Over in the Khet thread, the "is Phil/Khet autistic" conversation came up. Was going to post there, but realized it was really more about Phil because Khet is still such a question mark we can't really say one way or another. I think it's interesting to discuss, so figured I'd post it here instead because it ended up being so Phil-centric:
Both Khet and Phil definitely have some of the broader strokes for autism, but...the problem is, some of the checkboxes are such wide categories that it's easy to apply. It's why it became so popular as an identity on tumblr and similar online spaces.
Like, yeah, Phil and Khet both have trouble making friends, which could be a sign of autism. But it could also just as easily be the fact that they're boring, selfish slobs. I mean, we've seen Phil in the past interacting with people who were his friends and despite what he says now, he genuinely seemed to enjoy those connections. I think Phil wants friends, but he's also incredibly selfish and wants one-sided friendships and doesn't want to put effort into making friends and just expects them to flock to him. The closest he really came to socializing was in guild chat for Champions. Khet has previously been in relationships, but we don't know a whole lot about whether she had friends that she just ditched for an easy ride with DSP. I'd be leaning towards no on that particular one.
DSP and I think to a lesser extent from what we've seen, Khet are both blunt/rude, but...I think it's pretty intentional on their part and not something they don't mean to do. Like, usually with autism, it's accidentally being rude because you can't read a social situation. Like, say someone had a co-worker who died and they were sad about it, someone with autism might say "but you were just work friends, is it that sad" or "you only knew them for a month or two, what's the big deal." Not realizing how bad that comes off. Phil telling someone he'll send them a spoon to eat shit out of his ass or saying his viewers are immature morons is very much intentional. Now, there are moments where he says something tone deaf, like comparing...whoever died to losing his save file, but I think even that is sorta intentional and is just Phil's way of being a narcissist and drawing attention back to himself, because he loves being the victim. Speaking of, Phil has a general understanding of emotions in the sense that he pretty consistently tries to manipulate people into feeling bad for him.
Even Phil's schedule, as much as we joke about it, isn't actually that set in stone. In the past, he'd happily take days off whenever he wanted, and he's okay making on the fly changes if it means less gameplay. I think in a lot of cases his "autism" is just him making lame excuses "Oh, we have 2 hours left and you want me to play this other game? Uhh, I can't, because of the schedule, but let's do an impromptu Q&A" It's just him hating video games and looking for any excuse not to play them, while also seeming like a mature adult. Buuut, then there's also stuff like him scheduling food nights. Again, it's one of the problems with the categories being so broad where it's hard to tell what's legitimate and what's just a weird quirk/BS excuse.
I think the reason people are resistant to really put an official label on Phil is they don't want to play into the "nuthing I could do" argument he loves to throw out. Obviously, it wouldn't excuse away everything, but generally Phil is a cow because he had tons of opportunities and just continually made the wrong choices. That still by and large would hold true even if he was autisitic, but it could also come off like he's getting a pass on certain things because, well...there's nothing he could do if it was a condition he was born with. All that being said, it's technically not impossible and certainly fun to speculate/joke about, but I wouldn't want to ever officially label Phil without more solid confirmation. Some people are just retarded, without actually being "retarded."
