Is it me or is SIA movie 'Music' depiction of Autism HIGHLY offensive?!

[Mum2prince]

Ive just seen the trailer in YouTube, ive yet to research more about what in earth possesed this woman to cast maddie ziegler a NT person to play the role of a young autistic girl.

I am gobsmacked at all the stereotypes the have used to depict autism and i honestly felt horrible watching it. As someone who was concerned my ds may have asd, this is exactly the type of representation i did not like. Regardless of how much info about asd is out there and the awareness raises, there is still a large group of people who do not fully understand Autism and this movie makes things worse imo.

The icing on the cake is the movie trailer is a sensory overload for me, let alone someone neurodiverse who may want to watch it. Bright colours, flashing lights and breaking out into song regularly. Yikes.

AIBU?

*EDIT - Just watched and interview Sia did and she used offensive words like "low functioning" and even claimed she had an original Autistic girl cast for the role but she couldn't handle it. What?!

My two kids love the portrayal of Abed in Community. It really shows that the creator of the show is autistic.

Now, it’s been rightly pointed out that autism is a spectrum but when autistic people need to be involved in the telling of their own story.

As they say, nothing about us without us.

A lot of the controversy is around the way that restraint is portrayed in the film which has been largely felt to be damaging and unhelpful

Many people in the autistic community hate people like my child because he's not high functioning and they like to try and silence people who try and advocate for him and others like him which highly offends me .

I haven’t seen this but disliked Sia after hearing her defend Johnny Depp on Louis Theroux podcast.

I don’t think Sia has a grip on the reality most of us live in.

@x2boys im sorry you have experienced this x

There is no such thing as the autistic community

There is an autistic community in the same way as there has always been a deaf community.

@Comefromaway - my issue with this is that it assumes “us” is an homogeneous group with the same / similar needs and that said groups can express those needs.

What about people with severe dementia or extreme learning disabilities who may not be able to even speak? Why is it not ok for someone without learning disabilities to say what they think people with LD need based on their professional judgement.

How can any one person represent a whole community of different experiences?

x2boys I haven't experienced that myself - but then again some Autistic people do lack tact and can see things in a very black and white way.

This film though isn't based on the reality of one person's experience - but is probably more akin to Tommy which is a bit problematic nowadays.

No one person can represent anything. Community means a group of people who have something in common, who look to each other for support and campaign for inequalities that affect them.

@Comefromaway

As they say, nothing about us without us.

I really like this

I do think that it also falls into the wokeness category, she doesn't care about autistic people or the community (again, twitter diatribes) but spotted an opportunity to promote her music by instrumentalising disabilities. It wasn't a gritty or realistic portrayal, or even a remotely good plot, but was more like an extended advert for her songs and career, slipping in the narrative that autism can be cured by music.

How has Sias film hurt me as an autistic person??

I've worked with autistic kids for a decade.

Firstly, I don't know how an autistic child as severely autistic as depicted in the film's trailer would be able to act in a movie.

Secondly, I don't see why this is a problem just like Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man is not a problem and neither is Daniel Day Lewis in My Left Foot.

So no, not offensive in the slightest.

I wonder if, as is apparent on this thread, there are plenty of people in the autistic "community" who aren't mortally offended by this film, or by autistic characters being portrayed by non-autistic people, but who don't shout as loud as those who are offended? And who have loudly appointed themselves the autistic community police?

the movie’s just bizarre... Music doesn’t seem like a character in her own right but THE AUTISTIC GIRL and nothing else. The main selling point of the movie is having AN AUTISTIC GIRL. Oh and nice sounds.
I’d condemn any movie with such a weird plot and one dimensional characters...but this takes the cake...

Yeah there absolutely is an army of self diagnosed people who are terminally offended. Theyre often the same people who are traumatised by JK rowlings existence, which makes me just think I at least need to see the damn film before deciding whether her casting Maddie is killing autistic people

Considering autistic people have died from people using the restraint technique Zu is shown in the film as being a loving, positive thing I find that comment in poor taste.

Personally having a non-Autistic person play the girl is fine (just like a gay person playing straight etc.).
But the restraint bit does upset me and is potentially dangerous - if people think that is how to treat someone having a meltdown. A bit like putting something in someone with epilepsy's mouth then they are having a fit.

Restraint is always controversial.

However don't assume restraint is hated by all those who experience it.

My ds is autistic. I've also worked with individual with autism for a number of decades. Some will tell you that it makes them feel secure and also loved that you care enough not to let them get out of control.

Yes, tenets been a few cases where death has occurred unfortunately and case review has then led to better practice. As does happen with anything that ends in a way that wasn't intentional.

In fact I know of one bloke who said "when x happens I'm at the point of being out of control and I need you to restrain me".

He went to a 'care' unit that refused.

He needed up detained in prison because one meltdown resulted in him seriously injuring another person. Because no one with duty of care supported him to physically regain control.

I HATE seeing restraint being use inappropriately or as a power tool. But I've also seen the other side and so am not against its use.

I would imagine they used a non autistic person to play her as to find a real autistic person that severely affected would be extremely hard to work with for the film crew and for the autistic person / family.

If I judge from my own experience with my son anyway!

Has anyone here seen it?

No, I watched a trailer on YouTube to get the jist. Never heard of it until this thread.