How Persona 5 Has the Most Accurate Portrayal of Autism in Media

As society becomes more and more progressive, there has been an increasing demand for all kinds of people to be portrayed in multiple forms of media, such as books, movies, TV shows, and even video games. For example, people in the LGBT community have called for openly gay characters in TV and film to be portrayed more accurately. Netflix original shows like 13 Reasons Why and The End of the F***ing World have portrayed characters with mental illnesses like depression and anxiety, as well as less represented conditions like sociopathy. Very recently, there has been more representation of autistic characters and these types of media, such as Dr. Shaun Murphy of the TV show, The Good Doctor, An example of autism in media being portrayed accurately is Futaba Sakura of the hit Japanese video game Persona 5. While the creators of the game never explicitly say that Futaba is autistic, fans speculate she is, especially fans that are on the autism spectrum, and the game has been praised for being an accurate portrayal of somebody living with autism. One user on reddit posting on a forum to talk about the character, saying, “As someone on the spectrum myself, I started seeing some autistic traits in Futaba very quickly. I can relate to her more than any other character in the Persona series.” (r/Persona 5). Potentially, this character could be the most accurate portrayal of a teenager living with autism today. 

In the game, Futaba is extremely intelligent and knowledgeable about technology and computers, so much so that it seems that she is fixated on it and cares about nothing else unless it interests her. She is socially awkward around people she doesn’t know, but that doesn’t mean she has no friends. Her fixation isn’t something to advance the plot of the game, it’s something that is recognized by doctors that study autism. Autistic people might have a “special interest” that they spend most, or even all of their free time focusing on. An article written by the National Autistic Society list some common special interests or obsessions that young autistic people might have; “It can be art, music, trains, computers, car registration numbers, bus or train timetables, postcodes, table tennis, traffic lights, numbers, shapes or body parts such as feet or elbows. For many younger children it’s Thomas the Tank Engine, dinosaurs or particular cartoon characters.” (NAS par. 1) In Persona, her interest in computers allows the protagonist to help people and do very positive things; however it is not typical for special interests of the people with autism to always yield positive results. So while Futaba is portrayed accurately, she isn’t the average for most autistic people. Not all autistic people are geniuses; they typically have average or lower than average intelligence. (Moawad par. 2) But a lot of autistic characters in TV shows and movies are portrayed as having “high functioning autism.” Dr. Shaun Murphy, the protagonist of The Good Doctor, is shown as an autistic person that struggles in social situations, but is a genius in the medical field. When Atlus (the game studio behind Persona) doesn’t portray autism accurately in regards to intelligence, they make up for in social relationships and ways of thinking.

However, Futaba’s special interest in technology is common in the autistic community. Some autistic people enjoy learning how things work by taking them apart and fixing them again, and doing this with computers can be a perfect example. Even major tech companies have recently started looking into hiring more autistic workers. Arianni Skibell, a journalist for QUARTZ, mentions examples of this. “This year Microsoft launched a pilot program to hire adults with autism. SAP Software & Solutions announced that by 2020 it plans to hire 650 autistic employees, one percent of its workforce—nearly the same proportion of people with autism in the general US population. And others are following suit, seeing this community as an untapped, and potentially industrious, labor force.” (Skibell par. 8) While some people might see this as big tech companies taking advantage of people with a serious developmental illness, others see it as a big step in a progressive society to help lower the high unemployment rate of autistic people.

The game does an excellent job of making Futaba a positive character, and not using autism as something that she needs to overcome. A lot of bad portrayals of autistic characters (like the aforementioned TV show, The Good Doctor) show them as having no emotions or concerns about other people, but this is not the case with Futaba. Sam Rowett, a game designer and journalist that has autism, noticed that Lindbeck’s performance almost perfectly captured little things that he does due to his autism:

“The thing I find most interesting thing about Lindbeck’s performance is its awkwardness,” he says. “Every now and then (especially during emotionally tense-moments), Futaba will sound oddly stilted or suddenly start talking far louder than she needs to… I don’t know if this was intentional on Lindbeck’s part but, if it was, then… wow. Someone really did her homework. It’s a fantastically subtle detail that perfectly conveys a problem people like me have. We don’t always know how we’re coming across to others and it’s incredibly frustrating to be dismissed, even if we’re making valid points, just because our tone of voice wasn’t the most contextually appropriate.” (Rowett par. 9)

The issue with talking in the wrong tone isn’t just anecdotal evidence that only Rowett experiences, it’s a common problem among people on the autism spectrum. A study done by Joshua Diehl, a Notre Dame assistant professor of psychology, concluded that autistic children have trouble understanding how tone of voice is used properly. “It isn’t a hearing issue,” Diehl says. “It’s not that they have trouble producing changes in tone of voice. It’s that they have problems understanding it and how it’s meaningfully used.” (Diehl par. 3) Clearly, Erica Lindbeck, the voice actor for Futaba, did effective research on how autistic people act in social situations, and it led to a very accurate and moving portrayal of the character.

