This qualitative study analyses pragmatic incompetence manifested by Zamborlin’s

dissonance theory and Culpeper’s impoliteness framework in the neurodivergent coded

characters Anya Jenkins from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Bella Baxter from Poor

Things. Previous research has largely focused on pragmatic incompetence within

intercultural contexts. Few have devoted studies to impoliteness in film and television,

leaving much to be explored. At a recent conference, McIntyre argued for the importance

and potential in the linguistic study of impoliteness in cinema, making this study

particularly timely. The novel focus of this paper lies in investigating how each character

displays dissonance throughout the tv-series' and film's respective narratives, utilising

impoliteness theory to examine how Anya and Bella develop individually and in

comparison to each other. The dual analytic framework illuminated emergent categories

– identified by trends in pragmatic domains combined with impoliteness strategies – and

showed how, through a deepened cultural knowledge, the characters were able to better

navigate dissonance as their stories progressed. It further showed how dissonance reflects

more on how a hearer perceives an utterance rather than what a speaker is saying, and

how that may become a barrier to pragmatic development for a neurodivergent speaker

trying to adapt to socio-cultural norms from a strictly neurotypical perspective.