#mgm from

[philosophicalmisuse]

Victor from From and Autistic Coding in media

Just finished season 1 and a couple eps into season 2, enjoying it lots so far! Only spoilers for season 1 I think, maybe mild for season 2

Just seen a couple of people discuss Victor and Autism and neurodivergence in general and wanted to add my two cents

I reckon he's autistic-coded (and I think the distinction between is autistic and is autistic coded is important) -

- trouble socialising (esp with other adults, but having an easier time with kids - socialising well with people below and above ur peer group is fairly common)

- restricted interests (the peaches being the one thing he liked to eat jumped out to me - thought it was so sweet how donna made sure that he had some and that she was rationing them for him specifically, both so others wouldn't have them and so that he could have them regularly for as long as possible and genuinely took seriously how important it was and attempted to hold back other supplies in case they ran out to provide an alternative but was aware it likely wouldn't work - she looked at why he liked the peaches and accommodated his needs not just in terms of well this will keep him happy but in a caring way for him as a person, such a little thing but damn made me like donna so much)

- the visual language of how he's presented - wearing his (casual flannel) shirt buttoned all the way up to the neck and pants cuffed, just like how he did as a kid, holding onto an object from his childhood, posture that is overly "correct", slightly shambley walk, 'evasive' body language that avoids eye contact etc - ! important to specify here that I'm not saying all autistic people dress or move like this, I for one hate things touching my neck so you wouldn't catch me dead in a button up all the way to my neck, but this visual language/costuming/physicality is super common for male autistic-coded characters as a visual shorthand to express restrive patterns of behaviour/outsider from social norms of dress, so it jumped out at me right away. Two other examples that spring to mind are young Sheldon and elementary Sherlock Holmes

- the language/tonality he uses - often repetitive to express the rules while not always explaining why (example being when jade takes his violin and ransacks his room, he doesn't explain why jade shouldn't go into his room or how it made him feel, he visually shows distress and repeats the rule that jade violated, even when jade explains his pov - victor responds in his face to the comment I thought you were dead, seemingly understanding that that's reasonable, but it's not relevant to the rule as he isn't dead so he repeats the rule) - he's often fairly monotone/expressionless as well - I don't know how to explain this but some of his inflections/patterns of speech are very familiar to me in terms of how I and other autistic people I've met talk. There's something about how and where the voice goes up and down in a sentence that I can't really explain

- disliking change (eg. peaches)

And I'm sure there's more but these are the main ones I remember

NOW!!! onto my broader points

I have seen some people online argue that:

he's not autistic he's just traumatised

This is rational and I get it! He's presumably been alone since a very young age so not 'socialised', he's had to learn the rules of this place and stick to them or die and so on. The behaviours of cPTSD and asd have a large amount of overlap.

However, my first point would be that a traumatised autistic person (which is most autistic people tbh) look/act different from traumatised non-autistic people. Most autistic people that you meet are traumatised, and there's a lot of traumatised people who aren't autistic. Having cPTSD and having a trigger to a specific sound, for example, is different from having SPD and getting tired/stressed/having a meltdown from most sounds being too loud and your nervous system being unable to distinguish between a relevant loud noise and an irrelevant loud noise and giving you all noises at the same level and stimulating your nervous system to react to them the same, for example. In cPTSD your nervous system is likely also inflating lots of noises, because lots of noises were relevant to your survival in a traumatic environment - but in SPD (something many ASD people have and some argue may be a major facet of the disorder that has, until recently, been unhelpfully diminished in diagnostic resources) this would happen whether or not you were traumatised.

The collection of traits in the DSM is descriptive of a way of processing the world around you - and when people argue that Victor is autistic, they're saying that he is behaving in a way that appears to be characteristic of a certain combination of traits. Additionally, he was old enough to experience some socialisation, and had enough resources to experiment with other ways of dressing - there presumably have been other people that have come to the village over the years, as well. What I see in the character is a very traumatised autistic adult using patterns of behaviour that are explicitly autistic in order to survive in a terrible situation, HOWEVER I would argue that it doesn't matter very much

Regardless of whether he is or is not autistic (he's a fictional character and we can never have enough info to really know unless the characters or creators of the show explicitly say it, ofc) what is relevant in my opinion is that he is CODED to be autistic.

