I have a mixed feeling towards this series. First, I have to say I like the main ideas it's trying to sell, like "embrace yourself", "don't underestimate your ability", "there's no need to wear masks", etc, which are needed by a lot of people who feel like they are marginalised and looked down upon.
However, to me, representation is about delivering a positive message, eliminating people's biased prejudice towards certain groups by bringing out their good qualities, from Mulan, Black Panther, Pose(also a netflix series), I see courage, justice, intelligence, benevolence, but from Special, what I get is "I'm disabled (and gay), so I deserve to do whatever I want, and you have to take whatever shxt I give you".
Since I believe the story intends to clear people's misunderstanding towards those who have cerebral palsy, CP, (sorry I don't think being gay matters as much anymore), the plots wanna show the vulnerability as well as the appreciation towards people who love them and care about them. According to the series, people with CP do need some extra care and help in their life, but they should not be taken for granted. Now here comes my biggest frustration on the show, the main character is very rude and mean to people who love him and really care about him, except the girl from work, who is too much of a strong personality to mess with. Several scenes of the main character using his mom but kicking her out of the sight when she's done her job really annoyed me, as well as the a look of disgust he gave to a guy on date who's deaf and trying to communicate, and knocking out a guy in the face who's trying to help tying the main character's shoelaces for him, all of these don't look like what a decent person should do.
Yes, you are disabled, you are trying to be independent, finding a relationship maybe a little more challenging, but those don't mean you are entitled for extra rights and can be so self centred that other people have to evolve around you and be your slave.
All of the above said, nobody is perfect and we all make mistakes. The more important thing is we all learn and grow from the mistakes. I don't have a problem of the 8 episodes being short or whatever, what I care is whether the plots are enough to deliver the messages. However, the selfishness and arrogance of the main character seems to escalate throughout the storyline and the season ends up with him walking away from his mom on her 50th birthday dinner after an argument about he ruining his mom's new romantic relationship, which of course he doesn't feel guilty at all of, the mom instead felt very sorry, big time, again.
It's an entertaining series. t's great to see it bringing something unusual like CP to the table and let people learn more about it, but the way it portraits a person with the issue makes it very unlikeable.
However, to me, representation is about delivering a positive message, eliminating people's biased prejudice towards certain groups by bringing out their good qualities, from Mulan, Black Panther, Pose(also a netflix series), I see courage, justice, intelligence, benevolence, but from Special, what I get is "I'm disabled (and gay), so I deserve to do whatever I want, and you have to take whatever shxt I give you".
Since I believe the story intends to clear people's misunderstanding towards those who have cerebral palsy, CP, (sorry I don't think being gay matters as much anymore), the plots wanna show the vulnerability as well as the appreciation towards people who love them and care about them. According to the series, people with CP do need some extra care and help in their life, but they should not be taken for granted. Now here comes my biggest frustration on the show, the main character is very rude and mean to people who love him and really care about him, except the girl from work, who is too much of a strong personality to mess with. Several scenes of the main character using his mom but kicking her out of the sight when she's done her job really annoyed me, as well as the a look of disgust he gave to a guy on date who's deaf and trying to communicate, and knocking out a guy in the face who's trying to help tying the main character's shoelaces for him, all of these don't look like what a decent person should do.
Yes, you are disabled, you are trying to be independent, finding a relationship maybe a little more challenging, but those don't mean you are entitled for extra rights and can be so self centred that other people have to evolve around you and be your slave.
All of the above said, nobody is perfect and we all make mistakes. The more important thing is we all learn and grow from the mistakes. I don't have a problem of the 8 episodes being short or whatever, what I care is whether the plots are enough to deliver the messages. However, the selfishness and arrogance of the main character seems to escalate throughout the storyline and the season ends up with him walking away from his mom on her 50th birthday dinner after an argument about he ruining his mom's new romantic relationship, which of course he doesn't feel guilty at all of, the mom instead felt very sorry, big time, again.
It's an entertaining series. t's great to see it bringing something unusual like CP to the table and let people learn more about it, but the way it portraits a person with the issue makes it very unlikeable.