These series avoid the ableism that’s all too often manifested in popular media, on the big and small screens. Hero Elementary, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, and Dead End: Paranormal Park have all featured positive portrayals of characters who live autistically and befriend people who accept them for who they are. Julia’s arrival opened the door for more shows to introduce characters who are on the spectrum. Many viewers, especially parents with kids on the spectrum, were heartened by the positive, non-stigmatizing depiction of autism. She first appeared in Sesame Workshop’s autism awareness initiative called Sesame Street and Autism: See Amazing in All Children, before making her TV debut in 2017. Back in 2015, Sesame Street introduced four-year-old Julia, the first character with autism on the show. In recent years, the subject of autism has gained greater visibility in family-oriented programming. Each family member takes the news differently: Oscar with apprehension and dismissal, Trudy with understanding, and Penny with concern. She informs the Prouds that BeBe is on the autism spectrum. Payne sends them to a child psychologist named Dr. After running a few tests to gauge Bebe's unique responses, Dr. Once again, he falls and is caught - but instead of crying, he giggles.Īgreeing that his behavior is alarming, the Prouds call upon their physician Dr. Penny tells her parents of the incident back at home, and immediately, BeBe goes missing again, only to be found on the roof. Penny’s boyfriend Kareem catches BeBe, who responds with laughter instead of tears. BeBe strays from the group, eventually climbing and then jumping from a hanging exhibit. In the Season 2 episode “BeBe,” Penny is asked to watch BeBe and Cece while visiting the museum with her friends. Instead of introducing a new character with autism, the show examines the topic through the central family, placing them in a novel and compelling dynamic. Season 1's Black openly queer characters brought queer inclusivity to the Prouds’ world, and now Season 2 - which dropped at the top of Black History Month, right alongside Black Panther: Wakanda Forever - overtly explores a range of topics from colorism to Juneteenth to autism. The soft reboot gives the Prouds a new coat of paint, pivoting Penny from millennial to Gen Z. That legacy has carried over into the Disney+ revival The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder. At a time when positive depictions of a Black family were virtually nonexistent in animation, The Proud Family fearlessly traversed unknown territory with resounding authenticity and care. Penny and her family tackled various social issues, including classism, racism, and gender norms, while exploring African-American culture on the small screen. Smith and Ralph Farquhar's The Proud Family broke new ground with its commitment to providing visibility to underrepresented topics in animated television. The series, which ran from 2001 to 2005, focused on the lives of an African-American family, the Prouds: outspoken 14-year-old Penny (Kyla Pratt), her overbearing father Oscar (Tommy Davidson), caring mother Trudy (Paula Jai Parker), old-school grandmother Suga Mama (Jo Marie Payton), and twin toddler siblings BeBe and CeCe (Tara Strong).
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