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I happened to see the trailer for Music yesterday. As I watched, I was struck by a visceral wrongness. It felt so uncomfortable I had to look away at points
Sia's immature and cruel comment to autistic actress @HelenAngel helped me articulate why and the irony is incredible
Sia's immature and cruel comment to autistic actress @HelenAngel helped me articulate why and the irony is incredible
I'm sure Maddie Ziegler is a good actor (she did, however, take a role away from an autistic actor and that's very uncool) but watching the clips I saw in the trailer, uh. She did not convincingly portray an autistic person, and seeing her try was, again, deeply uncomfortable
I can see it now, all the non-autistic people who are gonna disagree with my opinion. And that's just what it is, an opinion
But among autistic people there's this language of body and movement, and I can see it and read it where it seems like non-autistic people cannot
But among autistic people there's this language of body and movement, and I can see it and read it where it seems like non-autistic people cannot
It's in the way we hold our hands, our movement and our stillness. It's in the way we look at things from the corner of our eyes or with our heads sightly tipoed back. It's the way our faces rest when we're alone or exhausted or truly happy
We're all different, but there are shared traits, this body language. Maybe not every autistic person can see what I see, but many of us can
Even if you can't name exactly what was wrong in what way, if you're autistic you may have felt discomfort watching Ziegler's performance
Even if you can't name exactly what was wrong in what way, if you're autistic you may have felt discomfort watching Ziegler's performance
Because it was, from what I can see, a flawed performance. It falls short, misses the mark, lacks the nuance and true understanding that an actor with an autistic brain and body would have been able to bring to the role
And even though it's different (and I'm sure there were "good intentions") when I see Maddie Ziegler in the role of a non-speaking autistic person, I am forcibly brought back to moments of cruelty and mockery that I witnessed, and the more minor cruelty I've personally endured
That's a trauma response. It's personal, but not unique. I think every autistic person has experienced bullying, mockery, or abuse, so others are going to feel the same way
Something Sia et al. would have known if autistic people had been involved in the capacity we should have
Something Sia et al. would have known if autistic people had been involved in the capacity we should have
So, here's Sia, lashing out because she's letting the negative feelings that bubble up when you're called out for something harmful take priority over listening and learning
And in that lashing out she suggests that Helen is just not a good actor. And there's the irony
And in that lashing out she suggests that Helen is just not a good actor. And there's the irony
Because Ziegler was not the right actor for this role. This was clearly not a story that Sia was qualified or prepared to tell. We can see that "music" is inspiration porn and Sia cares more about defending the film than the actual people whose stories she thinks she can tell
No matter how many "good intentions" Sia et al. had, they messed up. Autistic people were not involved where and in the ways we should have been
Ironically, it's Sia's response to this very valid criticism that has made her into the idiomatic bad actor
Ironically, it's Sia's response to this very valid criticism that has made her into the idiomatic bad actor
