Rambles About Words Bubble Up... - Cherry and Autism
okay well first of all, if you are a sucker for autistic characters in anime, go watch Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop. cute, lighthearted, wonderful movie!
also spoilers!
and now for the post!
right off the bat, id call it cannon that Cherry is autistic, because in one scene near the beginning (in the dub), Smile specifically says “He has a communication disorder AND a girlfriend??” so yeah thats that. let alone all of the other “evidence” haha
i want to specifically talk about how Cherry shows some autism-specific signs of affection. in the scene where he is walking home with Smile, she says: “I just noticed! You’re not wearing your headphones.” and Cherry replies: “Uh, I guess I dont need them right now” and blushes
now THIS scene specifically was the one that made me smile the most. cherry feels so comfortable around smile that he can remove his headphones around her, a sign of trust and affection. i heavily relate to this, i dont always wear my headphones because they can be bulky, but when i remove them around someone completely willingly, its a sign that im comfortable and trust them. and seeing that represented so casually in media is just so meaningful.
another part that i heavily related to was when they were walking home together after Smile learned Cherry was moving, and she confronted him about it, asking how long he had known. Cherry gets upset, and reaches out to Smile and looks like he tries to say something but cant, and we can hear all of the noises get louder and more emphasized for a moment, and Cherry quickly puts on his headphones, and all of it is quiet again. Cherry’s body language then goes from tense and on edge to weak and crying, and he sinks to the ground to cry while his hands are over his headphones, almost hugging them closer. in this moment, i knew exactly every single thing Cherry was feeling. regret, frustration, embarrassed, overwhelmed, powerless. the feelings of when you realize youve messed up because you just couldnt say what you needed to, and you feel so shocked and upset and trapped that you cant say anything else. no new words can come out, and you just have to watch the person youve hurt walk away. and the position he sinks to when he gets upset.. GOSH its so reminiscent of my breakdowns. crouched over, shaking and crying, holding onto my headphones for dear life. gosh. this scene hit me hard. every single moment of it was SO autistic.
seeing Cherry just being autistic and seeing all of this represented in such a beautiful way is really meaningful to me. Cherry was never infantalized or looked down upon or treated differently or made fun of. his friends and family just.. accept him. and they never make comments about his headphones or force him into things, and are always supportive of his haikus... its just really meaningful
now there is so much i could talk about in regards to this movie and Cherry’s autism, but these two scenes were two that were specifically impactful and relatable to me, and i could go on and on about them forever. autistic ways of expressing love, and autistic ways of expressing hurt. i’ll probably make another post about Cherry and his haikus, because there is a lot there too!!!
as always, id love to hear your thoughts!