The Dangerous Failure Of MUSIC (2021) 

EDITORS NOTE: While her performance is beyond problematic - I truly believe the responsibility lays not with Maddie Ziegler (who was a minor when this was shot). Sia and her exploitative, egomaniacal quest to make Oscar Bait are why this exists - and Maddie is a coerced accomplice to this nightmare. Anywho - as I state throughout - this video exists entirely because of the enormous help of those credited with their invaluable help, knowledge and resources they shared either publically or with me in a series of one-on-one conversations. This video is theirs.

Autistic people: we don't like flashing lights and loud noises Sia: dw babes I got chu

Now introducing the Sexy Lamp test: If your nondivergent character can be replaced by a dog who needs a life saving surgery with no change to the plot of the film, you failed to represent an actual human person.

If you really think about it, the most insulting, disturbing, dehumanizing element is the whole "inability to experience grief"/ ignoring the dead grandma thing. It immediately robs the audience of the ability to empathize w/ her & robs the character of her humanity.

“You’re not hurting her are you” “No I am not, I am crushing her with my love” That’s so disturbing to me, and I can’t place why.

As someone on the spectrum, thank you. The reason I wasn't diagnosed until 27 was because if you weren't like the cartoony depictions like in Music or Rain Man, you didn't have autism and were just trying to get attention.

What makes me unfathomably upset and genuinely angry about this movie is that Sia got paid for it. Millions. Millions that aren't going to any sort of autism related charities, research or therapy.

Can we address that Sia grooms Maddie? They snuggle in bed, says her Mom. "It's cute" says her Mom. Um, what? "I will no longer work without Maddie, she is my muse." Um,. if this was a dude he'd be dead 3 times over.

A lot of autistic people can actually pass as "normal" people. It's called masking and it takes a lot of energy to pull off. I'm personally drained by the end of my work day. When Sia insults us and calls us "bad actors," it flies in the face of what we truly are: Better actors than most people who do act. It also makes it clear that she didn't do any research on ASD, otherwise she'd know what masking is. For the most part, autistic people are functional humans. Not whatever the fuck Maddie was doing.

Seeing Sia’s interview just makes it even more frustrating when she clearly had yes men around her and wouldn’t give her valid criticism on how her film could hurt people, and it’s even more sad that Maddie had breakdowns because she didn’t want to offend people with autism, but Sia didn’t care. She treated Maddie’s character as a prop rather than a person.

I've a daughter who is on the higher end of the spectrum, non-verbal and has significant developmental delay, so I was mildly curious at how Sia would present this character, since she has traits familiar to my daughter, ( I refuse to point blame at an inexperienced actress under poor direction.) The representation that people with these conditions are unrelenting in their social interactions was galling. There was next to no subtlety or nuance in Music's actions. My daughter has as many quiet and introspective moments as she has impulsive moments. Then there was Sia's comments that it was a a" shout out to the carers." To this I can only reply with "Bull$hit." Any carer will tell you that the most gratifying part of looking after someone on the spectrum, is when you see them achieve even the most simple and mundane action. Not counting cards or solving impossible puzzles, but when they find a way to tell you that the bathwater is too cold, or they help you dress them. Had have Sia focused on Music learning to do an action we take for granted, it would have meant alot more than one of the musical interludes that would have given my daughter a seizure.

Honestly, I feel so bad for Maddie for having to be associated with this "film". She didn't even want to be there and her biggest concern was that she would be mocking autistic ppl with the direction she received. She was forced into the role and ended up hurting ppl because of it

Oof. That interview clip where Sia cackles gleefully about getting "loads more money!" is uh.....morally reprehensible.

We aren't _oblivious to_ social situations. We are _overwhelmed by_ social situations. It's depressing that there are still people who don't get that. And of course if you're already overwhelmed, someone 2-3 times your size physically forcing you to the ground and restraining you is only going to make matters worse. How does anyone not get that?

At this point I don't even believe that Sia had good intentions, and if she had them they were twisted beyond any scope of good taste, respect, empathy or reason by her ego.

"I am crushing her with my love" Dude this feels more like something I imagine a sexual abuser would tell his victm than anything.

