Facing the Music: How Sia’s New Film Highlights the Importance of Genuine Neurodiversity in Film

By Lucia Ene-Lesikar

Sia, the Australian singer and co-writer for the film Music has recently been in the media, facing backlash over her directorial debeaut. The controversy surrounding the film mainly centres around its exagerated almost mocking depiction of autism which has (quite rightly) angered the internet and has highlighted the importance of having representative over performative neurodiversity in films. Another major qualm that people have with the film is its use of a widely debated method called “restraint” which involves hurling himself on the main character - Music (played by Maddie Ziegler) - during an outburst. This is a method that has injured and even killed children on the autistic spectrum.

Many critics have a major problem with how Maddie Zeigler, who is not autistic, performs and characterises autism, playing on major stereotypes and highly exaggerated facial expressions. Many people in the disabled people in the community were quick to criticise Sia for choosing to cast Ziegler in the role over a disabled actor, accusing the singer of ableism. One twitter user said “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”. Another major criticism was that Sia worked with a group called Autism Speaks whilst working on the film, an organisation with a highly contraversial reputation within the disabled community, only adding to the fire.

Stories in the media about people with autism and other neurodiverse people are often stereotypical and foster mis-understandings within the neurotypical community. They often exploit and perpetuate tired tropes about what it means to be neurodiverse. Sia is definitely not the first person to tokenize autistic people, ‘Rain Man’ released in 1988 left an impression on the public about autism for decades after its release. A more recent one is ‘Life, Animated’ (2016) which was labled as ‘infantalising’ and ‘stigmatising’.

Music has also been criticised for other aspects of its portrayals, including Africans, immigration, family violence, the elderly and the poor. Leslie Odom Jr who plays the newly arrived immigrant neighbour Ebo, only exists in the film to impart his wisdom to Music’s sister Zu (played by Kate Hudon) to better herself. He uses broad phrases like “in Africa…” or “Back in my village” which only help to perpetuate the idea that Africa is one homogonised place.

Though Sia has maintained her “good intentions” in casting Ziegler over an autistic actor, the truth is that there are plenty of autistic and other neurodiverse actors out there, but they are just not being given the opportunity to prove it. Though there are occasionally positive and true-to-life portrayals of neurodiverse characters played by neurotypical actors, but this is rare and often needs months of preparation, working with adviders with lived experiences and loads of sensitivity.

The best portrayals of neurodiverse characters though, are often those which are played and/or produced by neurodiverse diverse people. We have spoken before on this blog about the importance of representation, and this definitely applies to neurodiverse and disabled people too. This can provide a great deal of comfort and inspiration to young people watching them and can make them feel like they are seen and heard, and that their experiences are valid. Below, you’ll find a list of films and TV shows which we think portray neurodiversity in a more authentic way, as well as articles and videos which talk more about the film in detail and the importance of neurodiveristy in film.