Maddie didn’t want to play this role. She was 15 when she was casted. The first day on set Maddie broke down in tears because she didn’t want people to think she was making fun of people.
that's sad. honestly feel bad for her, some actors are stuck by their agents or by their professional/financial commitments and will end up doing stuff they don't want to do sometimes, including a change being made in a movie they originally liked that they now don't agree with and having to pretend to enthusiastically portray that change anyways. i sympathize with her tbh
Sia and Maddie have a REALLY close relationship, I've heard it borderlines on creepy sometimes. I can imagine Maddie doing this because Sia asked her to, even though she really didn't want to. I feel bad for her, honestly. Glad that people are attacking Sia and not her.
Not to mention the pressure on Maddie of the contract i guarantee shes under. And im sure her own parents support this idea. I truly feel Maddie didnt want this.
as an autistic person, i feel like the biggest failure lies in the fact that this movie tried to be an 'autism movie' but more than anything its. . . just a 'sia movie'. its sias ideas, sias favorite actors, how SIA sees the world, it has nothing to do with me, or my experiences or viewpoints. its almost like we were just thrown in as a side concept at the end, like my autism is being used as an outlet for her creativity or smth. this is kinda how it always ends up though, neurotypicals make movies about 'autism' when what its really about is 'how i, a non autistic person, view autism', and its like they dont REALIZE that inherently makes it a movie for other neurotypical people on the outside looking in, and it alienates the actual autistic people who are watching. we're left out of the equation of our own movies. its so disheartening. is listening and educating yourself really that hard?
This exactly how this movie worked🤦♀️ I feel like it even worsens the idea and stereotypes of autism, I always like watching movies that portray realities of mental or physical illness or a lot of things, to break down the stereotypes and actually educate the viewers, I'm not an autistic person and once I heard about all the fuss about this movie I didn't quite understand(as you said this is like sia's movie and sia's point of view of autism which she clearly know nothing about) after that I did I just start to hear people with autism point of view to understand more. SHE SHOULD'VE done that, she should've listened to professional people, people with autism, actually did some research not just googled a bunch of stuff and put them in the movie
This is the best comment I've read so far. This should be the argument. Not "shes walking funny so shes mocking people with autism" this is the point of view that needs to be heard and understood.
So what would the Movie be about if it was from autistic persons point of view? I mean u didn’t even watch the movie yet and just because of the trailer and it‘s a non autistic girl, u think it‘s from an outsiders point of view? It‘s SIA, of course she did her research and thought long about this. Also: she wanted a non verbal girl to play the role, Someone that she also says in this video IS like the girl in the movie, and these people are just super uncomfortable in situations like that.
When Leonardo DiCaprio played In what’s eating Gilbert Grape he actually met autistic people and did a way better job at not making it look like a mockery, and that was in 1993!🤦🏾♀️🤡
Omg I was thinking about when Leo played that role. And when Priyanka Chorpa played an autistic girl as well. And they didn't come across as offensive.
That was a great film! Even Dustin Hoffman whose character is so vilified now was thorough about meeting and respectfully getting to know the people the character was based on and carefully studying their mannerisms. As I learned in the excellent Neurotribes. Though to be fair he does have being a mature adult and legendary actor in the method school on his side.
LOL that’s a great way to put it... WHY center your movie around someone’s defining characteristic if you’re going to ignore the needs of that characteristic
The whole point of this film is “support and listen to autistic people” and the second the autistic community said “hey this feels gross” Sia is defensive and offended and is portraying herself as this hero to the autistic community. It hurts. It sucks. Everything that has happened with Sia and the autistic community is so frustrating.
Sia is representing an autistic girl ONE CASE everybody is different and autism is different for every person the girl she is representing acts that way and she chose her because some autistic people she knows love her guys you are discriminating a type of autism
@@toddfordr8218 what's disgusting is you victim blaming the autistic community, people are upset for a reason, calling us "your community" feels very poisonous and ignorant. Don't tell autistic people how they should react to this, you're not listening.
@@saysomethingaldcsbiggestfa792 I know my comments were too abrasive and I'm sorry for that. But my only issue is with the boycott. And I'm not addressing victims or the weak. We are part of one group and that's humanity. The boycott attempts to do harm to Sia. I dont beleive Sia intended any harm. My hostility is and should have been aimed towards the cancle culture. Not Autism.
I feel bad for Maddie. In an interview that Sia did, Sia talked about how uncomfortable Maddie was with the whole situation and would actually cry about this because she didn’t want people to think she’s mocking them and Sia didn’t change anything. Maddie was also 15 at the time
No, Sia reassured Maddie that she wouldn't let the autism community think that. Like she had any control over it. People have stated that Maddie's portrayal is considered a mockery, I only hope she's not getting any hate as she was a minor at the time.
One day of research taught me that autism speaks is garbage. I have no idea how she didn't come across the fact that it's a bad organisation, let alone now that everyone is calling her out on it.
@@Olivia-jp4cx bc they focus more on curing autism rather than helping autistic ppl and other stuff. Illuminaughty made at least 1 video about autism speaks and all the shit they done
@@lessistoone the movie is about someone that’s autistic, but the actress herself got overwhelmed by the set and couldn’t act and was then replaced by maddie. if the original actress got overwhelmed by the set, maybe they shouldn’t have created the set that way? it just seems that they care more about looking like a great person rather then actually making this movie to do something great.
sia has been weirdly obsessed with maddie since she was like 11. every project sia does maddie is ALWAYS the star of it. their relationship is starting to creep me out
@@veerendrapalsinghrathore1384 it’s “her choice” until maddie is crying over having to be in this role and has so much resistance to it. Do research, their relationship is weird as hell.