As an autistic person, hearing the line "autism is the next stage in human evolution" in The Predator had me wheezing in laughter 😂

I have high functioning autism. When I was 11, my grandmother died. No, I did not just ignore her death. I literally had a full emotional breakdown. I didn't know how to handle something like that. Through the years, I'm deemed overly emotional and with all the craziness that's going on lately, my sensitivity is going through the roof. And this movie is very upsetting to me. I hate this. I actually feel like crying seeing how awful this is.

As someone who's autistic, my favorite show that represents autistic people in a really great way is "Everything's Going To Be Okay". The neurodivergent characters are portrayed by ACTUALLY neurodivergent actors, and it's just a really great show.

'Sia dry heaved Music into existence' only a few seconds in and I already chuckled lol

I hadn't heard that Leslie Odom Jr's character had AIDS and I genuinely gasped out loud. Just when I thought this film couldn't get any worse!

As someone who is neuroatypical/on the spectrum. No, I didn't cry at the funeral for either of my great-grandparents, because I tried so hard not to cry I just didn't want to, I think I was just overwhelmed. I cried for a month after, where nobody could see me. Some days I still cry. So, sorry for not crying where people can see me, I guess.

I am so sick of this kind of '''''representation''''' of neuro-diverse people. I know Music was a flop, but it is so sad that movies with lousy representation of autistic people usually make their budget back.

I already knew this was bad, but she legit killed off an Asian character and gave the very stereotypical African man aids?!?! Thanks for bringing up some positive examples at the end. Max and Mary is a beautiful film that has made me cry and not only that it did such a great job at humanizing and normalizing Max to the point when Mary made him her subject for her book without his consent, Max's reaction was very normal, he's lived his life as how he wanted to.

I had to pause the video cause I started howling at how bad "I'm crushing with my love" was

I can’t wait until this movie and Sia are unremembered footnotes to the positive portrayals we hopefully get in the near future

This comes as a surprise to the three people on the planet who were expecting something meaningful or thought-provoking from Sia.

Kazuzu sounds like a really fun demon.

Hi, just wanted to chime in as someone who's been diagnosed since age 5 and who has a bit of a different take on things. I don't inherently hate when someone lines up with a stereotype. Even if we assume all stereotypes are out-of-touch with reality, some people will still coincidentally line up with them. There are nonverbal people who happen to have autism, much like how there are African Americans who happen to have AIDS. Individual offensive depictions don't upset me on an individual level but they add up to make something a lot scarier. When an antisocial arrogant neurotypical person appears in a TV series or movie, they're just another character in a sea of thousands. But when Sheldon Cooper does the same things, it means that *1 in maybe 10 high-profile autistic characters in mainstream media* are feeding into negative stereotypes. Every time a small demographic of people are depicted on TV or movies, they're a disproportionately large percent of the total pool of characters with those traits, and because of that, we need to be extra diligent to avoid being insensitive. I'd love for representation and discrimination to change in ways where I could just see a Chinese person be good at math or something similar to that, but representation needs to be normalized and handled with greater care before that can happen.

PRONE RESTRAINT TW: as someone who was once briefly admitted to a psych ward, i watched six fully grown adults (several of which were bigger, heavy men) pin down an eleven year old little boy because he was crying that he was hungry. they continued to crush him even as he screamed he couldn’t breathe, and dragged him into a dark, isolated room for HOURS, and wouldn’t let him see his obviously very frightened parents when they came for the daily visiting hour. i learned later on that the facility i was admitted to is sketchy at best, and many aren’t quite so cruel to their CHILD patients, but it deeply saddens me to learn that there are people who actually condone such a dehumanizing and humiliating method of “de-escalation” especially to those who aren’t as able to fight back (and may not be doing anything to necessitate being restrained in the first place)

I was diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome. I also possess a black belt (3rd dan) in Shotokan Karate. If someone attempted to restrain me like these "loving and caring" people did to Music, I would kick their ass.

This is sooo awful man :( I can't believe Sia defended this. Maddie cried on set because she was afraid she was doing something offensive and it would not be received well, and the adults reassured her it was fine. The kid had more sense than the adults

As a child, I had a lot of difficulties with dressing myself, we only recently found out I’m “high functioning” The joy my mom felt when I finally learned how to tie my shoes at 7 was weird for me. I struggle with loud, sudden noises. Certain colors make me “uncomfortable” and I’m unable to find employment because it takes me a while to process tasks. I know I can’t ever understand how someone who isn’t like me, but just remembering how I was treated because of my disabilities at school makes me upset when I see how people make “characters”. High or low functioning, we’re still people and it sucks to be looked at like you’re dumb because you can’t function in a world that isn’t made for you.

