We have been watching Atypical the last few seasons and are in the middle or so of the fourth season. It has mostly been a good intentioned show where the family has to deal with the intricacies of the main character Sam being "on the spectrum", he has autism and the show is mostly about how he functions through life. Sam is a focused, to the point guy, we should all be a little more Sam in that he doesn't dance around with feelings, he just says things like they are. His sister, on the other hand, is an unraveling mess, with no clear reasoning that I can figure.
I know this is just a show, but it kind of seems to be touching in and out of reality. Seeing these asshole Olympic athletes making the performance about them and not the country they represent, the sister, Casey, is behaving very much the same way. She was shown to be a gifted runner in the first season and is offered the opportunity to go to a private school nearby with tuition paid for since she is a runner on the track team. She quickly shows she is "special" and is soon regarded as the up and coming star, she has a real shot at going to UCLA on scholarship (her dream school). She is doing everything right, even interacting with Sam, the autistic brother who in the third season is now in college close by. All she does is run and school, she has even asked the dad to help keep her focused by taking her for runs. The dad is played by Michael Rapaport and I really liked the dude before hearing his stupid TikTok videos, but I digress. The dad more or less plays the unheralded good guy, he had to deal with his wife cheating on him and decide whether to stay or divorce. It took three seasons but it seems like they are staying together now and all he does is work and putz around for his kids, as best he can.
The part that pissed me off is that finally all is lined up, the girl has been training for years, a scout from UCLA is at a track meet to see her, she has a letter of interest from the school, she's gay, which is on par for today's climate, even the girlfriend is a runner and also wanting to go to UCLA so what does she do during the big match? The asshole doesn't even run when the gun goes off, she freezes on the starting blocks and just walks off. We then see her the rest of the show talking about some convoluted BS story about some character in some book that reminded her of herself. She is finally seen talking to her coach from the public school and she just wants to go back to running but for herself, out of the limelight, not for the possibility of a scholarship on a mediocre team with no visibility.
That is some low self esteem bullshit right there. If you are given a gift, you should make the most of it and ride it to goals that would be unreachable otherwise. We are led to believe that somehow she will be happy by resetting her goals to a less lofty ambitious life? This is the problem with today's youth, they think hard work is not worth it, they think that as long as they feel good inside, that should be enough for the world to recognize you. Fuck you, be safe and warm at home, fine, but don't expect the world to give two shits about your ass. You only get the world admiring you when you show that you are greater than the average person, that you can give more than the stoner chick who is going to sleep in and eat all day. Do that, if you want, but do that in anonymity, don't think for a minute that the world wants to hear about your ten cent ass (you dime a dozen asshole).
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