Yea I was a fan of sia for a really long time and a lot of fans would excuse it as a 'mother and daughter' relationship but the more I looked at it the weirder it gets. There is some sort of obsession going on there. Edit: I didnt know sia was her godmother and I will always respect sia for saving maddie from Weinstein. Tbh most of the blame should fall on maddies mom for these situations that her daughter is placed in. I also agree that sia is 100% better than abby however sia has still done some questionable things. Allegedly she and maddie would 'snuggle' in bed and maddie would sleep over once a week. Im not saying that sia is evil or doing anything inappropriate but the whole thing is a little weird to me. Maybe this is normal for some people but idk🤷🏽♀️
As a neurotypical person who knows barely anything about autism I found this video extremely insightful. Thank you for informing people and for creating representation for autistic people
as an autistic person, Chloe seems to think she can speak on behalf of all of us when she doesn't. Overreaction to someone who has good intentions (Sia)
@@Jooorhhh She speaks for the majority of the autistic community. I think mostly everyone agrees with her on most things but she can’t speak for every single person obviously.
This film just demonstrates that Autism is still not understood, and misrepresented by many neurotypicals. Why didn't Sia test screen it with Autistic people before releasing it? It's an outrage I tell you!
@@blifefamilyadventures6994 yes but most others don't. The thing is that autism is being used as a sort of Label while Many different Disabilities fall under it due to it being a spectrum.
@@javelinmaster2 but some dooooo that’s the whole point!!!!!! I have asked friends who are autistic about this and they don’t have a problem with it. Cuz it’s an acting job. Ppl cry and nag about: why didn’t sia hire someone with autism for the part? She would have to hire someone who is non verbal autistic. That can be veryyyy hard, not only for the filmmakers but also for the actor themself. So ppl need to chill. Ppl nowadays think every single thing is offensive. The Theory of Everything..? Wasn’t portrayed by an actor suffering the same disease. I am not sayin sia is an angel. She is taking her relationship with Maddie too far. Like Abby did with Maddie. But ppl need to cancel ppl who deserve to be canceled. Not someone who is just doing her job
@@blifefamilyadventures6994 yes they do. That’s not my problem with it My problem is how the character is treated just like a plot device to develop the other characters and not like a character in her own right. There treating the autistic character like she is not a human. I also have problems with all the other controversy such as sai refusing to listen to the autistic community giving her advice and working with autism speaks (a eugenics group) plus in the original cut of the movie a restraining technique known to KILL autistic people was used on music (at least she removed it I think)
Sia never wanted anyone else to play this character. Maddie has always been included in talks of this film, going years back. Sia is obsessed with Maddie. She sees it as though she saved Maddie from Abby Lee Miller, but in reality she just brought her into a different abusive situation.
@@priscillaeyles3301 Maddie came to fame when she was a young child on the show Dance Moms, and Abby Lee Miller was the owner of the dance studio on the show who had a major part in her life but is known for being nearly-abusive
Maybe Sia has some kind of savior complex. based on that, and how her character in her own movie was written. And the whole theme of the movie in general.
Isn't there literally a video of Maddie crying talking about how she was worried this would offend people then Sia literally says of course it won't and that it's fine. Also the minute I saw Autism Speaks was involved I KNEW we were in for something
Also there are so many actors out there struggling for their next pay check, having to go get other jobs while roles are notoriously hard to come by (unless you wanna be the face of some new vaginal cream). Even before Music (gag) the fact that she used Maddie in so many of her other projects rather than even considering other people is gross. I'm sure Maddie has enough money and fame to fend for herself. Maybe think about getting someone else involved in your projects boo?
I still remember the first bout of major backlash for Music when some "behind the scenes" images got leaked almost 4 years ago. So many of them contained Maddie, specifically shots of her walking in the park in that white outfit and headphones, sticking her teeth out/making "odd" facial expressions. People have been telling Sia this whole movie is an awful look and to either fix the mess or just drop it and walk away for FOUR WHOLE YEARS, but she actively chooses to put her fingers in her ears and just call everyone a "troll" or a "hater".
10:48 Hear me out here: even if an autistic person ISN'T able to do these things: that doesn't make them worth less, or pointless to exist. Someone shouldn't be required to 'overcome' their disability in order to be accepted by society. We don't need to be geniuses or provide a great gift to the world to make up for our autism.
Also: if youre writting an autistic person and an actual autistic person cant do the stuff you expect them to, theres something wrong with how youre portraying these people! Let the actress talk and use her knowledge to make the movie better!
I've wanted for a while a movie about straight people with an all lgbt cast And now I just want to see a movie about stereotypically portrayed neurotypicals portrayed by aspies
This is... genius. Maybe straight/NT ppl who say “it’s just acting! Why do we need the actor to have the same identity if that’s the whole point” will finally understand what misrepresentation feels like
It'll be probably interesting as a comedy, not necessarily as a farce. I dunno what to are the types of comedies that are considered "high-level", for lack of a better word.