I just hope Maddie's career doesn't take a bad turn from this :( she doesn't deserve any backlash

Tbh I find the whole premise and start of this movie unrealistic right off the bat with Zu even becoming Music's guardian. She's not her biological parent, she doesn't have automatic and assumed custody or duty to provide for the child(because even if you give up custody of your child you're not off the hook when it comes to paying child support). She's her half-sister. When you're not a bio parent, like a sibling for example you have to petition the court to be awarded custody. They don't get it automatically, even when parents die and they're there and willing. They have to fight for it and prove themselves capable of providing for the child(and in case of parent's being alive proof that parents are unfit to have custody). Her grandmother didn't leave a will from my understanding but wrote a letter to Zu. A letter is NOT a legally binding document. What WOULD happen is when the grandma died, the social services and courts would get involved(since Music is a minor AND a disabled person who cannot truly take care of herself) and they would contact Zu about it, since she's next of kin but she wouldn't be automatically considered guardian. She would be able to refuse the custody and they wouldn't press her. Because again, when you're not a parent YOU have to ask the court to award you custody and courts don't often award custody to non-parents. So Zu wouldn't even be in the picture at all. And even if her grandmother left a will, then Zu still would have to prove she can take care of her sister. and being unemployed, recovering alcoholic and on probation would work against her. Because well obviously since she has no job she can't meet her sister's needs, and substance abuse and criminal record are some of the factors that make one unfit for custody. Like probation ISN'T being free of charges and off the hook. It means that someone was sentenced to a time in jail, but the court decides to give them another chance ON CERTAIN CONDITIONS AND UNDER SUPERVISION. If the person steps out of the line or fails in any way they're going to serve their sentence. So this case would end up in court, there would be a background check on Zu and her probation officer would be contacted, and probably the AA meeting counselor would be summoned too. To testify on whenever Zu is really sober at the moment and if she's making a good effort in recovery. Since I reiterate SUBSTANCE ABUSE MAKES YOU UNFIT FOR CUSTODY EVEN WHEN YOU'RE A PARENT. Zu falls asleep in her meetings. That would probably come out, and she would be deemed unfit to take care of Music. Even if she wanted to. But she doesn't so that scenario probably wouldn't play out at all.

"I am crushing her with my love" Seriously....WHO said that this was ok?????

For his role in "Rain Man", Dustin Hoffman worked alongside autistic men and their families for over a year in order to better understand their experiences. He also spent time with Kim Peek, the inspiration for his character in the film.

Was I the only one bothered by Maddie's mannerisms? The way she showed her teeth reminded me of how people would do when they were mocking mentally disabled people (Like Ben Stiller's Simple Jack character in Tropic Thunder)

After watching this video, all of Sia's past music now just seems.... disingenuous...? People have always liked how Sia touched on relevant topics in her music, like alcohol abuse and homophobia, but her choice to be so ignorant over how to safely depict autism on screen really sheds a new light on all her old work. Her music is still great, but it definitely doesn't hit the spot like it used to after this trainwreck of a movie.

I like that you brought up the obsession with savants. When my child was diagnosed several years ago, people in our lives tended to focus on his skills, thinking he would show some fantastic ability. In reality, my son is very smart. But he can't memorize dates, or even the days of the week. He loves animals, but he can't draw them or understand how to color. He's not going to be a musical prodigy... Instead, we have this amazing little boy who loves insects, Little People toys, and balloons, and hates wearing socks. He's also the sweetest thing ever, even after my 2 daughters. His hugs are everything; but at times, he doesn't want to be touched. People sometimes expect something else from autistic people, with all they know from mostly media. They expect, sometimes, either the extreme of a savant or the extreme of this girl in this movie, walking funny with a ridiculous smile. Maybe just expect that somebody with autism is just another person. Everybody is different.

Remember that Simple Jack fake trailer from Tropic Thunder? Apparently, Sia made that a real thing, while completely missing the point.

I know I've said this elsewhere already, but I am genuinely elated that you tackled this subject and I'm honored to have been a small part of it. You're a true blue friend.

