One major takeaway from the past decade of Hollywood is representation matters.
When dealing with stories surrounding people in certain marginalized communities—such as LGBTQ+, people of color, or disabled people—it is important to have those characters played by actors that are members of those communities.
For decades, those communities’ stories were not told. And actors and artists from those communities were not hired for any roles because of their identities.
Sia’s new film, Music, features an autistic character. Maddie Ziegler portrays this character.
Ziegler is not autistic.
The news you've been waiting for! 🙌 Music, the movie written & directed by Sia + starring Kate Hudson, @leslieodomjr & @maddieziegler, will be arriving in early 2021! Watch a sneak peek of the movie right here. pic.twitter.com/w38L2UtIhJ
— sia (@Sia) November 19, 2020
Immediately, Sia’s casting choice inspired backlash across the internet.
It’s a mighty shame that someone with such a colossal platform is using it to exclude disabled and neuro diverse actors from their own narratives. I’ve been a long time fan of your work, so this is really disappointing.
— Tome Levi (@TomeLevi) November 20, 2020
this is cripping up and it’s really gross. if you want to tell stories about disabled people, pay disabled people to tell the story
— eli 🥞🌹 (@_elinorlower) November 20, 2020
Incredibly disappointing to see yet another misrepresentation of neurodivergent people. What an incredibly wasted opportunity to showcase autistic talent, and share an authentic story from that community. Will not be watching this. #WeShallNotBeRemoved #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs
— Alex Covell (@Alex1May) November 19, 2020
I love Maddie Ziegler, don't get me wrong, but you need to consult actual autistic people and have autistic people play autistic people.
— Charlotte (@HierKomtCharl) November 20, 2020
Hi Sia, can I ask why you didn't cast a disabled actor for this part? It's pretty offensive the way you've chosen to portray this character. People with disabilities are not broken and don't need fixing. Many of my friends have different disabilities and they are some of the —
— Bronagh Waugh (@bronaghwaugh) November 19, 2020
Coolest, most talented, funny, kind, intelligent people I know. They are also the most under-represented and inaccurately represented group in our society. This kind of inaccurate, offensive representation causes so much pain.
— Bronagh Waugh (@bronaghwaugh) November 19, 2020
Sia did not take too kindly to the backlash, responding to almost every single criticism to try and justify her decisions.
I’m so confused. The character is based completely on my neuro atypical friend. He found it too stressful being non verbal, and I made this movie with nothing but love for him and his mother.
— sia (@Sia) November 20, 2020
I hired plenty of special abilities kids. I’m willing to be misunderstood because I think this movie does more good than harm.
— sia (@Sia) November 20, 2020
I actually tried working with a a beautiful young girl non verbal on the spectrum and she found it unpleasant and stressful. So that’s why I cast Maddie.
— sia (@Sia) November 20, 2020
Mocking is the very last thing either Maddie or I wanted to be so misunderstood. Please watch it before you judge it.
— sia (@Sia) November 20, 2020
