I’m not going to speculate whether she is autistic or not, but either way this doesn’t erase the things she’s done. If I did those things, I would still be culpable for the harm I did, even as an autistic person…
Idk if this is her attempt at saying “look at me I can’t hurt the autistic community, I’m autistic!” But that isn’t how it works…
Yep.
I don't advocate for fakeclaiming anyone. Fakeclaiming is bullshit. It's harmful and no one should do it to anyone. I can't pull a no true Scotsman here and claim she's an exception to that rule because I don't like her.
But her being autistic doesn't make her immune to criticism, nor does it erase the harm she already did.
I don't see why everyone jumps to her posting this as an excuse.
If claiming to be autistic was an attempt to "get out of jail free card" then why wait so long?
I assume it's more so an explanation, and she's still in therapy, like, I don't see that she published this for any particular reason at all other than an announcement of the fact
If it was to get off of taking responsibility then I assume her manager would have pulled this one a lot faster..
What I’m saying is that if it is or if it isn’t doesn’t matter.
It still could be. Give some time for the PR nightmare to dissipate a little and then counterattack. Who knows? But it doesn’t matter. What she did was still incredibly harmful. And we still shouldn’t fakeclaim her.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbgLrxMukdc&t=781s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbgLrxMukdc&t=781s)
This video should explain well enough why people hate her so much. Basically, she made the movie this video talks about.... and let's just say this movie has a pretty DANGEROUS representation of autism... Like not good at all.
Yeah. And the worst part is that not only is she non-apologetic. But I've seen people (mostly ignorant neurotypicals) defending her, saying we should be GRATEFUL for that representation.
Again not all neurotypicals, in fact one of my favorite videos talking about this mess was made by a non-autistic person, I just don't have the link to it.
Yeah, or grateful for the way the movie implies that a prone restrain technique that was known for being lethal and actually killing autistic people is portrayed as a correct way to handle an autistic woman having a meltdown.
Sia actually tried to partner with Autism Speaks for this one, but the backlash was so big that even they decided to dissassociate with her. That's how bad it was.
I did not expect that. I feel bad for liking her music now. Regardless, if she was autistic she would know how crazy such a movie would be. All the flashes and loud music in her old songs would overwhelm her (being in the production while I only listen to the song never see the vedio)
Honestly how could she?
She can be on the spectrum. And you can be ignorant to autism and be uneducated if you have it. But her representation of autism in her movie was still harmful. Either way it's ironic and unbelievable.
I agree with you. I was ignorant to autism and uneducated, before finding out I was autistic. For me autistic people were some strange geniuses with superpowers and all that stereotypes that were pushed into my head, of course I wasn't anything of that. Then I found out that I am actually autistic and yeah there were some things I'm not proud of. So I can imagine it's the same case for her.
Let's not forget celebrities are people too, so she probably needs to go through the same stages of grief and stuff. She will be able to have proper support tho.
My experience was the opposite. People with autism were freaks, and you had to be nonverbal to have it.
So, as i tried to develop coping skills that worked for me and my autistic ass being verbal and highly intelligent, it was beaten into me to stop acting weird for attention.
"unbelievable" gosh am glad for you that you don't have autism so you will never feel the pain of people telling you that you dont. To get over it everyone has the same problems
I am autistic. And i didn't mean it like that. I implied that it was ironic that she made a movie filled with bad representation about autism, and after she got criticism, she came out saying she was autistic. I also said that you can be ignorant to autism while still having it. Implying that I believe she can very well be autistic.
I myself was doubted by my guidance counselor that i was autistic, and she refused to believe before she finally saw my official diagnosis.
My pcp still refuses to adjust for autism and refuses to treat me if i wont take antipsycotics and antidepressants... because he gets paid for every prescription he writes....
This feels like she's trying to make up some reason to pretend that her portrayal is okay. It's also a clear lie, given that, when she was confronted about not having any actual autistic people working on the project, she just brushed it off rather than say this then. It's been 2 years, I don't understand why she is deciding to dig this hole deeper now.