I feel like they completely misunderstood how some autistic ppl enjoy pressure, like hugs and weight blankets and even being pinned down sometimes, and somehow got the idea that pressure would calm someone down during a meltdown when it actually has the opposite effect Pressure, and any touch really, is best when you're prepared for it, or better yet have consented to it.

It’s sad when 1998’s extremely problematic “The Other Sister” is a more honest portrayal of someone with ASD than in 2021.

I have High functioning autism living day to day can be hard for me. I try my best to act nominal and hide it. I want to make movies one day. I’m horror writer and a fine artist. When it comes to understanding others and nominal stuff it becomes hard for me. I see movies like this all the time and don’t like it. I would like to make films that can help people understand how people like me really are.

Fun fact: there's a post credit scene almost worst than the movie

For the record, The Temple Grandin movie is one of the ONLY movies featuring ASD that gets it right without turning the project into a gratuitous self-award ceremony for discussing ASD. (yes, it won awards, but Temple herself got to be part of the decision making process and is a real person)

As someone on the spectrum myself, it's always frustrated me to see autism represented so crudely in media. Like the video mentions, it's wound me up at this odd place where some of the best representation I find are from characters who are never declared to be autistic. In a way, that just makes them all the more relatable. Most folks don't go around talking about being autistic (heck, a lot of folks don't even _know_ they're autistic), meaning you just end up treating them like what they are: Normal human beings. I guess that's the main lesson Hollywood needs to learn. We're people too. Don't define us by a diagnosis--define us by our individual character. Like you would anybody else.

This portrayal of autism makes me so scared to tell people that I’m autistic I can’t believe it. Thank you for using your platform to spread awareness about this issue, unlike some others use their platforms

I am dating someone who is on the lower end of the spectrum. He is a fully functional adult who also happens to have issues dealing with or expressing strong or negative emotions. He also gets overwhelmed by stimuli (particularly if he's required to pay attention to more than one thing at once) and has a few special interests and stims. He's also astoundingly generous, a fantastic and equal partner, a political activist, and a staunch ally for people like myself (LGBT+, also neurodivergent with ADHD and CPTSD from an awful childhood) and others who are suffering. He tries his hardest to be aware of pain people are feeling even when the scope of it overwhelms him. Unfortunately portrayals like Music and Sheldon Cooper hurt him so much it enrages me. He struggles so much with feeling like the entire world sees him that way, like his special interests get on people's nerves, or that he's a burden. Does helping him through the occasional breakdown until he can better express himself take some emotional bandwidth? Sure, but I'm sure dealing with my PTSD panic attacks, or my incessant chatter from ADHD, aren't easy either. But it's a part of who we are, not a burden forced on the other person. I love him so much, and we need better representation. Sure, parts of what's shown in media might ring true for some people, but the autism spectrum is so diverse and varied and you only ever see it from one perspective. I just wish sometimes a character with autism could have his passion and not be mocked, or be as funny and thoughtful as he is. Funny as in making jokes, not being the butt of one like autistic characters always seem to be. Sorry if this is me, a non-autistic person, making this about me when it most definitely isn't. Just, thank you for your emotional labor in putting this out there. It really helps chip away at the clout this movie got originally.

"The soul of a dead Asian character rides a rickshaw to Heaven" sounds like a joke that got cut from Tropic Thunder. :D

Even just watching the clips of the movie in this video upset me. Misrepresentation in media like this really needs to stop.

Just bc i don't cry doesn't mean I don't miss my grandfather I only cry when I'm overwhelmed I just watch terminator (he showed me the series)

I did a year of national service at a school for physically and mentally challenged kids and the biggest emphasis was always about empowering them to express themselves and find their place in the world, as equals. I remember watching the elephant man for the first time after that year and bursting into tears as Joseph cries "I'm not an animal ,I'm a human being" (I started crying just writing it now) I have worked with some people on the spectrum and had the experience of getting to know these kids. slowly everything that's different between us melts away. if you truly put the time to get to know them they are just people. and if Sia thinks that that caricature is an accurate depiction of an "autistic" then I cant believe she ever even thought to talk to anyone on the spectrum to get their opinion in any case great video i realy like your stuff

Will this be a career killer for Sia? Both the movie and soundtrack have flopped hard and her last holiday album didn't set the charts on fire either.