The way the character is presented is similar to a lot of tropes in media about how autistic characters are presented. Whether you think that the character in and of himself is or is not autistic, I think it's fair to say that the way he is characterised is similar to a lot of other male autisic-coded characters in media

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

It's important both in terms of how we analyse/interpret the specific media, and how this can impact social understanding of autism more broadly

First of all, it may tell us something about how Autism is portrayed in media. An autistic character in another piece of media who has not experienced the same levels of insane trauma in a horror setting is thought to behave similarly to a character who has experienced these things.

Secondly, it tells us about how the other characters in the world relate to Victor. Why do they instantly see him as being weird, when initially the only thing he does is simply have a conversation with a new resident? He's instantly seen as a threat by the dad, explicitly seen as weird by everyone else, where the young girl who murdered someone is seen as someone safe, and positive for taking care of the child and distracting them from the horrible new situation they find themselves in.

Honestly, he's initially presented as a sexual threat to both children - I've seen some ppl online refer to him as 'paedophilic'. Why is this?

I would argue it's because autistic traits, down to the way autistic people move and speak, are seen as inherently threatening and other. I don't even blame the people who do read him as predatory, as it's so common in media to be presented with people who look/behave like Victor ending up being creepy and weird. Autistic people are infantilised, seen engaging with children, and the audience is told they're weird - even the dad was so strongly hostile to Victor harmlessly talking to his child BEFORE he took him into the forest (something that I completely agree any parent would be reasonable for responding to extremely hostily). It was clear this was something Victor was used too as well.

This is a common trope. A weird, socially inept older person forms an unlikely friendship with an open-minded child - who is often discouraged from being friendly with this person, as they are viewed as sinister and a threat from adults in their life. This is used as a double-bluff - the real threat to the child is actually the young woman who the adults are fine with spending time with their child, as they view her as fundamentally non-threatening.

This enabled me, as a viewer, early on, to discount the information that was alluding to Victor being a threat - but its also a really frustrating trope, because it relies on the fact that audiences do see autistic patterns of behaviour/speech/movement as fundamentally other/threatening. Even if you subvert this trope by making the threat come from somewhere else, and tell the audience that really they're bad/foolish/wrong for thinking Victor was a threat, you're still using the same tropes that make real autistic people be viewed with suspicion simply for existing in the world. Victor is still portrayed as creepy, and still has to earn the protagonists trust in a way other characters don't. He, and other autistic coded characters, still start off in a deficit, at a negative, where other characters start off with a neutral or positive. This really does impact real life people as well!

Another trope that is used that is relevant is the 'weird' character having a special amount of knowledge about the problem at hand that other characters discount because of their weirdness (knowledge often initially only shared with an open-minded child character). This is so frustrating! I even remember this coming up in The Dressmaker, when the intellectually disabled character (I think? It was one of those very generalist disabled character presentations, to my knowledge) witnessed the crime but no-one thought to ask them who did it till the end, and initially presumed he had done it or something (I still enjoyed the movie tho). Its bizarre to me that none's asking Victor what he knows - he even expresses early on to the kid that noone listens to him or cares, from memory. I find this so frustrating, and is again really common - and is also a part of the othering of autistic coded characters - they're 'not of this world', but are part of both and none at the same time.

While this is something that many autistic people feel and experience, it's partially because we're ostracised from our peers because we're so 'weird', so it's really frustrating to see this replicated time and time again in fantasy, horror and thriller genres especially - it sort of reenforces a social standard that's causing the problem. Rather than create understanding and support the elimination of notions of 'weirdness', even if the character is important and initially creepy but not a threat, they're still not of this world. It's still reasonable to see them as weird, because they are weird. The characters are rational for responding to the autistic coded character as if there's something off, because there is - even if they're ultimately on the same side.

This also has real-world impacts. People discount likely threats in favour of fear of unfamiliar behaviour. For example, the whole predatory thing - autistic people are more likely to be victims of predatory behaviour, not perpetrators of it (for example, autistic women are 3x more likely to have been sexually assaulted than non-autistic women). However, there's these stereotypes in media where an autistic character is so weird that they're viewed as threatening - and, in some crime genre tropes, for example, the threat is confirmed. Even though most predators are stand up members of the community (compensating for their misdeeds via good acts) and people are surprised that they were perpetrators of horrific crimes - crime is often so horribly mundane - the media focuses on portrayals of mentally ill loners, utilising coding that is similar and sometimes the same as the coding of autistic characters. Not saying that no autistic person comments a crime of course, they demonstrably do, but utilising a media shorthand for violent/predatory criminals that is also used for autistic characters - as it is much more conforting for audiences to feel as if they would be able to tell from someone's weird behaviour if they're likely to be a threat - can have some really troubling real world consequences. Also not saying that no autistic coded character can possibly be portrayed as a villain - I really enjoyed Zac's plotline in Bones for example, especially the relationship that the two characters had - but it's the focus on these 'weird, socially inept' villians, over the far more common absolutely totally 'normal' person/family member/ local upstanding citizen that makes people disproportionately fear/stigmatise autistic ways of being