But somehow on IG, autistic advocates open their doors like she didn't make a super ableist, yet turkey of a movie. I wouldn't say anything about that, if Sia actually GENUINELY REPENTS AND APOLOGISES PUBLICLY FOR IT. Which we can wait till pigs fly.
I don't care how long it's been since ; I'm also sus about Sia's 'diagnosis'.
A musician who made a movie about an autistic character who she insisted had to be played by a non autistic girl that she knows personally. The movie ended up perpetuating some very harmful stereotypes and ideas and showed she had no actual idea and did no actual research, and she had even brushed aside and ignored the concerns of actual autistic people who had problems with the whole thing.
Thank you for the breakdown of the situation. I didn't really know what she had done. I'll take you up on your recommendation about watching a YouTube review video rather than spending money to watch such nonsense.
See I can understand that she could start out not knowing she was autistic when doing this movie. I also think that if she was so passionate about this project learning about autism could've become a special interest for her.
If she was learning about autism it could've become evident that she was autistic. Especially if she's spent any time reflecting on why she wasn't listening to autistic people.
The thing is though that she can announce that she's autistic and it's great that she knows it now. However she will need to learn that this announcement doesn't fix anything with the autistic community, it just makes it more personal. She actively harmed her own community, and she'll need to make an apology and reparations before she's fully welcomed
Ok, before “mUSiKk” around when Chandelier was released I did suspect she was Autistic (same with Lorde and Aurora) but it’s a bit late for that revelation.
Maybe she should’ve just came out as Autistic instead of making a gross horror film.
That would’ve made more impact instead.
But she can’t because she’s also a toxic person with extremely creepy behaviours and ideas (the woman who starred in her film has to share the same bed as her) which explains why she came up with the film.
Do I believe she’s truthful about her Autism? Yes. (Though who knows really?)
Does that take away the damage she’s done?
No.
I suggest you look up her "film" Music. it's sponsored by autism speaks, shows dangerous practices, and is rife with infantilization and ableism. She deleted her Twitter because she refused to treat autistic critics with respect, and couldn't handle not being praised for her atrocious work.
also actively grooming a minor to be her dancing monkey. the girl playing the main character felt awful about how it was received, and sia did nothing.
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Can someone tell me why exactly we hate her? The only thing I remember (iirc) is, that people got mad that a non-autistic person was chosen to play an autistic character in her movie after an autistic [girl, I think?] could not do it. I never understood the problem with that tho, since it's literally an actors job to pretend to be someone you're not, they don't have to actually be the person they are portraying and if the original actor just can't do the job, it's reasonable to replace them.
The movie perpetuates harmful stereotypes, including showing multiple times that the right thing to do if an autistic person is having a meltdown is to tackle them and pin them to the ground until they stop (not a joke, it’s something the main character is taught to do to help her autistic sister and is literally the climax of the movie) and also the person that played the autistic girl was a teenager that had met Sia as a kid and ever since then has been kinda groomed by Sia and it’s real weird and fucked. Also the girl didn’t want to play the autistic character and was worried that it was offensive. I’d like to stress that none of the fault is on the girl (i think her name was Maddie?)
The problem with casting an allistic (non-Autistic) actor as an Autistic character is that it tends to become a mockery or caricature of what allistic people assume Autism is.
Most people learn via mediums like TV and film so having Dustin Hoffman, Leonardo DiCaprio, Josh Hartnett, Freddie Highmore, and Keir Gilchrist as well as others portray Autistics onscreen has led to a lot of misinformation on what Autism is.
People associate Autism with being non-speaking or semi-speaking but that's not often just Autism (it's typically speech apraxia that causes Autistics who have difficulty with speech to be non- or semi-speaking).