The emotional backstory of Futaba is unfortunately one that many people on the autism spectrum can relate to. At the start of the game, she is suicidal because she believed she was the reason that her mother killed herself. In recent years, autistic people have become more at risk to die of suicide then the general population. Anne V. Kirby, Ph.D., assistant professor of occupational therapy at the University of Utah said, “In a study I published earlier this year, we looked at 20 years of suicide data in the state of Utah. We found that while rates of suicide among people with autism were similar to the general population until 2012, suicide risk rose and was significantly higher for people with autism between 2013 and 2017.” (Kirby par. 4) So while the statistics on autistic suicide aren’t a hundred percent clear, her tragic backstory is most likely something that a lot of autistic people can relate to, which is proof of a good portrayal of the condition.

Another part of Futaba’s troubling backstory is the lingering belief that she was responsible for her mother’s suicide, even though all the characters in the game state that her mother would never kill herself because of her passion for her work and love for her daughter. Using Rowett to show the relationship between Futaba and actual autistic people, he mentions her past and explains how influenceable young autistic children are. “If Futaba is indeed supposed to be autistic, this makes perfect sense. We are an impressionable bunch, especially when we’re young, and we do have a tendency to take things completely literally without further investigation.” (Rowett par. 10) This is yet another example of Futaba doing things that autistic people generally do, which further shows how accurate autism was portrayed in Persona 5 by Lindbeck and Atlus.

Autism is something that is typically not portrayed incredibly accurately in all forms of media. However, Persona 5 have shown it’s not only possible to have autistic characters in gaming, but portray them in a fair and accurate way. Erica Lindbeck’s performance of Futaba Sakura is an emotional one that plenty of autistic people have praised being extraordinarily realistic and relatable to their personal experiences. Her special interest, her social awkwardness, suicidal tendencies, and impressionability are common effects that people on the autism spectrum live with on a daily basis. Because of this, it isn’t a rushed assumption to say that this is the best portrayal of a character with autism not just in gaming, but in all forms of media. Autism in other forms of media use stereotypes to make a good story, but Persona doesn’t do that. Instead, they create a fun and accurate character that autistic people can sympathize with. Movie producers and TV companies could use this game as an example on how to portray not only autistic people or people living with mental illnesses, but all minorities as well.

Works cited

Kirby, Anne V. “Suicide Risk in Autism.” Autism Speaks, 25 June 2019,
 https://www.autismspeaks.org/expert-opinion/suicide-risk-autism.

 

Moawad, Heidi. “The Myth of Autism and Exceptional Intellect.” Neurology Times, 5 Sept.
 2017, https://www.neurologytimes.com/autism/myth-autism-and-exceptional-intellect.

 

Monczunski, John. “Autism and Tone of Voice: Notre Dame Magazine: University of Notre
 Dame.” Notre Dame Magazine, 29 Nov. 2018,
            https://magazine.nd.edu/stories/autism-and-tone-of-voice/.

 

“Obsessions and Special Interests.” Ambitious about Autism, 

27 Sept. 2017,                  https://www.ambitiousaboutautism.org.uk/understanding-autism/behaviour/obsessions-and-special-interests.

 

“Obsessions, Repetitive Behaviour and Routines.” Autism Support – Leading UK Charity
 National Autistic Society, 11 Oct. 2016,                         https://www.autism.org.uk/about/behaviour/obsessions-repetitive-routines.aspx.

 

Rowett, Sam. “How Persona 5 Got Autism Right (without Really Talking about It).
 Samrowett.wordpress.com, 13 Apr. 2018,  https://samrowett.wordpress.com/2018/04/13/how-persona-5-got-autism-right-without-really-talking-about-it/

 

“r/Persona5 – How Persona 5 Got Autism Right (without Really Talking about It).” 

Reddit, 2018, https://www.reddit.com/r/Persona5/comments/8c36fm/how_persona_5_got_autism_right_without_really/.

Skibell, Arianna. “Should We Be Pushing People with Autism to Work in Tech?” Quartz, Quartz,
15 Nov. 2015, https://qz.com/549127/should-we-be-pushing-people-with-autism-to-work-in-tech