It really hurts when people say stuff like You don’t look like you have Autism, you don’t have autism you look in people’s eyes, and stuff like that and think of autism as one stereotype and not a spectrum
It’s even worse when you’re late diagnosed. I was diagnosed in my late 20s and when people basically ask me in what way am I autistic. Implying I’m supposed to no the difference between autistic and NT behaviour when I don’t even notice my self standing out. 🤷♀️
@@platypuspink1065 I think people say this because they know just non-verbal autistic. I worked myself in a center where they received people with a lot of different disabilities/spectrum (autism, ODD (Oppositional defiant disorder), severe mental disability, quadriplegia...) and basically for the most part of autistic people who went there were non-verbal
I like how you talked about the high functioning low functioning thing. I'm "high functioning" and all that means is that I'm great at hiding it, and don't have all the same more visible symptoms. And that sucks, in a few different ways. That makes "high functioning" people seem less valid, and "low functioning" people seem more "broken." At least that's from my perspective...
it took me 25 years to figure out i have autism. I've been a non functional member of society my whole life and many psychologist have been trying to figure out why but I don't "look" autistic so they never even thought about it. And when I do tell someone I'm autistic they say ohh you must be very high functioning then. Uhm wtf... that kind of perspective on autism is the very reason why nobody could figure out what the hell was wrong with me to begin with. I'm sure I would have ended up taking my own life at some point if I hadn't figured out I had autism. I still don't tell anyone about it because it's so stigmatized but at least things now finally make sense😅
There’s actually a lot of drama about Sia in the Dance Moms fandom. A lot of people feel like Sia has replaced Abby in the way that she idolizes Maddie and literally centers her life around her, and Maddie has started to emulate it. The poor girl has such toxic relationships with adults and just can’t seem to find a good role model. Her mom, Abby, Gianna, and Sia have all been extremely toxic for her. The only one I can somewhat stand is her dad because he tried to put a stop to it when Dance Moms first started, but because her and her sister got famous from it and because they’ve been raised by their mom, their relationship with him is so strained. (That’s of course not to say he’s not done anything wrong himself.) I feel like if we really love Maddie, we need to back off and let her enjoy a normal life with normal adults.
The fact that Sia once said that she doesn't like doing projects without Maddie makes me feel like she never even considered having someone on the spectrum play her.
This isn't a movie about an autistic girl. It's a movie about a neurotypical adult struggling to "deal" with an autistic girl. In the climax of the film, the neurotypical sister and the carer kiss while Music stands like an inanimate object in the background. It's honestly 100% an Autism Speaks movie TBH
Oh I relate so much to all the misrepresentation in the media, I don't have autism, but I struggle with bpd and the representation we get is terrible, and ridiculous!! And the misrepresentation is so sad because it makes people believe that we are really like tv shows and assume they know everything about us based on a character awfully written, and at the end all the misrepresentated people stay being silented and stigmatized...
I definitely agree with this. I have adhd as well as depression and anxiety and I've been told that bpd is a possibility, the amount of representation on all of these illnesses is ridiculous. It's either romanticized, stigmatized or demonized. It's so. Fucking. Disgusting. To see that genuine problems that real people go through are being turned into this. ND people don't get enough representation as is and man Sia just made it worse LOL and when Bpd or any other personality disorder is represented, it's also in a negative light It makes me sad because while there's a lot changing in the world, it feels like there also isn't a lot of change if that makes sense
This reminds me of when people pretend to stutter for the ‘cute anxious girl aesthetic’. Like, I’ve been in speech therapy for eight years, and I struggle to get out a simple sentence, and I can’t work in any field that requires talking on the phone/public speaking but I’m glad my disability enhances for vibe or whatever.
I'm autistic and I've been bullied/coerced/gaslighted into doing things I didn't want to do and I still feel guilty over those things years later. I hope most people understand that it wasn't Maddie's fault.
I was sitting with a psychologist to discuss my disabilities. I said I had autism, based on documentations from a different psychologist's diagnosis. The psychologist didn't accept the documentations because it was "tiny text and illegible" (I was able to read it just fine and I wear glasses, but okay, whatever) and since I sent it through email, he should've clicked on the documentation for it to expand and then he could print it off...but he didn't...he printed off the email with the attachments instead of the documents themselves, so the lettering was tiny. I honestly couldn't tell if he was serious when he was taunting me with this whole "how am I supposed to read this?" BS; I thought he was joking, but he was dead serious and wouldn't accept the documentation because of it. Due to all this, he retested me to rediagnose me. I'd like to say that I'm mentioning all this to explain why I found him absolutely stupid and unreliable with anything he said to me later, but here's what I said I was diagnosed with vs my results from him: Me: I'm ASD/I'm autistic New Psychologist: You lied to me/you mislead/you misguided me, you are actually very high functioning autistic/high on the spectrum All at once I felt the following: So what this dude is saying is that my problems are not enough to care about because I'm not "autistic enough" and there are people who are not as great and worthy as I am because they're lower than me. He also assumed that I was unaware of my level of functioning and that either I didn't state it because I didn't know or because I wanted to be viewed as helpless. Never once did I imply that, but going around stating "I'm high functioning autistic" is a mouth full and insults others who are not able to do the things I can (but I'm sure they can do things I can't as well, so we are equal and I hate the comparing). I've had some traumatic experiences from abuse in my life so when he asked me some questions, there were some I refused to answer because I didn't like the topic. He's not a counselor nor a therapist, so in my opinion, I have a right to remain silent, but he kept trying to pry and even after that, solely relying on my irritation towards the questions, prying, and my refusing to answer (I don't trust people and after his very stupid statements, there was no way I'd trust him either) he assumed that I must have felt guilt over certain things, so he started forcing advice down my throat. I was glad to be out of there. My point with all this, though, is that autistics may no longer use these terms, recognizing both the demeaning nature and the overuse of speech for it (seriously, it's a spectrum. If you're on it, you're on the spectrum regardless of your level of functioning, so why waste breath and energy saying a mouth full?), but a person's level of functioning is still recorded in the diagnosis, so it's not incorrect to use, just annoying, unnecessary, and demeaning, but not incorrect.
