Controversies surrounding movies is nothing new. Whether it’s surrounding backlash for representation of disabilities like The Witches faced , or whether it’s backlash surrounding what some people feel is inappropriate casting like Gal Gadot’s Cleopatra film, it’s not usually a surprising when a movie trailer draws backlash.
Musician Sia is facing a combination of those kinds of backlash for her new movie, Music.
Musician Sia, known for her hits like ‘Chandelier’ and ‘Cheap Thrills,’ released a trailer for her upcoming film *Music* on November 19th.
The movie follows a young girl named Music who expresses how she feels using a tablet, as she is non-verbal and autistic.
Sia cast her frequent collaborator Maddie Ziegler in the titular role, a move which drew backlash as Maddie is not autistic herself.
Fans wanted to know why Sia didn’t hire an autistic actor to play the part and tell the story authentically.
Sia responded saying that there were “thirteen people on the spectrum” in the movie and that she felt it would be “cruel, not kind” to cast someone at the character’s level of functioning in the role.
Sia received even more backlash for her response, and for replying to an autistic actor who said they had attempted to reach out to Sia about the project was “just a bad actor.”
However, not everyone was against Sia’s decision or the film itself.
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“Please ignore them Sia, I’m a disabled person and am not offended by the premise of your film. I have been criticised by some of the disabled community for my opinion but my opinion remains unchanged.I look forward to seeing it and judging it on its merits,” one fan responded .
Sia tweeted asking people to watch the film before they judged it.
What do you think? Should an effort have been made to cast an autistic actor in the role, or do you think that the story and the movie should stand on its own merits? Let us know how you feel in the comments below!