I have three relatives with autism as it runs in my family; my brother, a cousin, and a nephew. My brother just seems awkward and shy, and his autistic behavior is more apparent for those who are close to him. He's high functioning, but because he didn't get help until his 30's he has had immense struggles to keep up. My cousin is on the lower end of high functioning; his behavior and speech patterns make his autism fairly obvious, and he still struggles with some basic tasks, but because he got diagnosed and helped as a young child, he's gotten his outbursts almost entirely under control and responds well to people requesting that he lower his voice while speaking, and he has an AMAZING job that he excels at because it involves one of his hyperfixations. My nephew is very low-functioning; he can communicate only through a touch pad, requires the assistance of a service dog, and has to wear earmuffs to block out noise so that he doesn't suffer from overstimulation and have a meltdown. Even he does not act ANYTHING like Music did in this movie; he doesn't make bizarre faces, he doesn't vocalize often, he doesn't do the goofy gestures shown in this film. This exaggerates autism SO much and I don't understand how Sia still doesn't seem to understand how horrible her depiction of autism is. It looks nothing like this.

you put more care and effort into this 20> minute video than sia did in her entire fucking sham of a film. not that she set the bar very high to begin with.. but i appreciate the way you handled this topic. can't say the same for her, however..

Prone... restraint...? This... has that? I'm crying. I haven't even seen this, and I'm crying. Thank you for the 'we can and have done better'. Especially mentioning Temple. And J's words at the end... I'm not on the spectrum. But I've had too many friends that are to not feel sick just from the long build up to Music.

I've had no idea Sia was behind this, I just thought she provided the music :/ I legit lost every respect for her

Claire Danes did an empathetic portrayal of someone with bipolar disorder (in Homeland), so nice to see that wasn’t a fluke.

Probably my favorite example of an autistic character in media is Izuku Midoriya from My Hero Academia. He's not confirmed autistic, but I see a lot of my own autistic traits in him, such as a special interest in heroes and quirks (superpowers). His story also has a lot of parallels to and autistic person's life. He was bullied as a child for being quirkless, which is basically like a disability in the MHA world, and everyone discouraged him from following how dream of becoming a hero because they thought it was impossible. Even after he gets a quirk, he still isn't as good with it as others are with theirs, because they've had theirs since childhood and he only got his on the day of the UA entrance exam. He has to learn a lot of strategies to use his quirk without destroying himself, just like how autistic people may use strategies to keep themselves from having meltdowns.

Mary and Max is really good at representation of one person on the spectrum because Max was based on a pen pal of the director and said pen pal apparently approved the script too. So the director of this movie basically shows his work by talking to at least one person who has the same condition and most likely a lot more research on the side too. I actually have a classmate with Asperger’s and she is one of the nicest people I ever met :)

As someone diagnosed with ASD as an adult, the idea of restraint that this movie showed makes me deeply unsettled. I wasn't diagnosed because, basically, doctors were looking for this "Music" kind of presenting, not me, who "reads" as "not autistic"... which is just. Urgh. How many years of pain would it have saved me if it was more talked about and shown in a better, more accurate way?

Every new thing I learn about this film is more horrifying than the last.

This was a great and educative video, keep up the great work. Abed was one of the most relateable characters in TV for me and i love how handle it in the christmas rap, with Abed saying "On the spectrum, none of your business ". The exploitation of people with A.S.D to feed the egos of celebrities is truly disgusting

I'm pretty sure Ziegler didn't even want to do the act, but she's kind of stuck with Sia because contracts

I bet Sia only decided to make a musical out of this trainwreck movie because she noticed how amazing K-12 is... of course she didn't understand what makes K-12 special and so Sia automatically messed it up. I'm not surprised Music turned out the way it did since Autism Speaks was involved. I am so sorry for all the scenery and costumes because I need to admit they look gorgeous! And of course I'm incredibly sorry for Maddie. She was forced into this role and she was forced to pull through it, I hope this movie didn't ruin future career chances for her because of the controversy 💔

All I really care is that there exists a clear distinction between the movie Sia believed she was making, and the movie she actually made. . . and it's hilarious. I love watching pretentious vanity projects go full Hindenburg.

Not just ASD, but when someone is having a seizure, you can’t restrain them either!

