K-Drama ‘Extraordinary Attorney Woo’ reignites debate over autism representation
Extraordinary Attorney Woo topped Netflix’s charts this summer. But questions about whether the drama is perpetuating stereotypes surrounding autism are being raised.
Attorney Woo solves complex legal cases while stunning her superiors. Image: Netflix
“Woo to the Young to the Woo”
Extraordinary Attorney Woo follows the story of Woo Young-woo, a recent college graduate and a prodigy in Korean law. As we follow Woo’s employment at prestigious law firm, Hanbada, we see the challenges she faces living as an autistic woman in South Korea.
Autism is a lifelong developmental disability which affects how people communicate and interact with the world.
Woo negotiates colleague rivalry, a new but complicated romance, as well as social stigma surrounding autism in South Korea.
While tackling serious and poignant social issues, the drama’s light-hearted and fun-spirited moments have attracted a wide viewership. Namely, the unique greeting used between Woo and her high-school friend, Dong Geu-rami, has become a TikTok trend, with K-Pop idols such as ASTRO’s Cha Eun-woo and TXT’s Yeon-jun and Beom-gyu putting their own twists on the handshake.
Lead actress Park Eun-bin has also been widely praised for her decision to initially reject the role of Woo due to her concerns of propagating prejudice. Park spoke about her hesitation to be included on the project in the ENA press release for the drama, stating: “I was very cautious and afraid that I might create prejudice. I kept wondering ‘Is it okay for me to act this and that?’”
Park continued to explain how she had met with a professor to ask for advice and learnt about the general characteristics of autistic people before accepting the role.
Park worked hard to avoid offence in her role as Woo Young-woo. Image: Namooactors Entertainment.
Is Woo another portrayal of “cute autism”?
Despite the surge of support for Extraordinary Attorney Woo, not everyone is satisfied with the drama’s portrayal of autism. Some point to the show as a missed opportunity to demonstrate more common characteristics of autism. Woo’s character is one of the 10% of autistic people who have savant skills.
This means she has an obsessive preoccupation with, and extraordinary memorisation of, facts and objects — as demonstrated by Woo’s love for whales.
As just one in 10 autistic adults have such traits, a lot of her behaviour does not apply to the majority of autistic people at all. As well, the fact that Woo has landed a position in a prestigious law firm only 6 months after graduation has led to questions as to how representative she is of the autistic population — only 22% of autistic people in South Korea are employed, a statistic echoed in the UK with only one fifth of autistic adults in paid work.
Aside from this, another issue raised with Extraordinary Attorney Woo is the question of Woo’s “cute autism”.
A term coined by novelist and activist Lydia Netzer, “cute autism” refers to depictions of autism that only show funny or positive behaviour and are “sanitised into character quirks.”
A western example of this is the character of Sheldon Cooper from the TV series, The Big Bang Theory. Netzer writes how Sheldon’s behaviour is not technically shunned but is always viewed as “quirky”. How this behaviour is portrayed on our screens feeds into our real lives — as Netzer puts it, “we rinse the events of our kids’ lives until the scary parts are gone. This is why we need writers who create fictional characters from unfiltered truth.”
Recent instances of Youtubers posting copy-cat videos imitating Woo’s speech and behaviour is an example of how viewers see Woo’s behaviour as a character quirk rather than as her autistic characteristics.
Despite best intentions, some point out the issue of “cute autism” in the drama. Image: Netflix
Putting autism in Korea into context
While still keeping these criticisms in mind, it is important to contextualise the environment in which this drama was written, produced, and released. What is the public perception of autism like in South Korea? How does this differ from the UK? And does that fact mark the show as progress in enlightening the public, in Korea and abroad, about autism?
Of course, ableism is prominent around the world, not just in Korea. However, South Korean society has traditionally valued societal normalcy as paramount, which of course makes it difficult for autistic people to negotiate.
Kim Hee-jin, a professor in psychiatry at Chung-Ang University Hospital in Seoul, spoke to Japan Today about the stigma surrounding autism in South Korea: "Public awareness or understanding of high-functioning autism is still very limited in South Korea," she said. General opinions of autism relate to it as “a condition that involves severe intellectual disability.”
Son Da-eun of Autism Partnership Korea also spoke about the difficulties autistic people face in Korea. She states how “there is much more of a sense of shame, not just for individuals with disabilities but also for their families.” And although autism is as prevalent in Korea as it is in some other societies, “you rarely have interactions with persons with autism on a daily basis. Historically, people with autism are kept home, hidden away from the world.”
The Korean title of the drama itself sends strong messages about public opinion in South Korea — although adapted to “Extraordinary” Attorney Woo for western audiences, a more accurate translation of the Korean title 이상한 변호사 우영우 is “Strange/Weird/Odd” Attorney Woo. We can see the kind of preconceptions of autism that the show is trying to display just from the title alone. But as we watch the drama, this preconceived notion of “otherness” is discarded the more we get to know Woo.
