The debut in Sia’s direction is being criticized for presenting neurotypical star Maddie Ziegler as a teenager on the spectrum.
On the shelf for more than three years, but finally seeing the light of day this weekend, Sia’s debut film in the direction, “Music”, is generating controversy for her interpretation of an autistic teenager. The main character, called Music, is played by neurotypical actress Maddie Ziegler, and autistic critics and are not comparing the film to a caricature of autistic behavior.
The moments in the film also add to the moments in the film when Ziegler’s character needs to be physically restrained, which Sia apologized for before deleting her Twitter account. (These scenes were supposed to be removed before the final release of the film, although at the time of this writing, a version of the film with the restriction is currently available for rent on Amazon.) The singer / songwriter who became a filmmaker previously stayed on the defensive on social media before the film’s release on charges of misrepresenting the autistic community.
Matthew Rozsa of Salon called the film “a bewildering and condescending fraternization of empowering minstrels”, adding: “’Music’ is the cinematographic equivalent of someone who claims to be your friend patting your head for 100 minutes and saying: ‘ ‘t you cuuuuute?’ You care about autistic people, I feel, but you are not listening to us. The result is one of the most grotesque films I have ever seen, a film that literally left me looking in shock with my mouth open most of the time. ”
“Even doing research and writing an essay on the problematic elements of the film before the release was not enough to prepare me for how harmful ‘Music’ is to autistic people,” wrote Joseph Stanichar de Paste. “In two cases where the music becomes overwhelmed and begins to collapse, Ebo [played by Leslie Odom, Jr.] and Zu [played by Kate Hudson] put the music on the floor and press your bodies against it as it struggles to break free. The use of physical restraint should only be done by trained individuals and as an absolute last resort. The fact that Sia was only acknowledging this days before the film’s release in the United States cements the fact that she did not listen to autistic audiences or experts during the entire production of the film. The scenes themselves triggered damaging memories as an autistic child, which made me cry – and not in a good way. “
Autistic actress Ashley Wool told the New York Times, in response to the musical’s recent Golden Globe nominations for Best Picture and Best Actress, “’Music’ is something that is actively harming people. This gives him a veneer of legitimacy that he doesn’t deserve. “
“Some people may say that any representation is better than nothing. I heard this argument as a black person. I’ve heard it as a weird person. I’ve heard that as a woman. I’ve heard it as an autistic person, ”said Morenike Giwa Onaiwu, a visiting researcher at Rice University, told the Times. “I am tired of the remains and crumbs. I prefer not to see us on the screen than to see us in a way that fuels stigma. “
Sia said she originally cast an actress on the spectrum for the role of Music, but she found it “unpleasant and stressful” and so she reworked the role with Ziegler. Autistic actress Chloé Hayden told the Times that “first, it is undermining the capabilities of autistic people and making us look like children. Secondly, if your film is about inclusion, but you are not making the actual setting of the film inclusive, it completely minimizes the whole point. “
“This performance is a caricature of the autistic’s body language”, Twitter account Autisticats said. “It is disturbing and insincere. And it is deeply reminiscent of the exaggerated mannerisms that non-autistic people tend to employ in intimidating autistic and developmentally impaired people in relation to the way we move. “
The IndieWire critic himself called the film “an incredibly deaf display of magical thinking”.
Sign up: Stay on top of the latest film and TV news! Sign up for our email newsletters here.