She also said she entered rehab as a result of the backlash.
For those who don’t know, Sia directed a film called ‘Music’ where there was a character in the film who was a nonverbal autistic teenage girl. Many in the autism community were upset that the actor who played that character wasn’t on the autism spectrum. In addition, some thought the portrayal was stereotypical. Sia also in response to an autistic actor on Twitter said ‘Maybe you’re just a bad actor.’ Sia told the New York Times about these challenges she had from the backlash.
I wrote a piece ‘To Sia, From An Autistic Entertainment Consultant’ discussing that, among several things, that I hope that the backlash from the film could turn into something positive moving forward for future projects when it comes to authentic representation. Overall, I believe we need more authentic representation and include more voices from our disability community when it comes to projects involved characters with disabilities.
With all this being said, mental health should continue to be a priority in our society and the importance of speaking up when we may not be feeling ourselves. I hope Sia is doing better now.
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My name is Kerry Magro, a professional speaker and best-selling author who is also on the autism spectrum that started the nonprofit KFM Making a Difference in 2011 to help students with autism receive scholarship aid to pursue a post-secondary education. Help support me so I can continue to help students with autism go to college by making a tax-deductible donation to our nonprofit here.
