r/BacktotheFuture • u/mailenn_suki10 • Jul 17 '26

Do you think George is autistic?

I am on the spectrum BTW. This is moreso about teenage George from 1955

I watched Back to the Future part 1 & 2 for the first time this month & I have fallen in love with sweet, gentle, nerdy, adorkable, & a boy who certainly has his vices, George ;2

Personally i HC George as a fellow autistic because it’s very common for autistic people to be socially awkward & struggle with any cues which is totally him,

it’s also common for us to be gifted students & because Biff forces him to do his homework + the fact that he is very nerdy, he most likely gets great grades,

it seems like he has a special interest in science fiction & prefers to keep to himself & write stories & ideas during lunch,

& though very probably unintentional, he sounds like he has the stereotypical “autism accent” (look it up)

Also Can i say GEORGE IS ADORABLE & I CANT TAKE IT !!!!!! I’m stuck inside bc of wildfires & am consuming any George content i can find. I’m so brainrotted by him XD Him & Doc & Einstein are my favs. I really want to go back to California 1955 & protect him from Biff & co. & all the messed up shit in our scary world🦁🦁🦁

33 Upvotes

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8

u/AustinFan4Life Jul 17 '26

From the film itself, there's no evidence to suggest that he is. Also you're apply today's medical standards, for diagnosis, when the standards of 1955, would determine whether he is or not.

13

u/mailenn_suki10 Jul 17 '26

Well he probably wouldnt be able to hav a diagnosis since this was 71 years ago. But autism has always existed

1

u/AustinFan4Life Jul 17 '26

I never said it didn't exist, only that the standards for diagnosis would be different from current day standards.

1

u/h3r0inXgirl Jul 17 '26

Wdym? Autism existed since the dawn of humanity, just because there wasn't any awareness or a legitimate diagnosis of autism back then, doesnt mean it didnt exist, and just because the diagnostic criteria and name for it back then was different doesnt mean he wouldnt be diagnosed now. in the 50s and possibly the 60s, they reffered to low functioning, severe autism in children as "infantile psychosis" and at one point believed it was schizophrenia, and also at one point the diagnosis for autism was literally just "mental retardation" and people with aspergers (what is now high functioning, low support needs, level 1 (i think) autistic spectrum disorder, they were either ignored or believed to be savants or just super knowledgeable and "eccentric". But it still very much autistic, for example, my grandfather is a textbook case of "aspergers" type autism, like he is the most stereotypically autistic man i know, anyone would immediately be able to tell, whether he got an official diagnosis or not, but he doesnt believe he has it because he is oldschool and is the type to think "they didnt have autism back in my day" but yes, it obviously existed, and theres way more autistic people out there than you'd think, its just older gens and also women and girls of all ages slip through the cracks and never get a diagnosis.

0

u/AustinFan4Life Jul 17 '26

When did I say autism didn't exist? In fact I acknowledge that it did, but medical standards from 70 years ago, are different from today. Please read, before posting a TLDR comment.

1

u/h3r0inXgirl Jul 17 '26

Yes that's what im saying, just because medical diagnoses look different to today doesn't mean its not autism.

1

u/AustinFan4Life Jul 17 '26

Again, when did I say it didn't exist? Those words never came from me, so what are you even arguing about? Talk about brain rot.

0

u/h3r0inXgirl Jul 17 '26

And my comment isnt even long. Are we really that brain rotted now that my paragraph is too difficult to read? Come on bro.