We can't blame Maddie for this, she was very opposed to it and even had breakdowns during filming because she didn't like what she was being forced to do. The blame is 100% on Sia.

I’m autistic and when my grandmother died I cried violently for hours every day for the next 6 months. Sometimes autistic people may not react the same as neurotyoical people. We usually have extreme reactions that are hypo or hyper. Suggesting that music wouldn’t even care that her grandmother died is so insulting.

Abed may be as richly written as he is in part because Dan Harmon is on the spectrum. There's something to be said I think for writers diagnosed with ASD also getting a shot at representing it accurately. It all starts with the script.

This movie is a big old harmful dangerous mess. Sia refused to listen to anyone else, and seems to think that intentions are actions, and her vanity projects are untouchable. Gross when you consider how much good the money thrown away on this project could have done for the autistic community.

I think this is a really pure example of fame and wealth completely alienating it's creator from reality. What makes it all even sadder is that this changes my perception of Sia's music career and the values she likes to project through it. It honestly shocks me how anyone with such an undeniable talent as her could fall so far into making something as misguided as this, but maybe that just means her value system has gotten lost in the ether somewhere since becoming such a megastar and we all need to just move on to someone else. Which, to be honest, most people have now anyway.

I'm sure I'm not the first to say this, but this is probably as close as possible as we're going to get to a real-life version of "Simple Jack." And I really, really, REALLY wish I didn't find that as funny as I did.

Sia's laughter at 6:06 makes her sound positively psychopathic 😳

Two years later and I can safely say this movie killed off what was left of Sia's music career.

Surely Kate Hudson couldn't have been that hard up for cash to agree to do this fecking film. Wtf, woman?

The restraint is super old. My mom was taught to do this with my brother. But we held him in our lap while he screamed bloody murder. He has sensory issues. We never got him tested for autism because in the 90s we didn’t do that type of thing.

God I love Scrubs, and as an autistic person I loved that episode and was pleasantly surprised to see it being shouted out!

9:00 as an autistic person with trauma related to restraint, I can’t fucking deal with that scene anymore without nearing tears. This movie was made to hurt people like me.

As an autistic person, this movie is very hurtful to me. This movie deserves nothing but to be buried in the garden after being shot in the face. The fact Sia had a hit on the pop charts after this movie is astounding, especially since that hit was terrible "empowering" fluff that doesn't help how genuinely disgusting this movie is.

"i'm crushing her with my love" no you're not

Positive representation of people (mostly not canon) somewhere on the spectrum, *according to me* : - Bilbo Baggins *Hobbit - Gandalf and Radagast *Hobbit & LotR - Luna Lovegood *Harry Potter - Sherlock Holmes *not NECESSARILY just the TV show, but more positively in the actual books - Todd *Dead Poets Society - Alan Turing *Imitation Game (mostly because it was based on the real Alan) - Maurice Ross *The IT Club - Simon *The Spiderwick Chronicles - Hickup *How to Train Your Dragon - Luisa *Jane the Virgin - Enola Holmes *Enola Holmes - Riley *inside out - Flint Lockwood *Cloudy with a chance of meatballs

The only movie that makes Cats look like a masterpiece 🦊

Kinda sad that Abed was largely passed over in the video because I genuinely think that's my favourite portrayal of an autistic character in media. I related to him from the very beginning, but I also agreed with the other characters' frustrations over feeling like they had to walk on eggshells around him, and he became better in that regard over the course of the series. Not to mention how writing Abed led Dan Harmon to realise he was on the spectrum and get diagnosed (tangent: him eventually making both Rick and Morty autistic too was another cool thing for me to see, as they are not stereotypically "autistic"). And I also have a living example of how we on the spectrum have differing needs from each other: my boyfriend who is also ASD and what many would define as "high-functioning" (intelligent, verbal, broad vocabulary etc.) still needs quite a lot of assistance in managing his self-care and personal affairs because his executive functioning is quite impaired.

Another thing to note is that Sia’s whole brand essentially boils down to “be yourself, special and unique!!” So it’s a no brainer that she’d latch onto autism to bolster that image of hers. Unfortunately this is not the first or last time many autistic people have experienced being parasitised by people looking to appear quirky by using our nature.

