![]() Photo by Ali GoldsteinĪs We See It straddles both comedy and drama lines. Van (Chris Pang) & Violet (Sue Ann Pien). Then her brother Van arrives and takes her away. ![]() At times it works to their advantage and other times not so much.” Violet has a meltdown. The leads understand the world in literal terms. “ She’s thinking that he literally said that he’ll be right back and not taking in the social queues. She panics because he politely excuses himself to go to the restroom and she thinks he’ll return. She has it all planned out and verbalizes everything she thinks, eventually scaring off her date. Jason Katims cites an example of Violet going on a date in the first episode. “ Audiences can connect with these characters regardless of having a connection to neurodiversity or not.” The show relies on the universality of the coming of age themes. “ I set out to create a neurodiverse coming of age story and ended up with a coming of age story,” Katims continued. “ Consequently, you become extremely invested in the ups and downs of the characters as they go through life doing mundane tasks.” The light-hearted and accessible moments offset the more serious educational moments of the characters. “ It’s made up of nuanced moments.” This allowed the writers to broaden their perception of what might constitute a traditional storyline. In the same moment, you’re feeling for these characters.” The bittersweet tone allowed the writers to enter raw and uncomfortable terrain.Īs We See It deals with both setbacks and triumphs of the main characters. It gave the audience permission to laugh with the characters as they’re going about their lives. “ It’s a sweet-spot where it’s delightful and funny and invites you to laugh. ![]() This is the crux of the show – to challenge our idea of what normal and living our authentic lives.Īs We See It balances the soapy story elements of a shared household with the challenges faced by people on the spectrum. Her neurodiverse friend, Douglas rebuts, “ What’s so good about being normal, anyway?” She doesn’t have a good answer to it. She wants to date and experience a fully-realized adult relationship. Wanting to act “normal” is a theme that is specifically explored in As We See It, particularly for Violet. Jason Katims consciously chose not to be similar to other TV series dealing with neurodiverse people. As their names suggest, Atypical and On The Spectrum focus more on the supporting characters looking into the lives of neurodiverse people as they try to understand and manage them, whereas As We See It showcases these people owning their lives and telling their stories from their perspectives. Furthermore, Katims wanted to further lean into Violet’s brother Van (Chris Pang) in his show. “ I have a tremendous amount of respect for the therapeutic aides and people who provide support to these people,” he stated. Katims also wanted to dive deeper into the character of Mandy (Sosie Bacon) who is the aide for the three roommates by making her more prevalent in the As We See It. Lou’s mortality “ adds an immediacy to the story.” “ A big part of parenthood is knowing that your children are going to be okay when you’re no longer around.” This sentiment is familiar to all parents who have children who are struggling in some way. If you do your job well, your children eventually won’t need you.” “ Parenting is an exploration of heartbreak. This sentiment has some basis in Katims mortality. Including a parent in As We See It, “was a way to tell the story more fully,” added Katims. Lou has cancer in As We See It and he grapples with teaching his son how to survive after his eventual passing. ![]() The character of Jack’s dad Lou Hoffman (Joe Mantegna) didn’t exist in the Israeli series. Katims also wanted to explore the characters surrounding the three leads. “ On The Spectrum was beautiful, but I needed to find my own way in and find what speaks to me,” he pondered. Using On The Spectrum As A SpringboardĪfter viewing the Israeli TV series, Katims was compelled to create As We See It. “ It was also something I was learning about myself as I observed my son’s experience.” So he made the decision to put fingers to keyboard. ![]() The showrunner also noticed that many existing TV shows or movies didn’t address the experience of adulthood on the spectrum. Jason started thinking about his future without a specific television show in mind. He has a son who is on the spectrum who was approaching his mid-twenties at the time. The story in As We See It is very personal to Jason Katims. ![]()
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