The fact that Sia got her "research" from Autism Speaks is yet another point against her and this film. Of all the sources she could have gone to, she went with the worst one.
“I got all my information from the very first source I found and didn’t bother to look for any other sources to see if any of the information I got from them may be incomplete, contentious, or just wrong, or if the source itself is considered unreliable or harmful, and I am shocked to find out that relying on exactly one source for all information on a widely diverse group of people I am not a part of didn’t work out!”
The thought of being “love crushed” sounds so horrible. i can’t even imagine being non verbal, having a meltdown, grieving for the person who loved you. Then, some….person decides to crush your body without any explanation 🥺
I'm on the autism spectrum. I also have a crippling phobia of physical contact, especially without warning. If anyone did that to me, I can't imagine how badly I'd react.
How exactly do you write the line "I am crushing her with my love" for a character who's not meant to be a villain and not rethink your life? Especially when you later have that character smile when he talks about his brother being dead?
"My research was clearly not thorough enough. Not wide enough." Translation: "Talking to autistic people about autism sounds hard so I listened to an organization known for their horrible treatment of autistic people instead-"
Did you see their latest ad campaign which is them trying to hide their hate by acting like they want inclusion of those with autism and on the spectrum
granted that Autism Speaks has all the money and have effectively pigeonholed ASAN into the "radical disability activists who refuse to recognize when a disability is debilitating" category, i don't doubt that sia was mislead by propaganda. the problem is that the disability rights movement began to pick up steam around 2015-16, so she should've had at least one autistic person look through her story and offer criticism). sia just got too comfortable that, when autism rights activists pointed out her flawed methodology, she was like "WELL THEN WHY DON'T CHA WATCH THE FUCKEN MOVIE THEN ARSEHOHL"
I feel sorry for Maddie the most. She was only 14 years old during filming, and reportedly broke down on set because she was worried that the Autistic Community would think that she was making fun of them. Sia should have known better than to put Maddie in an uncomfortable position like this.
Especially since she also starred in The Book of Henry the *same year* this was filmed. Being typecast as a living prop who inspires a flawed mother figure to grow as a person must be brutal, and while it's *probably* too early to call Music one of the worst films of the decade when we're only two years into it, The Book of Henry is absolutely one of the worst films of the 2010s. ...Nobody deserves to have their acting career get off to this kind of start.
Also the large amount of people believing that most of this was a scam and she’s having he lawyers cover this up, like srsly, people will go out of their way to make the actions of a 14 year old into a malicious act of ableism
I’m part of the autistic community and I will say right now, no one blames Maddie. After the initial reactions to the trailer settled down and Sia just…KEPT TALKING, we all knew who was really to blame. Sia.
I am autistic and “inspiration porn” is such a perfect description. Just watching this review my jaw dropped a few times and several times I was saying “No- they wouldn’t actually go there. They’re not that stupid right?!” I really do feel bad for Maddie Ziegler, she’s just a kid and this isn’t her fault. I have strong words for her mother who keeps letting her work with toxic people and their vanity projects (first Abby Miller and now Sia), it’s gotta be doing lasting damage to this kid’s mental health.
No decent parents worth their salt would ever take their child to an Abby Miller dance class after seeing just one episode of Dance Moms. And any parents who HAD a child in that school should have enough sense to TAKE THEM OUT!
It's funny how when Sia and Maddie collaborated in Sia's music videos people were thinking Sia was such a step up from Abby... Sia's worse cause she literally treats Maddie like a prized poodle. I think Abby's bonkers and verbally abusive, but she didn't have that kind of pull. Sia makes the attention she gives Maddie seem like a wonderful thing but it's so creepy.
@@Nightman221k Maybe that’s why Sia and Dallas Clayton made Music Special Interest in dogs, because that’s how Sia sees both this movie as a whole and Maddie as a person.
Fellow autistic here too, and honestly "inspirational porn" should be included in the dictionary with so many movies, tv shows, books, etc. that fall under that category I also feel bad for Ziegler as well because it seems like even she realized that this was wrong and the blame should not be on her Just gives real creepy chills knowing Ziegler and Sia's "friendship" and sadly I get the feeling she'll be needing years of therapy as well
"Her bag with the drug stash for Sia was left behind at the park, so now she has no way to pay off her debt to vaguely gay Rudy" is one hell of a sentence.
Maddie is a victim. She was forced to go on Dance Moms at a young age and was abused while there; and continues to be forced into uncomfortable and borderline abusive situations by the adults around her.
I think Maddie managed to escape that curse.She seems to not to like partying at nightclubs and more interested in staying healthy and cutting off ties with the unpleasant parts of her past.
On the bright side, the backlash towards this film cost Sia basically all of her public credibility, because how the hell can you recover from making a trainwreck like this?
I mean, it's definitely possible to recover from something like this if you have the right attitude about the backlash. Eccentric Japanese indie developer Swery65 attracted criticism for playing into offensive tropes surrounding transgender characters in games like Deadly Premonition (and...yeah, it's *problematic.)* But to his credit, he responded to that criticism by consulting trans women about their experiences and making a game that treated those experiences with much more tact and empathy, as a kind of apology. That's the way to handle something like this. Learn from your mistakes, show humility and display a willingness to learn from other people about their experiences. ...Judging by the way Sia responded to criticism regarding the film, I don't see her making that kind of recovery. She could. But she won't. The apology game I mentioned is The Missing: JJ MacField and the Island of Memories, if anyone's curious. The title was too long for me to neatly drop it into my original comment. It's definitely not for everyone. It's very weird, it's rough around the edges, and anyone triggered by self-injury might want to steer clear, since it's both plot-relevant and an actual gameplay mechanic. But it does use the horrific subject matter to excellent and ultimately extremely validating effect.
