'Sex and Death, Neurodiversity in Film' / Kathleen Lee & Georgia Ketels
Haunted by duplicitous lovers, selfish friends and a tyrannical acting coach, Sex and Death, a six part webseries shot in Melbourne, follows Charlie on a tumultuous journey to emotional liberation and expressive freedom; drawing directly on writer/director/star Kathleen Lee’s experience living with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
“Do I be a part of the world? Or do I run away and hide? How much can I have without getting sick?
The diagnosis was a guideline for me.”
An Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis explained to Kathleen why she was chronically fatigued for 8 years. She was ‘masking’ for 8 years straight - camouflaging herself by rehearsing jokes, laughing at the right moments, imitating facial expressions and following social scripts to appear neurotypical.
“I read words, facial expressions, body language and tone one at a time – most people communicate with these things put together. I end up taking a while to respond to people when I’m trying to work out whether they meant literally what they said. I prefer passing all my meaning through words.”
Kathleen started acting because she was a great mimic. When the job became more serious in uni, she hit a wall: “I had to confront my worst nightmare, which was giving an authentic emotional response.”
Kathleen communicates through creativity, and her art is imbued with her love of people. “I find certain things beautiful, and I distill them down into one medium.”
Sex and Death, starring Kathleen, is an awkward, hilarious, heartbreaking passage through romance and art, leading up to a breaking point of the elusive ‘authentic emotional response’. Uniquely, it takes you out of your neurotypical point of view and shows just how plainly bizarre and over-the-top human behaviour can be. It also reminds you how crucial it is to find connection with people who ‘get’ you.
In this time of distance, we have a responsibility to look after each other and stay connected. Stay safe everyone, and watch Sex and Death at https://www.sexanddeath.online/