kids show, the writers break it down in such a way that is consumable to children. The writers drew attention to the doctor reacting the way one might anticipate as well as Bebe's lack thereof. Towards the end of the doctor visit, the doctor says he's not sure if Bebe is a "baby Black Adam" or if there is something else at play. This was a subtle attempt to play on the stereotype that people with disabilities have some kind of superpower, which was a counterproductive moment in my opinion.

They are then referred to a child psychologist named Dr. Lord. After evaluating both Bebe and Cece, Dr. Lord concluded that Bebe is showing signs of autism. Oscar Proud, the father of the family, ha d the most overt reaction to the reveal. He was very emotional and in denial over Bebe's diagnosis, Oscar in this moment represented people who are apprehensive about psychiatry and postulates that all Dr. Lord is after is their money. Trudy Proud, the matriarch of the family, was more receptive of the diagnosis and to the idea of putting Bebe in Ms. Lord's school for exceptional children. There is a quote by Lennard J. Davis in his essay "Normality, Power, and Culture" that goes:

"...I would like to focus not so much on the construction of disability as on the construction of normalcy. I do this because the "problem" is not the person with the disabilities; the problem is the way that normalcy is constructed to create the "problem" of the disabled person".

I feel the construction of normalcy in society that is being implicitly expressed through the show, leads Oscar to think that there is a problem with Bebe, even accusing the doctor of implying that Bebe is stupid. Trudy and Penny however, are more accepting as they take steps to help support Bebe but there is still uncertainty there. I feel reactions like this are important to showcase because not everyone immediately accepts things when it comes to disability. Oscar has a reaction that one might say is ignorant of the true issue at hand, but his reaction is an authentic one, which I feel needs to be represented and handled appropriate dialogue. Oscar's visceral denial of Bebe's diagnosis leads to him taking on the responsibility of watching Bebe for the day. After his failed attempt to watch Bebe amid getting an inspection, he finally gives in and takes Bebe to Ms. Lord's school for exceptional children. As the episode comes to a close, the writers could not resist another play on the superhero stereotype, as Bebe begins to levitate and his classmates exhibit other powers.

I think the writers did a good job at incorporating disability into this episode because of how they went about it on a level consumable and appropriate for children to start to get an idea about disability. When viewers watch the episode, there are visual and implicit cues that show that there is something underlying going on, but we aren't sure yet. Even though physically, Bebe looks fine. Throughout the episode, the writers make sure to show that whenever someone calls Bebe's name, he is not where he is supposed to be. Instead, he puts himself in dangerous predicaments and does not seem to grasp the danger he is in, exhibiting his courage and curiosity.

I appreciated the way that none of the main characters changed in a significant way following Bebe's diagnosis. The Proud Family was affected by the news, but it didn't make them different people who were now 100% accepting of disability. It is still a gradual process that they must navigate not as blindly accepting of disability, but as people true to themselves who have normalized disability. Oscar underwent the most character development of the family in his acceptance of Bebe's diagnosis. I think the writers wanted to show that Oscar was scared and anxious for Bebe because towards the end of the inspection, he has an emotional one on one in which he finally accepts that Bebe is autistic and let's go of his denial. Oscar didn't become a different person all together, but a more accepting one. Paul Longmore stated in his book "Why I Burned My Book":

"Disability happens around us more often than we generally recognize or care to notice, and we harbor unspoken anxieties about the possibility of disablement, to us or to someone close to us.... Popular entertainments depicting disabled character allude to these fears and prejudices, or address them obliquely or fragmentarily, seeking to reassure us about ourselves."

Oscar Proud deals with his fears and prejudices of disability, through his denial and rejection of psychiatry and the idea that his son has a disability. This fear displayed by Oscar is an emotion that some people must confront, explicitly or implicitly. I thought the episode was great aside from the subtle attempts to play on the stereotype of people with disabilities as "special" people that have some sort of unnatural ability that can be accompanied by superpowers. This stereotype is harmful in my opinion because it perpetuates hyperbolic ideas of people with disabilities that they will never be able to fulfill. Disability and how it is presented is unique to the individual, so generalizing kids with disabilities as dormant superheroes does nothing but create an unattainable ideology.