By Olivia Cushman
Written and co-directed by the musician Sia, “Music” is a new film that is slated to come out in movie theaters on February 12th. There are quite a few issues with this film that Sia, rightfully so, has received quite a bit of backlash for. I will get into that later, but from what we do know from the very limited knowledge that we have about the movie’s plot, it mostly portrays the life of a non verbal autistic teenager, named Music, and her sister Zu, her legal guardian.
The film stars Maddie Ziegler as the lead role of Music. The problem with this is that Maddie is neurotypical, meaning that she’s verbal and not on the autism spectrum. This is the main reason why so many people are already so quick to boycott the film. Being on the autism spectrum myself, this angered me, and if you care about autistic people or the autism community, this also should anger you. Casting a neurotypical actress as an autistic character is a blatant form of erasure; the same reason why a white actor shouldn’t play a character who is a person of color. If you’ve seen the trailer for this film, you can see Maddie mimic the movements and physical traits of a person who is severely autistic, adding even more stereotypical connotations to autism as a disorder and people who are on the vast spectrum of the disorder.
I, myself am classified as being on the high functioning end of the autism spectrum, what neurologists and clinical psychologists used to refer to as Asperger’s Syndrome. However, I was not diagnosed until after 2013, when Asperger’s Syndrome started being grouped in with everyone else on the spectrum, a general disorder called ASD or Autism Spectrum Disorder. Autism is such a complex and diverse concept that many neurologists still don’t understand a lot about it. No two autistic people are the same, just like no two neurotypical people are the same. So putting a character like this severely autistic girl in a film with so many other issues in it, makes it easy for people to make generalizations about people with autism as a whole.
If this wasn’t bad enough, Sia had originally cast an actress to play Music who was actually on the spectrum, but then gave the role to Maddie Ziegler because it was “too hard” to work with the autistic actress. Even if this were true (as it was later to be proven untrue), people with autism are known to not do well in an environment such as a movie set. Loud or otherwise overwhelming environments can cause people with more neurodiverse minds to feel stressed. Not providing accommodations to help this actress do her job and just switching to another actress without autism, and to ultimately misrepresent the autism community and favor a neurotypical actress over an autistic actress who is perfectly qualified in the first place is incredibly dismissive and ableist.
Sia responded to the criticism on twitter, responding to an autistic actor who tweeted their discomfort in the choice of her casting. She replied, “Maybe you’re just a bad actor.” In many interviews and public conversations about the film, Sia has admitted to working alongside Autism Speaks, believed among the autistic community to be a hate group towards them. Autism Speaks also spreads misinformation and actively portrays autism as a disease that ruins lives. On top of all of that, Sia has failed to consult any actual autistic people about her casting choice, her twitter responses, and working with Autism Speaks. There are many, many other issues with this film, but hopefully this was enough to show you why you shouldn’t watch or support this film in any way. Going to see the movie in theaters will allow Sia to profit off of her blatant ableism and ignorance, and if you truly cared about the autism community and the neurodiverse community that we live in, you should not support it at all. As someone who is neurodiverse, I am very passionate about the issue of ableism in the community, and it truly matters to me and so many others in the autistic community that neurotypical people try to help us out. It really helps when people try to educate others, but remember to speak up with us, not for us. You can post on your socials or sign petitions to boycott this ableist film. Use the hashtag #nothingaboutuswithoutus to spread the word. Boycott Autism Speaks and please, don’t watch this film. The autistic community Thanks You!