Then, other shows play off of this coding to 'subvert' it, reenforcing the connection along the way

All this being said, I really like Victor, I loved his relationship with Donna, and I'm really enjoying the show more broadly. However, I could defs see a lot of the narrative of s1 coming because of the shows use of autistic coded behaviours for Victor

I found it interesting that some fan theories have actually centred Victor's neurodivergence, and suggested that other characters are also neurodivergent and that might be why some of them are here/chosen - I find that interesting, especially because of the use of 'psychosis' in the show being a conduit for seemingly real voices of people who have passed away there

It will be interesting to see where they take it, and I'm excited to see what else happens in season 2 and even more excited for season 3 - but yeah, Victor is defs autistic coded, and some of those tropes do have negative knock-on consequences. Defs something that will impact my enjoyment of the show, depending on where they take it! It could be awesome and exciting and could be devastating or eye rolling etc but still excited to watch

[jessaerys]

JUST FINISHED SEASON 1 OF MGM FROM (TERRIBLE FUCKING TITLE BTW IMPOSSIBLE TO SEARCH FOR. DONT NAME YOUR SHOWS AFTER PREPOSITIONS) I HAD A LOT OF FUN !!!!!!!!! highly recommend to yellowjacket fans it's like a little fantasy horror town mystery that DID spook me out every now and then !!!!!!!!! fun for the whole family !!!!!!!!!!!

[songbvrd]

here’s my official pitch for people to watch ‘from’ - 

almost all the main characters are queer or poc and i would die for most of them

the platonic connections and relationships are explored as the main point of the show, rather than being shunted for romantic relationships

no one is forced into relationships just for relevance, the vast majority of characters have no romantic storyline and when they do, it feels pertinent and not just another boring forced romance

i would describe it as like, some combination of the maze runner, the walking dead, lost and yellowjackets. really cool monsters, creepy aesthetic, really good writing

sapphic relationship in s2 is really interesting and the characters from within it are both actually fleshed out and interesting and valuable, not some token background thing

wide range of main characters that actually make smart choices and think things through, you never find yourself yelling at them not to do something obviously stupid

already renewed for a 3rd season

i have no idea what’s going on in the show at all but it’s a fun ride

[owengrose]

FROM theories!!! I just watched From all the way through and I have Thoughts:

Victor was born in that town. Anytime anyone mentions going home, he never says anything. The one time he responds, he says "This is my home."

All the other original members of the town either turned into the monsters or were killed by them. When Victor first emerges from the cellar, we see a ton of bodies in the street. For it to be that many people, they must not have known the rules about the monsters, which makes me think it's either the first night they appeared or one or the very first at least.

There are forces trying to help the people in town, and forces trying to hurt them. I think the ghosts of former residents (Abby is the only one we've seen but it seems like there are others too) are trying to help by sending dreams and other signs. But I'm pretty sure the Bad Forces are able to mimic them, like with the voices Sara hears.

I think the town used to just be a place you couldn't leave. But then when Christopher started seeing that symbol, he did Something that created the monsters.

The vibe of everything happening feels kind of similar to stories about the Fae. You walk out of a room only to find the building in ruins. You can see and touch things that will vanish an instant later without a trace.

I think the symbol Jade sees is connected to the civil war soldiers somehow. The crossed lines look like rifles standing up to me.

The people who end up in the town are thinking about second chances, or starting fresh. Kenny and Tian-Chen with Bing-Qian, Mari with rehab, the Stevens family with Boyd's boat and him retiring, Bakta with finally paying off her degree and going to travel, Jade with selling his company, the Matthews family with the impending divorce/getting over Thomas's death, Nathan bringing Sara back from Boston, etc etc. I think something about the nature of these people thinking so hard about a fresh start makes them like a magnet to the town.

Questions:

What do the Civil War soldiers have to do with this?

Who carved the talismans? And how to they protect from the monsters?

What does the symbol mean?

What does "anghkooey" mean?

How did the worms kill the monster?

Why are Kenny and Elgin such genders?? Seriously, both of them are gender goals for me

When will the town start pooling knowledge to figure things out?