@@Equal_inDeath dsm-5, which I was diagnosed under: level of support needed (1,2, or 3) is included. 1 needing less supports to 3 needing more supports.
I am so sorry you went through this. No one deserves to be treated so poorly especially in a professional setting. I'm currently going to school for elementary education and special education. ASD is something we cover a lot because how differently it affects each person. All of us get so mad when people speak about high and low function. Those terms are not needed at all ASD is ASD and it needs to be treated as such. All of our scenarios will state ASD and then name the strengths and weaknesses of the student. High functioning and low functioning is not even taught in most programs anymore. It is definitely an old term that needs to go. However, we do refer to the variation of cognitive ability between individuals with their learning styles and abilities to create appropriate lessons for students. But this goes for all students of every type. I hope one day you can find someone you can trust. People tend to suck especially "medical professionals." I personally have yet to find someone I trust enough to speak with.
That's right. She was crying on set because she didn't want the autism community to think she was making fun of them, but Sia told her she wouldn't let that happen. Not to mention, Maddie would have been bound by a contract so she didn't really have a choice which I think is really sad.
I found this video very helpful. I'm a comic creator trying to write a autistic character. I didn't know function levels weren't a thing. And thank you for speaking out about this.
Functioning level means how visible your autism is to neurotypical people. It has nothing to do with how autistic people experience the world. Spectrum means that you can have different levels of functioning in different areas.
I’m an autistic Indigenous (Blak) person and I totally agree with everything you said, however comparing ableism to racism is not the enlightening analogy you think it is. It’s really not the same. I’m appalled at Sia’s movie and I think the whole thing is a bin fire but please do not compare racism with ableism.
It reminds me of this short film called “My Ketchup Smiles” about a non-verbal autistic girl. (Here’s the link: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-76eZEy_uQw4.html) The non-verbal girl, the yellow and the smile on ketchup. The film was published nine years ago and I can’t help but wonder if Sia got inspiration from it.
This movie is bad because it casts a neurotypical actor in a neurodiverse role, yes. For those of you who don’t see this as enough to pan the whole film, here are reasons it goes much deeper than that: 1) Sia claims she tried to use an autistic actor, but has also said that she couldn’t imagine making art without Maddie in it and basically intended to cast her from the start. Her attempt to be inclusive was purely tokenistic and in bad faith. 2) Maddie was 14 when filming and uncomfortable with the role, but was told it wasn’t offensive even though she felt it was. I dislike child actors being forced into roles they don’t want. 3) Maddie has said that her ‘research’ for this film was watching other films with autistic characters played by neurotypical actors, and watching meltdown videos on RU-vid. It shouldn’t be difficult to see what the problem is with this and how this will easily lead to a hollow and inauthentic performance. 4) The film shows Maddie’s character having a meltdown and then being forcibly restrained against the ground. This type of restraint has been proven to be excessively harmful and agitating to the autistic person, and it has been associated with the deaths of autistic people. In the film, the character performing the restraint literally says ‘I am crushing her with my love’. It is a deeply dangerous, misleading and all-round sickening scene. 5) Even the upbeat scenes that are supposed to show the ‘nice’ bits of autism are downright weird. Does Sia truly think that autistic people are living in some 2000s pop music video? It’s infantilising. The song and dance numbers are so painfully lurid that is cringy, not to mention extremely overstimulating - most actual neurodivergent people have a hard time watching scenes that are so overwhelming to the senses. This is just another thing that shows the film was not made for the benefit of autistic people at all. 6) Music’s mannerisms, taken as they are from meltdown RU-vid videos, are so plainly offensive that it’s shocking the film ever got the green light. It’s sickening to the stomach, because it looks exactly like mockery. It looks exactly like the kind of mockery that many autistic people have been bullied with growing up; exactly the kind of mockery that has stigmatised autism and forced autistic people to mask their autism for so long. It’s like a confirmation that this is how society views autistic people, and it’s a slap in the face. 7) This hasn’t been mentioned much because of ALL the other things wrong with this film, but it is very racially insensitive. In certain scenes Maddie is literally put in blackface, and it is very weird that she was cast as a mixed-race character. Leslie Odom’s character is also a hugely flawed caricature of an ‘African’ - no more specific than that. He is basically a cheerful prop with a bad accent, there to provide bits of ‘wisdom’ and help the white main character. It’s a damaging trope and one that has long been criticised. 8) The film is not about Music. Music is not the main character. As much as Sia tries to act like it’s a film about autism made to uplift autistic people, it blatantly isn’t. Music is no more than a prop, a motivational poster, a tool to help turn around the life of her drug addict sister-carer (Kate Hudson). Music is not a person in her own right, she has no character arc. She is purely there to be ‘inspirational’, to give the neurotypical main character ‘hope’ and ‘perspective’, and to facilitate another person’s redemption. How very ironic. 9) This mirrors real life. ‘Music’ is a vanity project, in which Sia uses autism as a prop to add a veneer of authenticity and depth to her ‘art’ - obviously, completely unsuccessfully. She doesn’t care about autism. What she cares about is looking like she cares about autism. Saviour complex strikes again. 10) Sia’s pretty bad at this too. Because when faced with valid criticism and upset, she made the whole situation even worse by insulting and swearing at the autistic people who pointed out the movie’s faults, in a staggering display of callous egotism. Her entire response to this controversy is like a masterclass in what NOT to do. By lashing out, victimising herself, and altogether being a massive asshole, she’s torn any defence of her work to shreds. Do I think Sia intended to hurt autistic people? No. But do I think she truly cares about autistic people beyond using autism as a prop? Also no. Do I think she did the proper research? Also no. Do I think she made a suitable effort to accurately represent autism? No. Do I think she’s consciously racist? Not really. But do I think she cares about anti-racism or genuine portrayals of POC? Definitely not. In short, is there anything to redeem in this movie? Not really. It’s a fiasco from start to finish.
