I started watching a show called Atypical. It’s a comedy-drama show about a high-functioning autistic high school boy (on a spectrum) who started dating.
He started learning how to date from different people. His sister, his therapist (not Ezra), and his friends.
The autistic boy, Sam, reminded me a lot of Ken. (Incidentally, I started naming the MC of RSI as Sam when I first started writing, before changing it to Ken. Weird, huh). Even though Ken is not autistic, Ken has many “quirks” like Sam. There are even lines from RSI that appears word-for-word in the show.
I was like OMG, there are so many similarities between RSI and Atypical (minus the graphic sex, even though there’s still sex).
I wished I had watched Atypical before writing RSI. Perhaps I could have written a better story. Or maybe I could write from the perspective of an autistic person finding love in the future once I’m done with RSI.
I have a story idea similar to RSI. It’s about a boy who suffers from the fear of intimacy. He signed up an ad for a social experiment to conquer his fear. The researcher is a sex psychologist who lived in something like a sex commune. As part of the research, the boy is “forced” to have sex with a lot of girls. The psychologist wanted to see if having sex frequently could help him to remove his fears. But eventually, I decided to go with RSI instead.
According to the show, only 9% of people with autism got married. Not because they lack the desire, but because they don’t know how to do it.
Desire. Desire for love. Desire for intimacy.
People who are neurodivergent, the opposite of neurotypical, or people whose brains are considered different like Ken, have the same desire to be loved (and have sex) like everyone else.
I’ve received several comments and emails telling me how much they relate to Ken. While not everyone has intimacy issues, anxiety or not-normal like Ken, there are many people who find it difficult to find love or fit in.
If only everyone has a Lisa or an Ezra in their life.
Anyway, if you’re looking for a show to watch, check out Atypical on Netflix.