Some point to Extraordinary Attorney Woo as helping to widen public awareness of autism in Korea. Image: Netflix.
A brief history of autism representation in K-Dramas
Extraordinary Attorney Woo is not the first K-Drama to feature autistic characters. There have been many attempts to include an autistic character in K-Dramas in the past. In 2020’s It’s Okay Not to Be Okay (a story about an employee at a psychiatric hospital who strikes up a romance with an antisocial children’s book author) Oh Jung-se plays the role of the male lead’s autistic older brother.
In the following year, Move to Heaven told the story of a young autistic boy dealing with the loss of his father and the unique bond developed between him and his newly appointed guardian as they run his father’s trauma cleaning service.
Older depictions on Korean TV include the Korean adaptation of the US series The Good Doctor in 2013, where a paediatric resident on the autistic spectrum proves himself with his outstanding memory and spatial skills.
Listening to those on the spectrum
Conscious not to let this discussion be taken over with neurotypical opinions, we wanted to hear what the autistic community actually thought about the K-Drama:
Amy*, 23, an autistic Korean Studies student, spoke to us about her initial reaction to the show: “I was a bit annoyed as I couldn't relate to how she was being portrayed,” — the way Woo walks and reacts to loud noises was a stark contrast to our interviewee’s behaviour which is “far more subtle.” However, her opinion of the drama changed the more she watched:
“It is reiterated many times throughout the series that autism is a spectrum, and so I believe it isn’t right to find Attorney Woo’s behaviour exaggerated, as whilst some of her behaviour is not relatable for some, it will be for others.”
She also pointed out that a credit to the drama is that it includes other characters who are on the spectrum and have widely different characteristics to Woo herself: “I really enjoyed their inclusion of an almost non-verbal autistic character in another episode,” she told us, “[it] reminds the audience of the fact that autism is a spectrum and not everyone with autism acts the same way, nor does it mean they can communicate with each other better.”
However, Amy* also expressed concerns of misinformation: “I am worried that people will start to glamorise how Attorney Woo acts and see autism as a trend, as well as forcefully copying how she acts to follow said 'trend'.
“I have already personally experienced acquaintances and friends starting to mimic behaviours portrayed by Attorney Woo, and some have even gone as far as to self-diagnose themselves for exhibiting similar traits, such as being wary of revolving doors, and not liking certain textures of food.”
However, despite the fallout that might occur from the drama, she believes that “the show has put in a lot of effort to portray autism correctly,” and that the problem isn’t so much with the series, but how people will react and interact with it.
She says misunderstanding autism is: “unavoidable unless people do their own research to understand autism.
“I believe that this show, amongst other similar shows, do help to spread awareness and understanding about autism.”
Rebecca*, 22, a recent graduate and English teacher diagnosed with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder), shared similar views. She too could not relate to some of Woo’s characteristics such as needing to count down from five on her fingers before entering a room, but she also explained: “I don’t think it’s fair for me to say that just because I don’t do that, it is not an accurate depiction of autism.”
Rebecca* reminded us that: “we are learning new things about autism constantly, and the whole concept of being either “too autistic” or “not autistic enough” is very counterproductive.”
One aspect they do commend the drama for is the portrayal of neurotypical reactions to autism, rather than autism itself:
“The show does a great job of portraying how the people around her react to autistic people, in both good and bad ways. I have had people react to my behaviour in very similar ways to how other people in the show react to Woo.”
However, she also told us of her disappointment in watching yet another show with a character who is an autistic savant: “I have so far failed to see a character that doesn’t come under the ‘autistic savant’ trope.”
This becomes a particular problem when viewers feel that Woo was only given a job at the law firm because of her savant skills: “It felt like the only reason why she can be successful and autistic is because she has this superhuman skill which makes her not useless otherwise.”
Rebecca reminded us how autistic people don’t need to have savant skills to be successful, and that this is a message the show fails to portray. The solution to this is simple she says: “I would love to see a character that is, kind of, just autistic. We don’t need to have crazy, out-of-this-world talent to thrive in life.”
*Names have been changed to respect the interviewees’ anonymity.
Still a long way to go?
Whether Extraordinary Attorney Woo is a helpful portrayal of autism is clearly up for debate.
There is no doubt that seeing autistic characters on our screens is a positive thing; the drama helps contribute to wider awareness of autistic behaviour and characteristics. Not only that, but seeing autistic characters on TV is a positive experience for autistic individuals themselves — representation helps demographics be seen and allows them to relate to characters from their favourite shows.
However, for some, it is impossible to ignore the missteps in Woo’s character. Her uniqueness poses a hurdle in applying much of her behaviour with others, however the label she carries applies to a wide range of individuals. And the tendency for TV to show a more comfortable and acceptable side of autism with its “cute autism” prevents truly accurate representation.
Overall, K-Dramas, as much of western TV, have a long way to go in accurately portraying autism. But for now, Extraordinary Attorney Woo is a start.
Edited by Gabii Rayner