@@absolutelychampagne first of all I dont care who this fucking movies is based on its exeremely false I'm not saying it's supposed to be 100% true but it's like not even close the movie itself is very bad (in my opinion) there is no plot and nothing happens it's very blank but I'm not fully offended by the fact that maddie played the role instead of someone with autism because it's acting but the movie is just so...well u get it (I have also seen the movie)
I would like the video to have english subtitles, mainly for accessibility, but personally I'd like to share it with nonengligh speakers and it can make things easier for english learners. I think both having english subtitles and be open to subtitles contribution can be great for both accessibility and channel growing. I contributed with subtitles before in RU-vid and I think some people can be really into it.
@@kookyjoeb5524 Why to use a mask? Is it ironic? Sign languages is a more difficult thing, first because there are a lot of different sign languages. In Brazil we have Libras (Língua Brasileira de Sinais - Brazilian Sign Language). A practical solution could be not to use a real signer but to use an animated one (standardized by the platform or even platform agnostic). We have the software VLivras in Brazil that translates portuguese to libras with an animated character. The same could be used with the subtitles or even creating the animation without translation, directly in sign language.
As an autistic person I still get stereotyped regurarly. As a child and teenager even mentally abused over by my former stepfather. I am a nurse in training rn and I tell my internship places about my diagnosis (which was only made when I was 15y/o). Some react well, some react as if I'm restarted or some don't trust me/use stereotypes. I make it my mission to tell people about autism and the spectrum etc. These past couple of years there was One internship coach of mine that went to someone who studied for something that included the autism and she went to her to ask advice. At the end of the internship she told me honestly that she did that and that I didn't seem like the typical stereotype that most people know. I could cry at that moment, finally someone had an open mind AND they were open enough to admit it.
I'm a huge theatre nerd and absolutely love Hamilton, but now some of my favorite songs (sung by Leslie odom jr.) Hurt because he was involved with this, he pretended to use restraints known to kill autistics and referred to it as "restraining her with love' and didn't apologize for his involvement. That in addition to Hamilton star Christopher Jackson being involved in autism speaks for his autistic daughters (at least with him he's trying to do good, not ignoring autistic people while knowing better) and now one of my favorite shows hurts to watch sometimes.
Me: Trying to pay attention to what she is talking about because it’s important My Brain: She’s really pretty Me: That- thats not the point My Brain: Listen to her accent though
When Diane Kruger was working on the American version of The Bridge, she was told that her character has Aspergers, so she researched Aspergers and talked to real people with Aspergers.
I’m annoyed with people looking at disabilities and making them into unrealistic superpowers in movies and tv. If the message of your film is “disabled people can do the same things as anyone else” then you need to fucking practice what you preach and cast someone who represents the role that you’re trying to show. Actors aren’t even convincing when they try to play disabled roles, they’re just showing whatever stereotypes they’ve learned and it just furthers the misunderstanding of those disabilities, so what was the point of even making that role in the first place? If sia wanted to make a movie about a girl with a hard life who sees the world through musical numbers, then she could’ve just done that, it’s been done before: Roxie hart in Chicago, Rebecca in crazy ex-girlfriend, and half of glee was basically made with that mindset. And an autistic person would be able to play roles like this, but you don’t need to go and claim that their autism is the reason they are coming up with these musical numbers in their head.
Watching this on 1.25 x speed is calming to me, because it matches where my brain is at with hyperactive thoughts and general constant outrage at issues of injustice. Thanks Chloe, it is really comforting to have someone speak clearly and passionately (and swiftly!) about a subject that drives me up the wall and I feel powerless to effect change in (on my own, what with pandemique and all - the temptation to fly home to Oz and quarantine for two weeks just so I can walk around outside with people again is STRONG, but resistible. Ugh, UK) Also, tough to have conversations about these issues as they constantly resurface cos no socialising... so you're it, girl, and I love you for it - thank you again!
It does bother me that an autistic person isn't playing the role when there are so many actors/actresses on the spectrum that could've. I imagine that she had set idea of what she wanted to represent on the film and in the end came to decision she made which wasn't a great choice but i doubt her intentions are ill. I hope perhaps it touches on how family members feel having family on the spectrum that is nonverbal. My two year old is on a waitlist for autism diagnosis and tbh me and my husband have been taking it kind of hard because you don't know what the future holds once their adults and what they'll be able to accomplish for themselves what insurances will cover and that sort. But it's our boy we love him no matter what whatever this film does I really hope it actually helps the autism community. I think Sia should be mindful of how she expresses her thoughts on the subject because its criticism and it should be taken to heart to make things better not worse.
