Sia Furler

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The Kate Hudson-starring musical drama has been slammed for its portrayal of autism, and the ‘Chandelier’ hitmaker, who serves as its director, was criticized for Maddie Ziegler casting.

Feb 18, 2021
AceShowbiz – An online petition launched to urge Hollywood Foreign Press Association bosses to pull Golden Globe nods for Sia Furler’s new film “Music” has been signed by over 57,000 people.
The film has been slammed for its portrayal of autism, and the new Change.org petition is calling on critics and industry officials to let first-time director Sia know her film is not OK.
“Music is severely ableist and contributes to harmful stereotypes of autistic people,” the petition reads. “The Golden Globes must rescind its two nominations for Best Musical/Comedy Picture and Best Musical/Comedy Actress: Kate Hudson, and the entertainment industry must promise to actively work towards inclusion and better disability representation.”
The author of the petition insists the film is unwatchable for those with autism due to “strobing lights” and “quick camera movements.”
“About 1 in 4 autistic people have epilepsy, so the movie can cause seizures and is also very uncomfortable for those without it,” the author adds. “Sia has made it in such a way that a majority of us will be unable to watch it.”
The “Chandelier” hitmaker has also been criticized for casting dancer/actress Maddie Ziegler, the longtime star of her performance art videos, as a non-verbal autistic teen in the film.

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“Actual autistic people were ignored in the casting process when Sia cast neurotypical Maddie Ziegler to play the autistic character, Music, because she ‘can’t do a project without her,’ ” the petition reads.
“To make things even worse, Ziegler learned how to ‘act autistic’ by watching videos of autistic children having meltdowns uploaded to YouTube by their parents without their consent.”
The petition’s writer also takes aim at director Sia’s response to the backlash from autism experts.
“When faced with justified critique, Sia decided to personally attack members of the community e.g. when she replied: ‘maybe you’re just a bad actor’ to one autistic individual who expressed their ability and willingness to act in her movie.”
“Furthermore, Sia claims to have researched autism for years, but the fact that she collaborated with Autism Speaks, easily identified as a eugenics-promoting hate group, is a testament to the severity of her lies. She refused to apologize and only did so after receiving the nominations out of fear of a boycott, which is exactly what we urge all of you to do.”
Sia has apologized following criticism of one scene, in which an autistic character is restrained, promising to attach a warning to the movie stating the film “in no way condones or recommends the use of restraint on autistic people.”
“Music” was released earlier this month (February) and was met with mostly negative reviews. Rotten Tomatoes editors noted the film has received worse reviews than movie flop “Cats”.

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The ‘Cheap Thrills’ hitmaker has deactivated her social media account as she comes under fire over the controversial restraint scenes in her autism movie.

Feb 5, 2021
AceShowbiz – Sia has deleted her Twitter account after posting a second apology for a controversial restraint scene in her new movie “Music”.
On Wednesday (03Feb21), the singer-turned-filmmaker apologised for scenes depicting the use of restraints on autistic people in her upcoming movie “Music”, revealing she planned to edit the offending footage out of the project.
She returned to Twitter on Thursday to discuss feedback to the film and her decision before deleting her account altogether as the controversy raged.

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She said, “I promise, have been listening. The motion picture MUSIC will, moving forward, have this warning at the head of the movie: MUSIC in no way condones or recommends the use of restraint on autistic people.”
Her statement read, “There are autistic occupational therapists that specialize in sensory processing who can be consulted to explain safe ways to provide proprioceptive, deep-pressure feedback to help w (with) meltdown safety… I listened to the wrong people and that is my responsibility, my research was clearly not thorough enough, not wide enough.”
Sia also retweeted a response from a fan dubbed The Autistic Educator, which read, “You’re forgiven by me at least. I still LOVE your music, but I can’t watch your movie as the restraint scenes will trigger me. I KNOW you’re a good person, you have realized you need to be more aware and that’s a REALLY good start. You can really help us now. You listened!”
The “Chandelier” singer has also been criticised for casting young dancer Maddie Ziegler, who appears in all of Sia’s videos, as a non-verbal autistic girl in the film.

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The ‘Chandelier’ hitmaker reveals the new movie ‘Music’ will be accompanied by a warning regarding the way the titular character, who’s autistic, is treated in certain scenes.

