The Fosters Season 2 and Selective Mutism

[sasha_feather]

First, I don't speak for all people with selective mutism, only for myself and my own experiences. You can read more of my posts about selective mutism by clicking the tag at the bottom of the posts. Comments and shares are welcome.

Spoilers for the Fosters through Season 2, episode 6.



In episodes 4, 5 and 6, Jude stops speaking, and Lena tells the family that his counselor thinks that it might be selective mutism. She and Stef say supportive things that sound like they are right out of a treatment handbook. They shouldn't make a big deal out of Jude not talking, shouldn't try to force him to speak, and that his silence is anxiety-based and a coping mechanism. This is all accurate in my experience, and it was exciting to hear this. I was sort of half-watching the show while playing a computer game, because it's not the kind of show where you have to catch every line, but suddenly my ears perked up. It was doubly interesting to me because Jude is also doing some questioning over his sexuality, and I wondering if this was related to his mutism.

I liked it too when Callie, Jude's sister, told him not to let anyone try to force him to speak. She says this while Jude is playing a video game, and tells him "you're due for a breakdown", because of all the hard things they've been through.

I didn't much like when Wyatt plays armchair psychologist and suggests that Jude might not be speaking because speaking is the only thing he can control in his life. This may or may not be true, I don't know, but I can't say I relate to it, and I don't trust Wyatt (an abled teenager) as an authority on selective mutism.

Unfortunately the show really went back on this with sloppy writing. At the end of episode 6, Callie is encouraged by the boys in her life (Wyatt and a much-improved Brandon) to talk about her sexual-assault-related PTSD symptoms and reach out to people. This bothered me a bit because of the gender dynamics, but Callie seemed to agree.

Sadly she uses the same tactic just used on her and pushes Jude to talk to her, violating her own previous advice. She tells him that it would be selfish not to talk, not to reach out, and that he's not a selfish person. Unbelievably, he responds and says "OK".

Now, it may be that Jude doesn't have selective mutism and there is something else going on. But to me this seems like such a mistake on the part of the writers. Trying to force someone to talk, or using guilt, does not work because it raises the stakes. It's the exact opposite of what you want to do: you want to lower the stakes. You want to make words less emotionally laden for the person not speaking.

Thinking about this makes me angry. If you are going to use a diagnosis/identity category like selective mutism, and even bother to some research, then write about it correctly and respectfully.

Comments

[alwaystheocean]

Ughhh, that sounds super-disappointing, but quite typical of the Fosters? I feel like sometimes they knock it out of the park and then other times they miss just as badly, or undo their own good work. Sigh. I'm sorry it didn't keep going as it started and that it made you angry. <3 (I'm way behind on the show, need to catch up at some point.)

[sasha_feather]

Right? It's so uneven. I'm enjoying Season 2 partly because I lowered my expectations, and am just charging through it to see what happens. Brandon is waaaay less annoying this season, thank all that is good and holy. Some of the other issues I don't feel knowledgeable enough to comment upon, but this one, I actually can.

[alwaystheocean]

Heh, I think that's how I got behind, I LIKE being behind because then it's less stressful. Glad to hear that about Brandon! I just wish I could tell them they don't need all the soapy stuff to be an awesome show.

[sasha_feather]

Agree so much.

[meganbmoore]

As with so many things in The Fosters, I feel that they actually, genuinely cared about that, and then did their research and familiarized themselves with people with the condition, not just textbooks, but then at some point, they stopped and lost a lot of it for the need for drama/resolution.

I felt this way about Jesus and his ADHD. Which they label as ADD, but his behavior and symptoms are more in line with ADHD. There's a lot that they got right, especially when compared to how most media approaches it (I'm still frothing over the plotline in PLL) but I don't feel they bothered to find out what it's like for teenagers who stop taking medication, particularly when they do it in the middle of the school year (which I actually did do at around Jesus's age) because it has a huge impact on your ability to study. They've also never touched on rituals or other coping mechanisms (at least as of...uhm...I think I'm at 2.11, whereever Netflix leaves off) which people with ADD and ADHD, regardless of whether or not they're taking medication, almost always have a lot of. They've also never touched on the fact that the outward behaviors aren't the big thing about ADD and ADHD, because your brain processes information differently, and the thought process that's a straight line for most people is a ping pong ball (I've also seen ADD and ADHD thought processes described as a race car without breaks, which is also accurate) which also affects expression and communication, not to mention judgement (and contributes to the headaches and migraines that are so frequent that you can forget what it's like to not have a headache).

I could go on about this a lot more, but it's the same thing of starting well with an issue, and then losing it. (Though in this case, it's more an issue of not going far enough into it.)

[sasha_feather]

Thanks for these insights! You're right that Jesus' ADD plot line got pretty well dropped in season 2.

[jesse_the_k]

I wonder how intentions & research are derailed? I don't know how to find out, though. Is there a Disney exec who reviews the script and pints at a scene and says, "that's too subtle"?

[sasha_feather]

I wouldn't be surprised. :/