Ely Skywater

I wanna start by saying that I am an autistic actor and writer, making these this a topic that I am very passionate about. Singer Sia has released a film called Music, and I'm going to talk to you about why you shouldn't support this project. The film is about a newly sober woman who discovers she has been left to be the sole guardian of her sister, Music. Sounds innocent enough, right? Wrong. First off, Sia partnered with a group called Autism Speaks, which if you ask ANY autistic person, is an anti-autism group. They're all about "curing autism" and get no feedback from actual autistic people. Secondly, she uses the term "low functioning". This term is incredibly harmful for a few reasons. These terms were created by a guy named Hans Asperger, a guy who actively cooperated with the child ‘euthanasia' program, a program organized by NAZIS which killed mentally disabled children. Not a very nice origin story, is it? Functioning labels completely disregard the strugglers AND the successes of people on either side of the spectrum. People who are labeled as "low functioning" are seen as the little creatures who won't ever amount to anything. People labled as "high functioning" are basically forgotten until they "act autistic", and then they're basically punished for having the mental illness that they've had the entire time! If you're looking for the term to use, neurodivergent would be correct. Thirdly, she casted Maddie Ziegler, a neurotypical actress, to play a neurodivergent character. The faces Maddie makes, the aggressive stims, THE RESTRAINT SCENE, none of those are things that can be seen as anything other than a mockery of us. There are PLENTLY of actors on the spectrum who she could have used, but at the end of the day, she didn't wanna put in the extra work to give us proper representation. It's just as important to see an autistic actor playing an autistic character as it is to see a trans actor playing a trans character. Because no one is going to be able to properly represent something that they have never had to experience. And last but most certainly not least, the film opens up with Maddie Ziegler in blackface. No, I'm unfortunately not kidding. Not only is the movie incredibly ableist, but it's also racist. It is incredibly important that we get the word out about exactly why this film is not okay.

Such a beautiful film. As a freshmen in high school with depression and anxiety, I really relate to Charlie and he is so beautifully played. 10/10 and certainly worth a watch.