Feb 5, 2021
AceShowbiz – Sia’s movie “Music” will air with a disclaimer, following the controversy surrounding Maddie Ziegler’s casting in the film.
The “Chandelier” hitmaker faced backlash after casting frequent collaborator Ziegler as an autistic teenager – but she has promised the movie will be accompanied by a disclaimer regarding the way the titular character is treated in certain scenes.
She tweeted, “I promise, have been listening. The motion picture MUSIC will, moving forward, have this warning at the head of the movie: MUSIC in no way condones or recommends the use of restraint on autistic people. There are autistic occupational therapists that specialise in sensory processing who can be consulted to explain safe ways to provide proprioceptive, deep-pressure feedback to help w meltdown safety.”

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The singer-and-director has defended her decision to cast Maddie, rather than an autistic teenager, in the film on multiple occasions and previously insisted it was more “compassionate” to use a neurotypical actress.
She tweeted, “I did try. It felt more compassionate to use Maddie. That was my call… I cast thirteen neuroatypical people, three trans folk, and not as f**king prostitutes or drug addicts but as doctors, nurses and singers. F**king sad nobody’s even seen the dang movie. My heart has always been in the right place.”
Sia also insisted she simply couldn’t work without Maddie, who has starred in many of her music videos, including the promos for “Elastic Heart” and “Chandelier”.

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The ‘Cheap Thrills’ hitmaker continues to defend the casting of the ‘Dance Moms’ star to play an autistic teen in new movie ‘Music’ despite the girl not being autistic herself.

Jan 5, 2021
AceShowbiz – Sia has once again defended her casting of Maddie Ziegler in her film “Music”, hailing the move “nepotism.”
The “Cheap Thrills” hitmaker recently faced controversy because of the casting of her frequent collaborator as an autistic girl (Music) who moves in with her newly-sober half-sibling Zu (Kate Hudson) – despite the fact the 18-year-old star isn’t autistic herself.
And after passionately defending the casting on Twitter, Sia once again opened up about the controversy during an interview on Australia’s The Sunday Project, explaining, “I realised it wasn’t ableism. I mean, it is ableism I guess as well, but it’s actually nepotism because I can’t do a project without her. I don’t want to. I wouldn’t make art if it didn’t include her.”

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Maddie – who has starred in many of Sia’s music videos, including the promos for “Elastic Heart” and “Chandelier” – feared people would think she was “making fun” of autistic people.
“I bold-facedly said, ‘I won’t let that happen,’ ” Sia insisted, but added that she’s come to realise she cannot “protect” Maddie from criticism.
“Last week, I realised I couldn’t really protect her from that, which I thought I could. We sent it off to the Child Mind Institute and she received 100 per cent as performance accuracy. I realise that there are some things I can’t protect her from as much as I try,” Sia sighed.
The movie originally starred Shia LaBeouf who co-starred with Maddie Ziegler in Sia’s “Elastic Heart” music video, but the “Honey Boy” actor was ditched by the singer following abuse allegations made by former girlfriend FKA twigs.

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The ‘Chandelier’ hitmaker drops F bomb as she’s ‘bummed’ by the criticisms, claiming people were quick to jump to conclusions without even watching the film.

Nov 21, 2020
AceShowbiz – Sia has hit back at critics who have slammed her for not casting an autistic actress as a lead character with the condition in her new movie, “Music”.
The trailer for her directorial debut dropped on Thursday (19Nov20), with her protege, dancer Maddie Ziegler, 18, taking the main role as a teenager with special needs, with Kate Hudson and Leslie Odom Jr. also joining the cast.
Sia’s casting decisions drew criticism from disability activists and autistic creatives – but the star hit back by claiming she had cast “neuroatypical” actors in the film and had done her research.
“I cast thirteen neuroatypical people, three trans folk, and not as f**king prostitutes or drug addicts but as doctors, nurses and singers. F**king sad nobody’s even seen the dang movie. My heart has always been in the right place,” she tweeted. When asked, “Did you do any research or consult the community at all? It’s very condescending to say it would be cruel to consult a disabled actor,” she responded, “Duh. I spent three f**king years researching, I think that’s why I’m so f**king bummed.”

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The musician later tweeted, “Grrrrrrrrrr. F**kity f**k why don’t you watch my film before you judge it? FURY.”
Sara Gibbs, a British comedy writer with autism, a developmental condition that leads to anxiety in social situations, difficulty in communication, and atypical behaviour, explained why she was worried about the film on the social media site.
“Every time a non-autistic person makes a project about us for art, it sets us back in numerous ways,” she wrote. “The first is obvious – that it inevitably, no matter how hard it tries, mistranslates the experience of being autistic. This is harmful to us because it puts disinformation out into the world.”
She, like other social media users, also criticised the “Chandelier” hitmaker for taking on a project that would block autistic creatives from realising theirs, and for working with Autism Speaks, a U.S. charity many people with the disorder reject as harmful.

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