wytchcroft: heavent sent (smoke)
wytchcroft ([personal profile] wytchcroft) wrote2009-05-09 12:49 am
Entry tags:

hollywood science

So i'm watching CSI - and i love CSI ok, but... (growls slightly) season 2; the episode titled Caged...

This is a story about an Autistic man (superbly performed by the actor) and it's written by one of the main writers for the show.
Interestingly, she says in commentary; this is very personal to me, my son is autistic...
even as every single one of her body language elements suggests that in fact the writer herself has autism.

But either way, it is very clear that the intention was to provide an educational as well as emotional story - Rain Man comparisons are dismissed early on for example as Grissom explains what Autism actually 'is'.
This is all very commendable...

except - we get lines such as 'He is an autistic man with high functioning right brain activity'', which is, y'know, um, from a neuroscience point of view - that is to say, uh, FACTUALLY, utter bollocks.

"Huh."

Wytch is irritated.

So my questions are - is my memory bad at measuring time? Only surely CSI 2 isn't that old and the neuroscience not so recent....? But that's the only possible excuse.

The meaty question being - are they still teaching this ‘superior right brain’ crap NOW across the USA? Else how come did the sincere, and no doubt well informed (or convinced they are anyway,) writer make such a neurologically laughable script? There are LOADS of real howlers, and this - if you have any personal connection to the subject or are a geek – is very bloody annoying.

ps

[identity profile] wytchcroft.livejournal.com 2009-05-09 07:30 pm (UTC)(link)
and although i like the x-files more (if push comes to shove)
i do enjoy CSI a whole lot; Grissom and Sidle are great! - and so is Warwick.

Re: ps

[identity profile] beshter.livejournal.com 2009-05-09 07:32 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm not the CSI fan, never was. I'm not saying it is bad, just wasn't for me. Always was much more the Mulder/Scully fan, which is part of why I don't get into Bones much either, (though I don't think it's a bad show...just can't get into it).

Perhaps it's something with the angsty longing, I loved West Wing too, and there was a lot of that same tension between several characters, especially Josh and Donna.