I’m gay and I recently found out I’m autistic If I was an actor I would love to play neurotypical straight dudes coz I think that would be great challenge And I’ve “played” one most of my life so I didn’t have an issue with Heath and Jake playing gay cowboys they were great The issue here is how they handled it and how they portrayed autism And we all know her relationship with Maddie We all know she didn’t even consider anyone else except for Maddie
I intend to see it. Just to spite the cancel culture. And to spite people who attempt to harm others in an effort to better their own position. Special interests groups are destroying society. Boycott because you didnt like the trailer? You make me sick. Edit. I made myself sick with this coment! My sincere apologies to Onyx.
I find your insulting comment confusing and don't understand why you are insulting me. I struggle to understand criticism and do not understand why people always assume horrible things about me. That is why I'm so paranoid of making friends, as I have been socially betrayed too many times. Is it my Asperger's? I am not boycotting it to do harm or support cancel culture. Cancel culture is ridiculous, a humans are flawed creatures and are prone to making mistakes. I just want Sia to learn from her terrible actions/decisions and learn to respect Autisic people. And it made me really angry with how she responded to the criticisms of actual Autistic people by cursing and getting angry/insulting them rather than listening to their criticisms and trying to improve. I feel that was a very wrong move on her part and that backlash/boycotts by many Autistic people are inevitable at this point. All I want is for Sia to learn from her actions and show it by issuing a formal apology for her horrible responses.
@@VeronicaStorm98 I'd get mad too. If I cared enough to make a movie that brings attention to a community, and they pass judgment before seeing it. The fact that she even addressed your community (considering how private she is) surprised me.
@@VeronicaStorm98 I apologize for saying you make me sick. I dont know you, but this whole issue is about bad reviews of a two minute trailer, and Sia should know better than to respond to negative comments. That always backfires. If your issue is not with the movie but instead about comments she has made. Then my question is. Do you really think she wants to harm your community in any way? Does your community want to boycott for the right reason? Because boycotting means you are going on the offensive. In my opinion the attacks on her are unjustified. Just like my verbal attack on you was. It's really the cancel culture that makes me sick but, I lashed out at you personally. My over reaction isn't justified and I feel the same way about the whole issue.
@@toddfordr8218 Just curious, why do you find boycotts to be so bad? I see that you got pretty fired up about it and I don't get it. The way I see it, just because you make a movie doesn't mean you're entitled to an audience. Trailers are a way for people to decide whether they think they'd enjoy the movie, and if for some reason they decide based on the trailer that they're not interested in seeing the movie, what's so bad about that? After all, no matter what their reasons are, people can spend their time and money however they want. I'm curious about why you see that as "going on the offensive".
I got my autism from my father. He's one of the best at dealing with stress, since one part of his job is scraping jumpers off the railroad. His managers keep asking him, because he's the only one of his colleagues that doesn't get traumatised by that.
As someone that’s part of the spectrum and has worked with organisations to speak out against ableism in society, ‘Music’ absolutely sickens me. And to make things worse, Sia decides to work with Autism Speaks, an organisation that is ableist, which you can find out with a quick google search. As you said, there are multiple actors that are part of the spectrum that could’ve been casted. Thank you for speaking out against this.
One thing folks haven’t been mentioning is that the character is both autistic and nonspeaking. So a speaking autistic shouldn’t have been cast either. Nonspeaking and non verbal autistic people are often forgotten and pushed to the side in favor of speaking autistic people. There’s a very vibrant nonspeaking artist community forming right now and folks aren’t paying attention because these artists aren’t famous.
I’m a person with autism and I’m training to be a surgeon.. so how can any working environment be considered “too stressful” for someone with autism? Also pleeease stop using “high/low functioning” in the comments. I love your point about how they would never get away with casting a white man as Obama or a cis woman as a transgender woman, so why this? I am sooo many opinions on this but just can’t articulate it at all or form any kind of argument with them so I’m so glad you have! Is there any petitions I can share and sign or any protest or way to boycott the film? Feel like I want to actively do something to stop this a, making money and b, influencing people’s views on autism.
I've been researching autism for a bit less than three months (very lightly, mind you) to try to see if I fit the diagnosis or not, and it literally took me TWO DAYS to find out why the functioning labels, restraining and autism speaks were problematic.... there is NO WAY that didn't pop up in THREE years, so not only is she lying, she's also pretty bad at it
I’ve seen so many different Movies and tv shows with ‘autistic representation’. But when I watched your character in Heartbreak high I WAS STUNNED. I actually started crying because that was the first time I had ever truly seen an absolutely accurate depiction of how autism looks like for me. And NOW I KNOW WHY. It’s literally because it was played by you, an autistic person. We simply need more actual representation of autism. You just immediately feel the difference of watching someone play the role of being autistic & actually being autistic themselves. Your whole depiction was just so incredibly accurate and I can’t thank you enough for it. The first time i have felt seen!! It’s so incredibly validating.
