Special Agent Oso: Discussing Autism Friendly Media

6:17 PM · Mar 14, 2021 "oso when he fucks up"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just a bit of a disclaimer before we start this one. I do not have an autism diagnosis, nor do I feel comfortable self-diagnosing with autism for personal reasons. From the eyes of others, I'm seen as on the borderline between autistic and allistic, and in jokes online I've referred to myself as "autistic enough to walk on my tippy toes." Take this as you will, because I'm gonna talk about autism a lot today.

Something I've taken note of in fandoms across the last 10 years is that there are a lot of autistic people in fandom, and certain fandoms have more autistic people than others. I recall a long time ago seeing someone point out that Mystery Science Theater 3000 is "autism friendly" media due to its esoteric humor, comforting atmosphere, repetitive jokes, and bits about characters getting overly sensitive to the movies they watch. It's a really good term, and I like to see if there are other media that fit this term. Unfortunately, this isn't exactly something that is researched, so there's no de facto list of autism friendly media.

Except Special Agent Oso, which was made with the intent of being autism friendly media.

6:26 PM · Mar 14, 2021 "huh. this is actually kind of neat... did any of my muts on the spectrum watch this show as a kid and find it like. helpful?"

6:35 PM · Mar 14, 2021 "... wait, this show came out when i was like 14.... so it may be a little too new for even my younger mutuals"

Personally, I thought the show was pretty good. It had a lot of positive energy and was very sweet. You especially got that vibe from Oso, which I loved.

6:02 PM · Mar 14, 2021 "apparently oso is played by the adoptive son of john astin, who played gomez in the 60s addams family. interesting information i think."
6:25 PM · Mar 14, 2021 "the vibe in oso is infectious though i really like it."
10:00 AM · Mar 15, 2021 "special agent oso is a very cute show... i wish it had more character dynamics though...."

But! This show also set out to complete a mission, and I needed to know if it did that, so my friend Uwe offered to watch a few episodes with me. And naturally this was a serious endeavor that we both took incredibly seriously 

9:19 PM · Mar 14, 2021 "special agent oso lost his license to kill"

 

9:02 PM · Mar 14, 2021 "It/Its pronoun user detected in oso"
9:20 PM · Mar 14, 2021 "i'm kinda going crazy over the character who was referred to with it/its and no other pronouns like i'm not crazy uwe and i both heard it"
9:25 PM · Mar 14, 2021 "going back is weird bc i hear it both ways now..... (he and it)"

 

 

 

 

 

 

Totally Serious...

We did get to see Oso in action though. Notably, he and Paw Pilot, his virtual assistant help various kids through difficult tasks using "three special steps," meant to compartmentalize a big task into a few smaller tasks. While at a first glance it seems incredibly basic (And it can be. Some tasks listed by the show can either be seen as too simple to split up or not split up in the best way), it doesn't talk down to its audience at all and has fun with it. You'll even see Oso messing up the tasks given at points.

After a couple episodes, Uwe and I agreed that Oso was a really cute show that set out what it intended to do pretty well!

6:06 PM · Mar 14, 2021 "i start a random episode and oso is already drilling"

Nevermind Oso's cancelled. (jkjkjk)

But yeah, as a whole Oso kind of felt more inclusive than shows like Jojo's Circus or Mickey Mouse Funhouse or even Little Einsteins.

8:55 AM · Mar 16, 2021 "the interactive bits of oso are so subdued i dont really know the implications of a young child watching this show and perhaps being mute or something but the fact that special agent oso allows for nonverbal responses is interesting bc not a lot of interactive shows do"
8:57 AM · Mar 16, 2021 "i've been interacting with interactive bits of shows on variable cases. little einsteins i did because of the thought provoking questions. i didnt for mmch or jojo. this one i interact nonverbally because i trust oso w my life and i think he understands me"
8:58 AM · Mar 16, 2021 "the only show i recall having interactions with interactive bits was dora the explorer, which came out when i was 6, which is like. young enough to watch a baby show but old enough to roll my eyes at interactive parts"

Also there was a Handy Manny crossover where Manny fixes a kid's bike and Oso teaches him how to ride it. It's kind of amazing. I don't have much to say about it but worth pointing out.

9:49 AM · Mar 15, 2021 ""im a hammer" shut up pat we KNOW"
9:50 AM · Mar 15, 2021 "pat is fucked up he tried to injure a woman who already had a broken/sprained leg"
9:51 AM · Mar 15, 2021 "felipe is so self centered in this ep and turner is just sitting here like"
9:54 AM · Mar 15, 2021 "i wish oso and manny would help me learn to ride a bike :sobbing:"

I haven't really talked much about the other characters, but there's Dottie and Wolfie, Oso's two main coworkers, Professor Buffo, the scientist, Rapide, a French speaking Train, and Paw Pilot, Oso's virtual assistant.

9:09 AM · Mar 16, 2021 "i think rapide is a catboy"
6:09 PM · Mar 14, 2021 "me: wow the paw pilot sounds familiar i wonder what i recognize her from
me:
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me: oh."
6:10 PM · Mar 14, 2021 "it's fucking penny from stitch."

Most of them are pretty basic save Paw Pilot who sings a Bond-esque song every episode along with the once an episode song. However, this show kind of lets me illustrate how much this stupid fucking project broke my brain. Now I love cartoons, that much is true. However, thanks to this project I'll hear a voice and be able to clock it to an insane degree, whether it be other cartoons, live action, video games, or anime, as with Paw Pilot and Penny. Hell, even yesterday I recognized a voice actor from Elena of Avalor in a Netflix show I was watching. Not a bad thing at all, but definitely a sign I've been watching way too many cartoons.

Overall Rating for Special Agent Oso: B Tier