I remember seeing one of my classmates being restrained when he was having a breakdown. One of the deans (the people who work with the bad students and punishments) came to our class and picked up the child, who was still crying and screaming, and took him out of class with everyone else watching him. Nobody deserves any kind of restraining at all.

I feel weird about how she was tanned and had to wear braids for this movie. It didnt just give autistic exploitation but mixed exploitation as well. Maybe im reaching.

I loved sia. I loved her music. Followed her for years. But my twin brother is autistic, non-verbal, and very much the extreme side of autistic. I am lower spectrum. It broke my fucking heart to see the hand gestures, the twitching mannerisms and the stereotypical humming and headphones...like she was making fun of us.The self harming, the vocalizations, the ‘outbursts’, those were caricatures of a real experience. Broke my goddamn heart.

If someone showed me this and told me it was a horror movie I'd believe them with no questions

13:11 I HIGHLY disagree. Julia herself is fantastic. I love her character despite her being played by a neurotypical person. The problem is how other characters treat her. Young kids are going to look up to and follow the examples of Big Bird, Abby, and Elmo. They’re constantly learning new things from them, and inherently are going to try to adopt their mannerisms. So when Abby Cadabby (age 4) talks to Julia (age 4) like she’s a dog, it’s going to encourage allistic children to speak to their autistic friends and classmates like they’re dogs. I have been playing around with the idea of writing an essay about all of the dangerous things Sesame Workshop has promoted in their autism campaign. I have serious beef with Sesame Street about this. There are just so many factors that contribute to why showing Julia’s episodes to allistic kids is dangerous for their social development. I just don’t have the spoons or the character space to type them all out here. TLDR: Sesame Street’s take on autism encourages allistic children to treat their autistic peers as lesser humans.

"I am crushing her with my love" 🤢

Great video. It's obvious how much time and work you put into these things. They're always a joy to watch, even when the subject matter is reprehensible. My son is autistic, my daughter is almost certainly autistic, I was informally diagnosed at 48 by my son's therapist, and my wife is on the spectrum. It presents very differently in each of us, and none of us neatly fit either of the main Hollywood stereotypes you talk about here. And wow, the film looks tone-deaf in almost every way, not just in its portrayal of autism!

so, i'm not on the spectrum (at least, not officially) but i am adhd and i've found a lot of overlap between myself and people who are on the spectrum, and because of that (and because i am so high empathy i literally cannot function sometimes) this is the first review of "music" i've watched. and i just like, god i can't even word this properly i'm sorry, adhd brain, but like, the musical sections, you're totally right about them, like, i had to look away while watching this because i could feel the sensory overload coming on, and i had to pause a few times to get my bearings back, and that's *without* the audio that i'm sure would make it 10x worse. like, jesus h this is so clearly a cash grab i can't, thank you for tearing it to pieces, it was very cathartic to watch.

I am an adult man who was diagnosed with PDD-nos when I was in grade 9. I was deeply depressed due to trouble in school with my peers and my homework. After I tried to hurt myself I was diagnosed and placed on a path of "recovery" (at the time it was more recovery from depression, which then shifted to learning about how to cope with my autistic tendencies) after roughly 6 and a half years of social therapy and hard work, I was a contributing member of society who graduated college. Now I am 31, living on my own attending college once again as an engineer. people with ASD are just like everyone else, we learn and grow, just a little differently then most.

As an individual who's been diagnosed at a young age, I know exactly how its like. There's a whole lot of misrepresentation. I feel like Sia went the "look, give me money" kind of route. There's a few scenes that actually make me feel uncomfortable in my skin, especially the "I'm crushing her with my love" scene.

Hey, it's Simple Jack!

Can I just add that Music was said to be mixed race and they purposefully darkened Maddie's skin for the film (also she's wearing ethnic hairstyles in some of the music video parts)

as a person on the spectrum it gets really, really annoying when we're basically a plot device. honestly seems like sia just wanted to tell a girl finding her passion story and just crammed the caricature of an autistic person in there to make it artificially deeper. thing is, music is such an caricature that anyone with common sense would see it. shes written like a toddler in a teen/young adult body, and you'd lose very little from having Music be the zu's dog or baby sister. the weird music scenes also just seem like sia stuck it in to call it a musical and/or to digitally key jangle to all the actual autistic people who got tricked into watching this