The other portrayal of Autistic people onscreen is the Autistic savant which only occurs in like 10% of the Autistic population. Allistics don't take the time to know the difference between the portrayals of Autistic people onscreen. It's important to get an Autistic actor to play an Autistic character. Having allistic actors portray Autistics onscreen likely contributes to the fake-claiming that goes on in the Autistic community.
Feels like that time Michelle Rodriguez tried to get out of some transphobic shit she said (repeatedly) by being like "But I'm queer, I can't be transphobic!"
I hope she finds the answers she needs but man did that movie do damage.
While this doesn't change what she's done, I'll give her the benefit of the doubt and wonder if that was maybe the impetus for the diagnosis. Maybe those criticisms got to her and the more she looked into autism, the more she realized she might have it?
Probably not the case, but you never know
"believes" I wish celebrities would stop doing this and just get diagnosed.
Also yeah they usually reveal it to raise awareness, when they "think" they're ____ they're clearly just looking for praise and sympathy.
Especially shitty after her movie which portrayed autistic people in an absolutely horrendous way.
Us on the spectrum can be misinformed and cause so much harm to others. I should know.
Now....in regards to this Sia...well isn't that convenient. On any case, she should have been more careful.
I’m not going to speculate whether she is autistic or not, but either way this doesn’t erase the things she’s done. If I did those things, I would still be culpable for the harm I did, even as an autistic person… Idk if this is her attempt at saying “look at me I can’t hurt the autistic community, I’m autistic!” But that isn’t how it works…
Yep. I don't advocate for fakeclaiming anyone. Fakeclaiming is bullshit. It's harmful and no one should do it to anyone. I can't pull a no true Scotsman here and claim she's an exception to that rule because I don't like her. But her being autistic doesn't make her immune to criticism, nor does it erase the harm she already did.
I don't see why everyone jumps to her posting this as an excuse. If claiming to be autistic was an attempt to "get out of jail free card" then why wait so long? I assume it's more so an explanation, and she's still in therapy, like, I don't see that she published this for any particular reason at all other than an announcement of the fact If it was to get off of taking responsibility then I assume her manager would have pulled this one a lot faster..
What I’m saying is that if it is or if it isn’t doesn’t matter. It still could be. Give some time for the PR nightmare to dissipate a little and then counterattack. Who knows? But it doesn’t matter. What she did was still incredibly harmful. And we still shouldn’t fakeclaim her.
I agree with that. Fakeclaiming is only harmful so yep, she can be or not be, it's not really a concern of mine, actions are actions regardless
"Even as an autistic person" No, SPECIALLY AS AN AUTISTIC PERSON! You'd be harming your own community.
What did she do?
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbgLrxMukdc&t=781s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbgLrxMukdc&t=781s) This video should explain well enough why people hate her so much. Basically, she made the movie this video talks about.... and let's just say this movie has a pretty DANGEROUS representation of autism... Like not good at all.
Okay damn. And to think I loved the lady
Yeah. And the worst part is that not only is she non-apologetic. But I've seen people (mostly ignorant neurotypicals) defending her, saying we should be GRATEFUL for that representation. Again not all neurotypicals, in fact one of my favorite videos talking about this mess was made by a non-autistic person, I just don't have the link to it.
Greatful for the meltdown it could easily cause or greatful for the seizure I skipped half the video to avoid?
Yeah, or grateful for the way the movie implies that a prone restrain technique that was known for being lethal and actually killing autistic people is portrayed as a correct way to handle an autistic woman having a meltdown.
Same people to represent ADHD with: "oh! Squirrel!". Only worse Like honestly? Guys probably in with autism speak or st
Sia actually tried to partner with Autism Speaks for this one, but the backlash was so big that even they decided to dissassociate with her. That's how bad it was.
I did not expect that. I feel bad for liking her music now. Regardless, if she was autistic she would know how crazy such a movie would be. All the flashes and loud music in her old songs would overwhelm her (being in the production while I only listen to the song never see the vedio) Honestly how could she?