I recently came across the trailer, and the entire time, just felt like it was a caricature. I work with people on the autism spectrum, but myself am neurotypical. I have ADD, as well as depression, so i tend to be a bit sensitive to things, and read into things too much. I was hoping this was a case of me being sensitive, and being over protective of they guys i work with who struggle to self advocate when someone is doing wrong by them. After watching more that a few responses from people who actually live with autism, as opposed to me, highly invested, but not living the autistic experience, I'm sad to say i wasn't being overly sensitive...this is an insult to autistic people, to people who have dedicated their life to autism, and art in general. I always respected sia as an artist, and am really saddened, not only by the project she made, but also the way she handled the backlash, shows she doesn't actually care, and it was all just virtue signaling
I don't like it that the representation we get in media is totally false. Not only there are movies and series that are completely false. But they many times portray the extreme cases of autism. Autism is a spectrum. Why they only show the one kind of autistic person
Yes this was what I was looking for when searching for someone talking about this trailer - someone else feeling less good about all that stressful color, noise, intensely happy craziness 🤣
What bothers me about her expressions is that 1. she doesn't push them to the limit, she doesn't jerk her head back because she doesn't feel the pure raw emotion, and 2. Too much eye contact, and it's such a normal amount of eye contact
Do you know what's more annoying? When people can't tell the difference between ADHD and Autism and they think you have Autism and say that you're wrong about your diagnosis.
My sister is autistic and she talks, walks, looks, ect. like every other person. For her, her emotions, her interpretation of information, and getting overwhelmed by stimulation is where we have to adapt and help her out with. What makes me upset about Sia is that she could have used this as an opportunity to portray the ups and downs people with autism and their families experience and spread education and awareness. Autism isn’t a thing that needs to be hidden or misrepresented
I watched that show for a while, then it started to get on my nerves. Some of it I could relate to (Shaun's perpetually intoxicated father who refuses to accept his son's autism. I know what it's like having family members not accept you), but for the most part, I just thought: "That's not me." It could be someone else, maybe.
Hi! I’m a special education teacher and I was always told these “high functioning” “low functioning” phrases by professors and coworkers. If these labels make people in the autism community uncomfortable, first of all I apologize for using them, but I would also love to know what other language to use especially within the work environment. When I’m getting a new student or a student is leaving my program, I often have to let people know how these students well...function. Obviously I’m also specific and don’t just leave it as high and low but they are definitely phrased I’ve used. I have done my own research but obviously it’s best to know these things from the people it affects the most. Thanks!
I understand that in your profession these functioning labels are used to communicate to other staff how to approach the child but I'm really uncomfortable whenever it's used at my school because: 1. Autism is a spectrum and the binary high and low lables don't actually communicate the specific needs the individual has. For example "low functioning" nonverbal or hyperactive autistic people may already be comfortable in a school environment with the coping mechanisms they have and be able to get on without much assistance from staff. However a "high functioning" autistic person (like I get labled) can do things like speak, write and sit still but with great difficulty. I can do the things that NT children can do but I get overwhelmed really easily by senses and emotions and I need the staff to accommodate for me whenever I'm having a meltdown (which is very often), sometimes I get over stimulated multiple times a day and every time I need attention from a teacher or LSA to be calmed down. 2. The wording used in the label "function" suggests that autistic people who can't mask their symptoms or act like a NT person all the time don't know how to function. It subtly says to autistic people acting NT and being viewed as NT is necessary to be a functional human being. On the other hand, people who dont act like the standard of NT behaviour are unable to function and will never be functional, thus they will never be valid in the eyes of Neurotypical centred society. Autistic people who are labelled as "low functioning" (ie nonverbal, hypersensitive, hyperactive) do have functioning brains, just because they dont function like the standard doesn't mean they don't function at all. I know Functioning lables may not affect you but think about how you would feel if everyone in your life told you that in their eyes you don't have a functional brain just because you do things differently to them, the standard for human behaviour. Or you were told that you weren't actually disabled and your needs don't matter because sometimes your good at faking youself. The majority of the Autism community sees functioning lables and a means of putting us into boxes of "important" and "less impotant" in an attempt to discriminate against us and separate the "useful autistic people" from the "dead weight"... It's sad but it's true. The sooner we drop functioning lables and replace them with a list of an individual's needs, the further we can distance ourselves from discrimination and negligence in special ed schools and autism care in general. Thank you for reading this and listening the voices of autistic people, that alone makes you far better at your duty than my teachers 😞
I've been advised to use the language of high and low support needs rather than high/ low functioning? This removes the judgement and recognises that everyone on the spectrum has certain needs, even if they appear to be 'functioning' the way society wants them too. I think it's also important not to use these terms as categories but as variables. What I mean is that one day I may be managing well and have low support needs and the next day not be coping and have high support needs.
(I'm two months late but oh eh still relevant enough) - the film apparently has THREE metdown scenes in which other characters jump ONTO Music, full on body-slamming her and pinning her onto the ground until she's calm again. Which.. WTF?!?!? WHY??? People will believe that's a good way to deal with meltdowns like that?! What the... and I don't know of that's true but I heard Music becomes verbal in the end, which is... just... uragh...
