Content Warning: This article discusses ableism and prone restraint.
If you haven’t heard by now, Sia, an Australian pop singer, has taken it upon herself to create and release a movie titled “Music.” The film is about an autistic girl, Music, and her older half-sister who becomes her caretaker (1). Though it may seem like an uplifting and informational film on the surface, it has actually caused an immense amount of controversy within the autistic community. Let’s take a look at just a few reasons why the Golden Globe nominated film should not be sung praises, especially by Hollywood.
First off, I think the most noticeable aspect of the film that gives off a red flag is the fact that Music is played by Maddie Ziegler, who is neurotypical. This is an extreme issue because the film is supposed to be about inclusion and representation, yet Sia couldn’t even bring herself to cast an autistic actress to play the role. Of course, Sia has refuted this, claiming to have tried working with an autistic actress who ended up feeling too overwhelmed by the situation. She felt casting Maddie was “more compassionate” (2). However, I would like to question why it had to be the actress that changed — from autistic to neurotypical, might I add — rather than the production environment. If this film is really meant to give representation to the constantly overlooked autistic community, why did Sia not try harder to cast an autistic actress as the lead and do whatever she could to make the environment feel comfortable? I don’t know about you, but seeing a neurotypical actress basically “cripping up” leaves an ableist taste in my mouth — especially when there were plenty of other autistic actresses Sia could have cast instead of choosing Maddie (3).
Another major issue with this movie is the fact that it seems to advocate for prone restraint, which is an extremely dangerous sentiment to put into viewers’ heads as the practice has caused legitimate injuries and deaths for people with autism (and with disabilities). Not only that, but it can cause PTSD in those subjected to it (4). This one detail alone gives the strong implication that Sia didn’t do nearly enough research to properly make this movie. Or perhaps she just didn’t put enough care into what sources she was using and the quality and correctness of the information she found. Whatever the reason, the fact that this film deems prone restraint as an okay practice for anyone to use on an autistic or disabled person is not only factually incorrect, but a dangerous message to be spreading. This one simple aspect of the movie is a grim, but accurate, representation of the thoughtlessness that seemed to go into the production of “Music.”
After reading these serious issues that the movie has (despite them being just the tip of the iceberg), you’re probably wondering how it even got approved in the first place. I’ve been wondering that, too. I couldn’t even begin to imagine how anyone thought releasing this film was a good idea, so imagine my surprise when I heard it got not one, but two Golden Globe nominations.
All I ask is that the rest of Hollywood tunes this movie out. And the same goes for you, too. I know you may be curious and want to watch it, but at the end of the day, it just gives this horrible film more attention. Let’s simply acknowledge the movie’s ableist roots, and use that to open up progressive discussions about representation in Hollywood. Let the cast and crew, especially Sia, realize the grave mistake they’ve made.
So dear Hollywood, please don’t reward this careless, harmful film with any awards or any more nominations. Because if you do, it will be normalizing and rewarding ableism.