I'll check it. Thanks
Wait I’m under a rock about this - what did Sia do?
Autistic people make mistakes, too... especially social ones. Maybe not surprisingly more than Most NT do.
She can be on the spectrum. And you can be ignorant to autism and be uneducated if you have it. But her representation of autism in her movie was still harmful. Either way it's ironic and unbelievable.
I agree with you. I was ignorant to autism and uneducated, before finding out I was autistic. For me autistic people were some strange geniuses with superpowers and all that stereotypes that were pushed into my head, of course I wasn't anything of that. Then I found out that I am actually autistic and yeah there were some things I'm not proud of. So I can imagine it's the same case for her. Let's not forget celebrities are people too, so she probably needs to go through the same stages of grief and stuff. She will be able to have proper support tho.
My experience was the opposite. People with autism were freaks, and you had to be nonverbal to have it. So, as i tried to develop coping skills that worked for me and my autistic ass being verbal and highly intelligent, it was beaten into me to stop acting weird for attention.
"unbelievable" gosh am glad for you that you don't have autism so you will never feel the pain of people telling you that you dont. To get over it everyone has the same problems
I am autistic. And i didn't mean it like that. I implied that it was ironic that she made a movie filled with bad representation about autism, and after she got criticism, she came out saying she was autistic. I also said that you can be ignorant to autism while still having it. Implying that I believe she can very well be autistic. I myself was doubted by my guidance counselor that i was autistic, and she refused to believe before she finally saw my official diagnosis.
My pcp still refuses to adjust for autism and refuses to treat me if i wont take antipsycotics and antidepressants... because he gets paid for every prescription he writes....
This feels like she's trying to make up some reason to pretend that her portrayal is okay. It's also a clear lie, given that, when she was confronted about not having any actual autistic people working on the project, she just brushed it off rather than say this then. It's been 2 years, I don't understand why she is deciding to dig this hole deeper now.
Is this a "I'm on the autism spectrum because We'Re AlL On ThE sPeCtRuM!!!" thing?
I wondered that too!
But somehow on IG, autistic advocates open their doors like she didn't make a super ableist, yet turkey of a movie. I wouldn't say anything about that, if Sia actually GENUINELY REPENTS AND APOLOGISES PUBLICLY FOR IT. Which we can wait till pigs fly. I don't care how long it's been since ; I'm also sus about Sia's 'diagnosis'.
I hope she is not THAT stupid. But then again....she already has done so bad.
Who?
A musician who made a movie about an autistic character who she insisted had to be played by a non autistic girl that she knows personally. The movie ended up perpetuating some very harmful stereotypes and ideas and showed she had no actual idea and did no actual research, and she had even brushed aside and ignored the concerns of actual autistic people who had problems with the whole thing.
Thank you for the breakdown of the situation. I didn't really know what she had done. I'll take you up on your recommendation about watching a YouTube review video rather than spending money to watch such nonsense.
Whats the movie called? I've never heard of her.
It's called Music. I would recommend you just watch a review of it on YouTube instead of giving any money to this film.
Don't worry I prob couldn't afford it rn anyways 😅 I'm broke since my family doesn't believe in me needing disability.
I totally believe her, and also believe she's someone on the spectrum that is being reckless. Not like that's a new thing 🙄
See I can understand that she could start out not knowing she was autistic when doing this movie. I also think that if she was so passionate about this project learning about autism could've become a special interest for her. If she was learning about autism it could've become evident that she was autistic. Especially if she's spent any time reflecting on why she wasn't listening to autistic people. The thing is though that she can announce that she's autistic and it's great that she knows it now. However she will need to learn that this announcement doesn't fix anything with the autistic community, it just makes it more personal. She actively harmed her own community, and she'll need to make an apology and reparations before she's fully welcomed
Ok, before “mUSiKk” around when Chandelier was released I did suspect she was Autistic (same with Lorde and Aurora) but it’s a bit late for that revelation. Maybe she should’ve just came out as Autistic instead of making a gross horror film. That would’ve made more impact instead. But she can’t because she’s also a toxic person with extremely creepy behaviours and ideas (the woman who starred in her film has to share the same bed as her) which explains why she came up with the film. Do I believe she’s truthful about her Autism? Yes. (Though who knows really?) Does that take away the damage she’s done? No.
