Sia, Music does not Represent Autism

Just under a month ago, Sia released the trailer for her debut film Music. In the wake of the one minute trailer, Sia and the film received a huge amount of backlash. I saw the criticism directed at the film and it was so confusing to see a one-minute clip cause so many people call for the film to be cancelled. Although, after taking a step back from my anger and letting the dust settle, I still agree with those who have called out this film. 

Music centres around three characters, Zu (Kate Hudson) a newly sober drug dealer who has found herself sole guardian of her younger sister Music (Maddie Ziegler) and their friend and neighbour, Ebo (Leslie Odom Jr). Music is a non-verbal autistic girl, played by someone who isn’t non-verbal or autistic. That is the first issue with Music – the tone immediately feels off. You get the sense that no-one working on the film has any understanding of what it means to be autistic, with Ziegler’s movements appearing to mock. Sia justified this by saying that they had originally cast an autistic girl but she found the set too overwhelming. For those behind the scenes, that should have been the first sign that maybe the film you were making to celebrate the autistic community will not do that. 

I was still willing to give the film a chance, after all, it was just a 60-second trailer. What unfolded next was Sia taking to Twitter to express her anger around the hate directed at Music. She launched into an angry attack and those who were giving her constructive criticism. Sia then went on to insult an autistic actor – this was a lesson in what not to tweet. Sia also used this tirade of tweets to reveal that controversial charity Autism Speaks was involved with the film and that she had no idea that they were so controversial. Autism Speaks promotes the idea that autism can be cured, which perpetuates negative stereotypes about the disorder. Their involvement in Music is disheartening and disappointing. 

Music represents a bigger problem within the film and TV industry. Disabled and neurodivergent people’s voices are not heard; they are not allowed to tell their own stories. Instead, able-bodied and neurotypical actors are applauded for wearing the mask of disability for a film or TV show. Able-bodied and neurotypical actors play 95% of characters with disabilities. This is an appalling statistic. Sia could’ve used her film to highlight the importance of allowing disabled and neurodivergent actors in films about disabilities but instead, insisted that it was too challenging for the autistic actress they originally cast.  

It is not impossible to make changes on set to make it more accessible. In 2018, Hollyoaks cast actor Talia Grant as an autistic teenager Brooke Hathaway. Grant made history as the first autistic person to play an autistic character on the soap. Grant also spoke about the “simple” things the Hollyoaks production team did to help her cope on set. Hollyoaks sets a perfect example for other TV shows and films. Spending the time to make the set more accessible makes a world of difference to both the actor and audiences at home, some of whom have never seen themselves represented in the media. I hope that in 2021 we see more production companies following Hollyoaks’ lead. 

I wanted to be excited about Music, I really did. Autism has had a huge impact on my family. In high school, my peers would use the word autistic as an insult. There needs to be more representation of autistic people in mainstream media to end this. I do believe that as Sia insisted, her intentions were good. However, her delivery was so off that she managed to alienate the whole community she claimed to be standing up for. 

I still don’t know if I’ll be able to watch Music, the trailer alone makes me incredibly angry. I only hope that people saw the backlash and learn from it. That in the future, autistic people will be given their voice back from those who claim they are helping.       

Orla McAndrew

Featured image courtesy of Kazuo Ota via Unsplash. This image has in no way been altered. Image license can be found here.