Australian singer Sia apologized for representing autism in her directorial debut, Music, after the film surprisingly got two Golden Globe nominations.
The film sparked controversy for casting neurotypical actress Maddie Ziegler to play a non-verbal autistic woman who listens to music over and over in her headphones. An online petition asking for Music to be canceled has almost 18,000 subscriptions.
After his appointment to Globo on Wednesday, Sia tweeted an apology, promised to remove the restriction scenes from the film and said he would be updated with a warning. She then deleted her Twitter account.
“I’m sorry,” she said simply in a post. In another, she added: “I intend to remove the restriction scenes from all future impressions. I heard the wrong people and that is my responsibility, my research was clearly not complete enough, it was not broad enough. “
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Sia also said Music will contain the following warning: “MUSIC in no way tolerates or recommends the use of restraint in autistic people. There are autistic occupational therapists who specialize in sensory processing who can be consulted to explain safe ways to provide proprioceptive feedback from deep pressure to help aw [sic] fusion security. “
Sia has been involved in discussions on Twitter on the subject. She noted last November that she tried to “represent the community with love”. Many asked why a disabled actor could not have filled the role. Sia struggled, saying at one point, “Duh. I spent three years researching, I think that’s why I’m so upset. “
Music received a nomination for best film (comedy / musical), while Kate Hudson was also nominated as a lead actress in a comedy and musical. Hudson said he was “speechless” after the nomination.
The verdict of our main film critic, Pete Hammond, was as follows: “The film was shown privately to me in early December, in the hope that I would interview Sia and say good things about the film; I politely declined after seeing it, discovering it was missing from almost every area. “