‘Music’ film with nonverbal autistic lead, directed by Sia

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I've seen the movie, it came out this week in Aus.

It's understandable why Sia cast Ziegler for the role, as it involves two roles in one - the severely autistic non-verbal girl in the main narrative, and the accomplished dancer in the musical parts. I can see why it might have been hard to find someone suitable, and Ziegler actually does a great job in both parts.

I feel the criticisms of Sia were overblown, if not harmful to autistics in some ways - as it could have reduced or cancelled the screening of a movie with potential to increase understanding and acceptance of non-verbal autism.

My overall thoughts on the movie are mixed, there are aspects I liked and others I wasn't at all sure about, but that's another discussion. I'm just expressing that I think many were too quick to criticise. I know autism representation is important but at least people should watch the movie before drawing conclusions.

I would expect a first film from somebody who never went to film school to suck.

I'll be honest it gets deeper than that. There is the fact Sia decided not to consult with a single autistic self-advocacy group. But who did she go to in order to gain advice for the film? Well, she went to Autism Speaks and they co-created this film. Why is this so problematic? Well, Autism Speaks has been embezzling money for decades, supporting the abuse of autistic children, and literally produced a video where a parent discussed wanting to murder their own autistic child. The pain there cuts pretty deep for one.

That being said, I can see how this film can have a positive impact on some people. But honestly, at this stage I prefer Rainman. At least with Rainman a lot of the humor was at the expense of a dumb salty Neurotypical not understanding what the hell to do.

Well, this is not a very kind review: Sia's film Music misrepresents Autistic people. It could also do us damage:

Well, this is not a very kind review: Sia's film Music misrepresents Autistic people. It could also do us damage:

This article again typifies the ableism among those in Neurodiversity.

She hides her real reasons for disliking it behind against stereotyping autistic people by showing severe autism, like there has never been hf autism shown as well like the “good doctor” or “the accountant” movie.

I would say these days the stereotype in movies is definitely hf autism not severe autism, simply because it allows greater scope for a story line including the silly “superpower narrative”.

ND spend a lot of time hiding and denying these people out of shame and embarrassment so naturally they get angry every time the truth is shown.

When she says the movie damages autistic people what she really means is it damages the ND whitewashing propaganda message.

I have been told the best person to play the non-verbal intellectually disabled character who uses AAC for communication is another autistic person because "autistic people understand each other better than non autistic people do".

It seems to me that a person who is abled enough to follow direction and act as someone else has little shared experience in common with a person like the character. I suppose being autistic would give some additional insight, but there's still a gulf there to be bridged.

Sia addressed the controversy surrounding her directorial feature debut, “Music,” after the film earned two Golden Globes nominations Tuesday morning, then promptly deleted her Twitter account. (Sia’s Instagram account, which boasts more than 6 million followers, remains active as of this update at 11:30 pm PT)

In a succession of tweets on Tuesday night, the singer wrote that she has “been listening” to the criticism surrounding the film’s portrayal of a nonverbal autistic person by a neurotypical actor, Maddie Ziegler. As a result, the singer announced that a warning will appear at the beginning of the film, specifically about scenes depicting physical restraint.

“I promise, have been listening. The motion picture MUSIC will, moving forward, have this warning at the head of the movie,” Sia tweeted, followed by the warning, which reads: “MUSIC in no way condones or recommends the use of restraint on autistic people. There are autistic occupational therapists that specialize in sensory processing who can be consulted to explain safe ways to provide proprioceptive, deep-pressure feedback to help w meltdown safety.”

Sia then simply tweeted, “I’m sorry,” an apology presumably aimed at the members of the autism community who have been vocal about their disappointment in the film’s casting and portrayal of autism.

Sia also wrote that all restraint scenes, for which the warning at the beginning of the film is issued, will be removed from public screenings of the film. “I plan to remove the restraint scenes from all future printings,” she wrote. “I listened to the wrong people and that is my responsibility, my research was clearly not thorough enough, not wide enough.”

The tweets remained publicly accessible for just over an hour before Sia deactivated her account.

“Music” earned a nomination for best picture in the musical or comedy category at the 2021 Golden Globes, with star Kate Hudson also picking up a nod for best actress. The recognition reignited controversy surrounding the film, which is scheduled for release at select IMAX theaters on Feb. 10.

All of this led to the creation of a petition asking for the film to be canceled, which has garnered over 17,000 signatures.

“As an autistic individual, I am asking that this film is canceled,” wrote Hannah Marshall, the creator of the petition, on its homepage. “It is extremely offensive to myself and other autistic individuals. Sia has shown no remorse for her inaccurate and hurtful betrayal of the community.”

