What’s up? It’s Sussan Mourad here with Clevver News
and Sia just apologized, then deleted her entire Twitter account
after addressing the criticism her movie received following its Golden Globe nominations.
In case you weren’t aware, Sia’s new movie Music comes out next week in theaters and on demand.
The film stars Maddie Ziegler, Kate Hudson, and Leslie Odom,
Jr. Maddie plays a nonverbal autistic teenager.
Ever since the trailer for the movie came out late last year,
the film has faced immense backlash over its portrayal of autism.
“She can understand everything you are saying to her and if you are happy. Press this one.
I’m sad. Very funny troublemaker. She sees the world in a completely different way from us.”
Fans wondered why Sia cast Maddie in the role of Music rather than casting an autistic actor.
At the time, Sia responded to the backlash saying that it felt “more
compassionate” to use Maddie and that the character is based on a friend of hers.
In a now deleted tweet, Sia also said that she originally tried
QUOTE “working with a beautiful young girl non verbal on the spectrum
and she found it unpleasant and stressful. So that’s why I cast Maddie.”
We dive more into Sia’s response to the
initial criticism in another Clevver video that I’ll link above for you.
This week though, the film received new waves
of backlash after it received two Golden Globe nominations.
And fans have been sharing their Golden Globes outrage particularly in regards to one leaked clip
from the film that’s been going viral. We won’t be showing the clip because of its upsetting nature.
The clip portrays Music being put into a controversial prone restraint
during one of her meltdowns. In case you aren’t familiar with the term prone restraint,
it means that the child is being restrained while laying in the facedown position.
These kinds of restraints are extremely triggering for some people, because as fans have pointed
out on Twitter, prone restraints can be deadly and this person added that
“presenting it as good or necessary is irresponsible. Please, don't hide or ignore this!”
Another fan chimed in writing “Prone restraint is dangerous, counter productive,
and should be illegal. The leaked clip clearly represents it as a necessity instead of horrific.”
Others called out the Golden Globes for nominating a film with this sort of portrayal.
This fan wrote quote, “by nominating Sia’s Music in any capacity, the Golden Globes condone using
restraint on autistic individuals and casting neurotypical actors in roles not made for them.
this is a major act of violence against the autistic community,
not a celebration. #GoldenGlobes”
Amid all the criticism, Sia spoke out in a series of now deleted tweets.
She wrote quote, “MUSIC in no way condones or recommends the use of restraint on
autistic people. 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 meltdown safety.”
She also added that she plans on removing the restraint scene
from all new versions of the film going forward.
Sia said quote, “I listened to the wrong people and that is my responsibility.
My research was clearly not thorough enough, not wide enough.”
She also apologized and said that the movie will also have a warning before the film.
But despite her multiple responses,
the criticism kept rolling in and Sia has since seemingly deleted her entire Twitter account.
On the other hand, Maddie Ziegler has been celebrating their Golden
Globe nominations on her Instagram stories.
She hasn’t directly addressed the backlash, but she shared Kate Hudson’s post about her
nomination and wrote “so proud of you Kate Hudson for your nomination. The
world is gonna die when they see your performance. I love you I love you.”
Maddie also shared that their movie was nominated in the Best Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
category writing, “I’m so happy what is life” and “golden globes what!!!!!”
Some fans are sharing Maddie’s excitement posting that they
are actually really looking forward to seeing the film.
While some are extremely excited and the film was nominated for Golden Globes,
the Rotten Tomatoes reviews aren’t as glowing.
It currently has a 29% by critics and an 18% audience review.
One of the critics gave the film a 1/10 score and wrote quote, “Do not, do not,
do not, do not, do not cast able-bodied actors as characters with a disability.”
So it will be interesting to see how things play out next week when
the film becomes available to the general public.
I know this is a really sensitive topic for a lot of people,
so let’s all just try our best to be mindful once it comes out.
If anything, we hope this whole situation has sparked an important conversation
about casting choices, representation, and inclusivity in Hollywood.
If you want more on Sia, click right over here for another Clevver News video.
Also, let us know down in the comments below what you think of the criticism
Sia’s movie has received and her response to it all.
I’m your host Sussan Mourad, bye guys!