Hello I would like to take up a moment of your time to explain why I firmly believe Jillian Holtzmann from the 2016 reboot of Ghostbusters has a form of high functioning autism (I’m thinking Aspergers aka now referred to as Autism Spectrum Disorder/ASD but I’ll keep it as Aspergers). ALSO, THIS SHALL HAVE SPOILERS maybe I’m not sure but I’ll give the warning anyway. AND this is going off of what I know of Aspergers and how I have experienced it over my 25 years of life.
First off, here’s some reference for you all. I loved the first Ghostbusters films and was beyond excited to hear that Kate McKinnon was cast to be one of the leads in the 2016 reboot. I saw it on the Friday release and I’m so happy that it was in the Ultra Screen. I absolutely loved it, I knew it was going to be great and it was even better than I could have hoped for. Later, I got home and got to thinking about it. Now, for those who don’t know/follow me, I have mild to moderate Aspergers but I wasn’t diagnosed until late/post high school. This means I am high functioning enough to “pass” as neurotypical (aka “normal” or non-autistic) but others still see me as “eccentric” or a bit odd but can’t exactly put their finger on why.
Here we go! Aspergers, also known as Pervasive Development Disorder, is a high functioning form of autism, and the biggest component that I can think of is not being able to pick up on social cues and also hyper-focusing (I abhor the word “obsess” because we cannot exactly help it) on 2 to 3 things at the exclusion of others. Those with Aspergers also tend to be considered clumsy and use unusual language (which you’ve probably noticed by now that is what I’m doing). Also, not that I really need to mention this but, those with Aspergers are of normal or higher intelligence (for example, I had a college grade reading level in middle school). ANYWAY, on to Holtzmann.
Before I start, this is just my opinion and anyone can have whatever headcanon their heart desires. Also, I’ll try to not gush over how beautiful and perfect she is but no guarantees okay here is why I believe she has Aspergers:
1. Her sense of presence is outside the norm, from the way she dresses to her actions.
She doesn’t really have a set style of clothing, though her staples (comfort items??) are her yellow-tinted [safety] glasses and her “Screw U” necklace. Her outfits can be kind of “grungy” (though always put together, I noticed) but not dirty.
She does also wear graphic tee’s (which I don’t remember any other character doing) and mismatched socks. She wears things that on their own, you wouldn’t think go together until you see someone wearing them and you’re like DANG that looks good actually.
Kate McKinnon even calls her a genius and bizarre. How she talks to others is unconventional and very expressive in that regard.
How she acts is always messing around, and only at the end does she get serious. The social cues part comes in when she’s making jokes when other characters, namely Erin, are trying to do their jobs and they need to be serious (though Abby and sometimes Patty also like to poke fun at her).
Not to mention her mega badass gun-licking before kicking some ecto-butt
2. She gets really excited about her inventions…
…to the point of talking really fast when explaining which gadget does what and not really letting the girls ask questions before she straps them in for a field test.
I’m thinking that her “topics” of “focus” are her inventions and also the paranormal sciences.
Also, she got so into celebrating their first ghost caught that she grabs a guitar from one of the band members and smashes it on stage
3. She corrects others on words at some point
Which I personally remember doing on several occasions.
4. She’s (somewhat) clumsy
Now this really isn’t much to go off of because I only remember the one scene but when she was dancing around with two propane torches (I think that’s what they were) and lights something on fire.
Let the neurodivergent!holtzmann headcanons begin. For my money she is, inevitably, bipolar (hypomanic during the film) but oh the relatable possibilities.