Why did both the Bottle Tree and the tower in Tabitha's dream have (what seem to be) years written down?

What happened to Eloise? Victor said he found his mom's body, but where was hers?

The symbol for St. Anthony's hospital when Tabitha wakes up is similar to the symbol Jade sees. How are they connected?

[vanilla-avadacos]

lmao i love how the ONLY search result for that ankoohey word is a singular reddit result for this show

[pynkhues]

If the monsters won’t take Jim, I shall simply murder him myself!!

[ghosts-ate-my-memories]

rewatching MGMs From... taking notes and seeing if i notice anything new. i feel like theorizing tonight

[forgiveness-in-the-misery]

I really liked From when it started, but now barely two seasons in and I'm really started to hate it and like nearly every character.

The fact that Lloyd is telling them there are worms under his skin and he's seeing things and they are honest to fucking Christ treating him like he's going insane. Like you live in a fucking town where you put rocks on the doors to keep demons from breaking in and eating your organs. You genuinely have no idea where your food comes from or why electricity works when wires lead literally nowhere.

How the actual fuck are you all looking at this man like he's a psycho? The fact that as much as I hate Sarah people don't believe somebody was trying to convince her to kill people, the fact constantly characters are treated like idiots or insane due to seeing or experiencing supernatural events in a town where nobody can ever ever leave and you're constantly being hunted by monsters.

Like it makes it really hard to enjoy the show when the entire premise is the supernatural and things that can't be explained, but then anytime anything supernatural happens to somebody it's treated as insane bull shit.

[laymedead]

Wait... so the sheriff's wife was right?

It was all a dream, and in order to wake up youve gotta die or else you're trapped forever there....

[steffigraf]

tennis in challengers (2024) dir. luca guadagnino

[sgt-dignam]

aren't you supposed to be talking to me about the virtues of mercy? i see. is that what you'd prefer?

From (2022-) | 1.03

[evocatiio]

HAROLD PERRINEAU as BOYD STEVENS FROM (2022 - present)

You're a terrible fucking priest. You know that? Fucking worst. Now I'm cursing in the house of the Lord. What the fuck is this?

[jessaerys]

something i loved about mgm 'from' is that the characters are smart and keep doing everything you'd think off the top of your head to escape with science and exploration and experimentation !!!! but the horrors,

[songbvrd]

HELLO HI IF ANYONE WATCHES THE SHOW ‘FROM’ PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD MESSAGE ME I NEED TO TALK TO SOMEONE ABOUT WHATEVER THE FUCK THE SEASON 2 FINALE WAS PLEASE

[merp-blerp]

I know it's late to say, but I hope that Hbomb's video will encourage people to not only cite their sources but also have a good source to begin with. Don't tell me Snow White is 14 years old and then show a screenshot of a featured snippet from Google that leads back to Screenrant.com. Don't tell me Judy Garland was forced to take drugs and smoke 80 cigarettes a day by MGM and have your source be social osmosis or "Hundreds of other videos say so!" Where's that info from? Does it's source truly make sense as a source? Are there more reliable routes for sources to take outside of looking online, like reading books about the subject from people involved or seasoned/trusted in the topic? I know "Google is free", but that doesn't mean it's always good for research. Try Google Scholar at least...

[vanilla-avadacos]

Watching From and thinking abt the monsters! Thought dump below ~

1) Reminds me of Vampires a little

They can't be let in unless invited, and yeah its because of the talisman, but if someone opens a window its not like the talisman stops them from coming in. You still need to let them in... they remind me of vampires in that sense. Maybe they're some kind of "unholy creature."

2) "When" are these guys from anyway?

You have ones like the milkman which is from an older time period, but then you have ones like the boy with the creepy smile in the blue sweater who seems to be more modern in comparison, among others. Do these monsters span generations? Say they're people who died and came back... the cycle would have been going on a for a while if that's the case. Will what happened to Victor's "generation" happen again soon? Will everyone die? Will they come back...

3) Do they have a sense of self? Is it their own or who they used to be?

(Slight spoilers) When the girl monster who got into Colony House was in the bathroom, she washed her dress of blood and looked at her reflection. Was she reminiscing? Thinking about who she is, who she was? We see from Kristi's autopsy that their anatomy is human, but its like their dead. Were they alive at some point? Are they who they were, or are they something unholy in the form of who they were when they died? Many thoughts....

Anyways if theres anything y'all noticed pls do share haha very curious as to what's going on, just finished s2 and ooo my brain is running