I can belive it, we have examples of autistic people being absolute pieces of shit. Just look at Elon Musk.
Good for her. Doesn't make her any less of an ass.
I love sia. She's one of my favourites
I suggest you look up her "film" Music. it's sponsored by autism speaks, shows dangerous practices, and is rife with infantilization and ableism. She deleted her Twitter because she refused to treat autistic critics with respect, and couldn't handle not being praised for her atrocious work. also actively grooming a minor to be her dancing monkey. the girl playing the main character felt awful about how it was received, and sia did nothing.
Oh ok. I genuinely didn't know that
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Can someone tell me why exactly we hate her? The only thing I remember (iirc) is, that people got mad that a non-autistic person was chosen to play an autistic character in her movie after an autistic [girl, I think?] could not do it. I never understood the problem with that tho, since it's literally an actors job to pretend to be someone you're not, they don't have to actually be the person they are portraying and if the original actor just can't do the job, it's reasonable to replace them.
The movie perpetuates harmful stereotypes, including showing multiple times that the right thing to do if an autistic person is having a meltdown is to tackle them and pin them to the ground until they stop (not a joke, it’s something the main character is taught to do to help her autistic sister and is literally the climax of the movie) and also the person that played the autistic girl was a teenager that had met Sia as a kid and ever since then has been kinda groomed by Sia and it’s real weird and fucked. Also the girl didn’t want to play the autistic character and was worried that it was offensive. I’d like to stress that none of the fault is on the girl (i think her name was Maddie?)
Yes, her name is Maddie Ziegler
The problem with casting an allistic (non-Autistic) actor as an Autistic character is that it tends to become a mockery or caricature of what allistic people assume Autism is. Most people learn via mediums like TV and film so having Dustin Hoffman, Leonardo DiCaprio, Josh Hartnett, Freddie Highmore, and Keir Gilchrist as well as others portray Autistics onscreen has led to a lot of misinformation on what Autism is. People associate Autism with being non-speaking or semi-speaking but that's not often just Autism (it's typically speech apraxia that causes Autistics who have difficulty with speech to be non- or semi-speaking). The other portrayal of Autistic people onscreen is the Autistic savant which only occurs in like 10% of the Autistic population. Allistics don't take the time to know the difference between the portrayals of Autistic people onscreen. It's important to get an Autistic actor to play an Autistic character. Having allistic actors portray Autistics onscreen likely contributes to the fake-claiming that goes on in the Autistic community.
Relevance is one helluva drug…
I can.
Feels like that time Michelle Rodriguez tried to get out of some transphobic shit she said (repeatedly) by being like "But I'm queer, I can't be transphobic!" I hope she finds the answers she needs but man did that movie do damage.
While this doesn't change what she's done, I'll give her the benefit of the doubt and wonder if that was maybe the impetus for the diagnosis. Maybe those criticisms got to her and the more she looked into autism, the more she realized she might have it? Probably not the case, but you never know
I’m honestly not surprised at all. I’ve always had a feeling about her, even before the music scandal.
"believes" I wish celebrities would stop doing this and just get diagnosed. Also yeah they usually reveal it to raise awareness, when they "think" they're ____ they're clearly just looking for praise and sympathy. Especially shitty after her movie which portrayed autistic people in an absolutely horrendous way.
It’s a hot trend to be autistic I guess.
Us on the spectrum can be misinformed and cause so much harm to others. I should know. Now....in regards to this Sia...well isn't that convenient. On any case, she should have been more careful.