Genuine question, I’m trying to learn more about this subject because I’ve realized I’m ignorant about this insensitivity and want to be better. A few minutes in you said “it’s clear that Maddie researched autism and thinks this is what all autistic people walk like.” Sis has said music, the character in the film, is based off of a friend of hers. That friend does walk like that? Why is it different for someone with autism that may be higher functioning to act as if they aren’t so to fulfill the role but not someone neurotypical? (Not judgement or questioning your opinion please take no offense, I just want to be better informed)
So your use of the term “high functioning” is a good starting point-one thing you should learn first is that autism is a spectrum, so any terms with “functioning” just aren’t accurate. It looks different for everyone, so different aspies (autistic people) present with different symptoms, some of which may be quote-unquote “high func” and some may not be. However, despite our understanding that it’s a spectrum, quite a lot of visual media has codified certain tropes and traits of autism-including the idea that there’s two big camps, “low functioning” and “high functioning.” This explanation is a bit long but it’s from the TV Tropes page called “Hollywoof Autism”: “He is portrayed as almost completely lacking emotions, empathy, and compassion. He either doesn't talk a lot or talks too much. Folks in his life think he's boring, annoying, nerdy, weird, or even creepy. Additionally, he is totally unable to live what most people would call a normal life and is ultimately a burden on those around him. They are also portrayed by actors, ones who probably weren't picked for an experience of living with Autism, or, considering the accuracy of their portrayal, knowing somebody who's autistic. Most controversially, their lives are rarely depicted as being as fulfilling or as much of a life as that of someone who is not autistic, although there have been more examples of autistic adults in media whose lives are depicted as non-tragic and even find romance and have children, but they are still far rarer than examples of children and adults whose autism is shown as tragic.” The problem with Music the character lies in two respects: 1) The actor is not autistic (they’re allistic, aka non-autistic), and 2) more importantly, even if you don’t mind an allistic actor playing the character, Maddie’s portrayal comes off more as parody or tropey than authentic. An autistic actor (even one that is in a different place on the spectrum than Music) will be much closer to understanding the character than someone who simply looked at an aspie and said, “Yes, this is Autism. This is how I will portray this person.” Sia making this film and “basing the character off her friend” is the equivalent of that one scene in 30 Rock where Alec Baldwin walks on camera and says, “It’s me, Harriet Tubman.” He’s a white man playing a historical black woman. At least in that example, that was the whole joke.
I have seen NTS do an amazing representation of disability, however they often work so hard to try and be respectful. The actors who do really well tend to actually go deeper than just the visuals. They try to learn more about the mentality, about why things are this way instead of just the fact they are. They also often have amazing teams behind them. This isn't perfect, but it is a step towards a bigger goal and I personally can accept that. Maddie seems to be doing a NT visual representation WITHOUT any mental training, or any good coach behind her. So no matter how sincere her efforts are, it is going to show weak and mocking. I actually kind of pity her in this position, given everything that's happened with her and Sia. Even then, I could cringe, call it out but be happy people are at least beginning to get to see the BS the autism community deal with. Then Sia's conduct. Originally I questioned if she was truly evil, or just very misguided. Her ignorance is astonishing, but the evil in her conduct is devastating. I can only imagine how horrible it must be for Autistic kids who used to look up to her, or who still might despite disagreements.
Maddie didn't even want to do the role because she thought people would think she's making fun of disabled people. I'd put this 100% on sia and whoever else was directing / writing, Maddie didn't do anything wrong and didn't really have a choice in playing this role. She was a kid being manipulated into thinking this is ok when she was uncomfortable with the role
8:56 around that, i'd just like to say that in this play I watched, there was a character who in the first half was male then transitioned to female in the second half. Yes, it would be good to cast a trans woman as the role, but in this scenario that would be having to play a biological male and they may not feel comfortable with that, just wanted to put that out there as to why i think it's best to cast someone who isn't transgender as they'd be happy to play both :)
does no one see how sia uses maddie as a puppet. she doesnt care about anyone else's career except herself. maddie is a puppet to her and the film clearly was made for sia and how "amazing" she is to do that. which is b u l l s h i t. glad you made this video.
There should have been multiple castings for the role in my opinion and possibly light adjustments for certain types of lighting if it were too stressful for the actor/actresses. Also provisions for dealing with the stress of the actor/actresses might take long longer to make but at least there were coping mechanisms in place to deal with any possible stress that might happen. Key is making sure a movie set looks relaxing and welcoming for us autistic people to come too each day.
I was personally bothered by this because I love Sia’s Music and was totally prepared to let her off and perhaps even defend her, but her responses and other factors made that impossible for me.
@@rsfilmdiscussionchannel4168 true 😢 I hope it isn't actually that bad because I really enjoy Sia's music and I want to listen to without feeling guilty
@@gingerk3180 I already have that feeling, not of guilt but of "fuck, I like this music but I can't help but think of her recent controversy" That's the annoying thing about trailers for movies that don't end up being well received, they often highlight a film's objective flaws and make people judge it as a whole before they see it. That happened with Cats, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Stonewall. Those films weren't good, but they should have been judged fairly before release rather than dogpiled as being bad before they had a chance to be properly judged (that's why you get the marketing for films like Collateral Beauty or Passengers, which hid the troublesome elements of their films till release). Music will probably be a bad movie, but the problem seems to be less with the film itself and more the thinking and creative process behind it. So hopefully people who see it analyse the final result rather than just say "This movie casts a neurotypical person as an autistic person, therefore it's bad" and hopefully people who have spoken about this controversy will either not watch it or judge it fairly.
Thank you! As a Mum of a non verbal child I can vouch that my child doesn't act or play like Maddie Ziegler's character. Makes me cringe and I feel like it's set our computer back. Will be boycotting this film.