The artist had also had her supporters, like the National Council for Severe Autism, which published a letter from Yuval Levental, an autistic fan, titled, “Thank You for Representing a Girl with Severe Autism.”

Regardless of the controversy, the movie has been panned. A bit of drama with wooden dialogue and a bunch of music videos thrown in. It seems neither fish nor fowl.

I guess it will not join Shawshank Redemption as a blockbuster debut.

Do musicals ever do well at the box office?

I think they are really aimed at a small audience of enthusiasts. Les Misérables & Evita are the only two that come to mind that i never bothered watching & only got a modest audience as far as im aware. This despite the "art world" fawning over these kind of things.

I would rather watch paint dry

I thought I knew what to expect when I sat down to watch Music. I was expecting to be offended. Instead, I felt intense secondhand embarrassment, because Music is 107 minutes of unadulterated, unintentional cringe. I feel sorry for Maddie Ziegler, who plays the titular character. I feel sorry for Leslie Odom Jr., who I had assumed has more self-awareness than he apparently does. And despite Sia cursing out my community, the autistic community, on social media, I feel sorry for her too.

Earlier this month, Sia went on an Australian talk show, The Project, to talk about Music. She discussed how uncomfortable Maddie Ziegler felt playing Music early in the production. “She cried on the first day of rehearsals and she was really scared. She just said, ‘I don’t want anyone to think I’m making fun of them.’ ” It isn’t hard to see where Ziegler might have gotten that idea. In the first few minutes of Music, Ziegler grunts, hums, and hits herself. She thrusts her upper jaw forward into an exaggerated overbite. Then, the first musical number starts. Ziegler continues to twitch and lurch around, but this time with background dancers and bright yellow costumes.

I do not think Ziegler is making fun of anyone. However, a lack of malice does not reduce the acute discomfort of watching her clumsily ape disability. Ziegler is a teenager, and by reassuring her about her role in this movie, the adults in her life have failed her profoundly.

Autism is, technically, an invisible disability, but there is a physicality to it. Our bodies move in unusual ways. To be entirely fair to Ziegler, we do sometimes grunt, hum, twitch, lurch, and hit ourselves. I appreciate that she probably watched several YouTube videos while researching for the role.

Music is not a film about autism, nor is it a film about an autistic person. Despite the movie’s eponymous title, Music, the character, is barely a person at all. She seems to exist for no reason other than steadily propelling her half-sister Zu (Kate Hudson) along a predictable redemption arc.

To be fair to Zu, Music’s needs are unclear and seem to fluctuate based on whatever needs to happen to advance the plot. It doesn’t appear that Zu needs to do all that much for Music, beyond cooking breakfast and braiding her hair. Music dresses herself, brushes her own teeth, and walks from her home to the local library and back unattended every day.

Most autism organizations across the ideological spectrum have denounced elements of the movie as not representative and unsafe, and I’m inclined to agree. One notable exception: the National Council on Severe Autism. NCSA was founded by a handful of parents hostile to the idea of neurodiversity, a branch of the disability rights movement centered on the idea that cognitive disabilities like autism are normal parts of the human experience—essentially, it’s the idea that autistic people are different than our typical peers, not less. NSCA chose to praise the movie’s decision to portray “severe autism” based purely on the fact that some autistic adults online were offended by the premise and movie trailer. Having actually seen it, I think they will be disappointed. The movie does not depict autism as “severe” in any sense. Music’s autism is unrecognizably sanitized, her life miraculously, dazzlingly easy. Music’s neighbors love and support her. People on the street wave to her, handing her free magazine clippings and fresh fruit. In case you were wondering, this is not how the world generally responds to autistic people, more or less across the spectrum.

And then there’s Ebo, played by Leslie Odom Jr. Ebo lives down the hall from Music and Zu. Ebo is from Ghana. He had an autistic brother at one point, but—as he strangely cheerfully informs Zu—his brother is dead. But it’s OK! You see, in his village, autism “was considered a curse“.

Some of his advice is just astonishingly terrible. At one point, Ebo coaches Zu on how to hold Music down after Music has a meltdown in a park. Zu gets on top of Music, pinning Music face down. This is called “prone restraint” and is a practice that has resulted in multiple deaths. After some outcry, Sia has apologized and said that the scenes will be removed from future versions of the film. But that the scene—as well as another in which Ebo, a grown man, climbs on top of a panicking autistic teenager as though that is an ordinary and even desirable way to respond to a meltdown—made it all the way from filming through postproduction apparently without anyone raising an eyebrow is exactly the problem. It’s a bizarre choice.