The movie was bad enough but her grand and glorious martyr syndrome when people told her how much mistakes she was making and how bad an idea it was to portray Music in such a way makes her look like an even bigger asshole.
For me, she lost my respect when she started working with David Guetta and Flo Rida. She Is a talented song-writer, but her vocal style is more Miss than Hit. And, or course, she's a Garbage film-maker.
It's not even a sensory friendly movie, the bright colors and flashing lights could cause a seizure....I'm autistic and wear headphones almost 24/7 and its like a fun house mirror that just shows us as a rock with a face.
Me too. This is probably the best format I could possibly have experienced this movie through, Diva. Anything else would have left me screaming in rage.
As someone who is autistic, this really was insulting to me, casting someone who isn’t autistic and claiming you did research about autism while partnering with autism speaks and adding in dangerous restraining scenes is more like a huge middle finger to me and many others
You can't deny that it's research! It's just research on the level of reading Nazi research to understand race. I guess Autism Speaks has better optics than Nazi Germany, so I'll give Sia that! Her choice wasn't blunderingly idiotic, just dangerously ignorant!
For anyone who doesn't know, Autism Speaks is a generally abusive "charity" that largely exists to portray parents of autistic children as victims of circumstance thereby adding new layers of abuse to autistic people. They also have only ever had one autistic board member who quit after being almost completely ignored in their position. There's a lot more and I don't want to misspeak here since I only recently learned about the issues.
As an autistic person, I don’t usually mind when an able-bodied person portrays an autistic character. As long as that portrayal is respectful, well researched, and isn’t just the defining part of a character, then that is fine. However Music is a glaring exception. It’s portrayal of autism is horribly patronizing, reinforcing false stereotypes and dangerous misinformation, and objectifies the main character as an prop who is just autistic. I don’t blame Maddie Ziegler for her performance, she’s a child actor/ performer who’s just doing her job and I feel for the emotional turmoil this role brought for her. I 100% blame Sia for this though. The one part that rubs me the wrongest of ways is how she portrays nonverbal autism. Displaying the eponymous character as pure, infantilized, and unchanging, but can speak only at dramatic moments is genuine bullshit. As someone who started his life as incapable to talk, I can assure you that being nonverbal, being unable to talk like everyone else and not know why, sucks. You can get out of that by attending speech therapy and that takes a year at best where you could start talking in full sentences. But even then, that largely depends on the severity of the person’s case of autism. That’s why we call it the Autistic *Spectrum,* cause we all deal with it differently. It’s a complex subject that should be handled with care and consideration. You’re also going in with the expectation that one performance is only reflecting less than a fraction of being on the spectrum. So what does Sia do? Make a tone-deaf movie full of stereotypes and inaccuracies that is justifiably panned by everyone, goes on Twitter to throw a weeks-long tantrum, hurls some f-bombs and even insulting an actress on the Spectrum a “bad actor.” Sia is a shining example of how *not* to portray diverse roles and handling criticism. She was rude, out-of-touch, air-headed, and just downright petulant throughout this filmmaking and the backlash after. Hell, She even hired the controversial group Autism Speaks for research, who are probably responsible for the restraint scenes and leaving out the part that autistic individuals are hypersensitive to sound and lighting. Apart from it being a terrible representation of being on the spectrum and being nonverbal, Music is just a terrible movie in general. It’s a film that actively thinks that it’s a good movie about Autism, but in actuality Music is so inept that it ends up becoming a film that *hates* autistic people.
There’s a difference between an able bodied actor playing somebody on the higher end of the Autism spectrum and what could charitably be called the autism version of blackface
The fact that this review came out during autism awareness month is very fitting. Edit: As a man with autism myself, well done tearing this atrocity apart.
This film is so hideously insulting. Sia always struck me as that art school stereotype, so pretentious, often twee and airy fairy in her quirks and mannerisms, so dedicated to modern art and then you find out she’s from a rich family and has become surrounded by Yes-Men who don’t say no to each one of her bad decisions. This was one of them.
It combines the worst aspects of the Star Wars prequels, turgid inspiration porn, The Room, Rain Man and every pretentious wannabe auteur who's ever decided they have something Important to Say when, in fact, they really don't. ...Who wanted this combination? I feel the need to apologise to George Lucas, Tommy Wiseau and every stereotypical art school douchebag just for that comparison. And nobody should feel the need to apologise to Tommy Wiseau for anything, by many accounts he's a terrible person.
@@Talisguy At least the Room was so bad, it's funny and Tommy actually gives a shit about his fans. Music is just horrible all the way through and Sia only sees her fans as tools.
I am not Autistic, but I am neurodivergent. And as someone who is neurodivergent, this movie is even more loathsome than it already is. The way it treats people who have conditions like autism that causes them to see the world differently is akin to a fricking minstrel show, and I am so glad the day has finally come that I see this film burn in the pits of musical hell.
Like I wouldn't be surprised if that were a thing for other groups too. Like there was some discourse a while back about how films about Black folk often are about pain and struggles with racism. I get why Black Panther was so huge in that respect. When the options are seeing your people suffer or Tyler Perry, any third option is always good. Even if Killmonger did Nothing Wrong.
I remember reading somebody describe Maddie Zeigler’s performance as “the autistic version of a minstrel show”, and yeah. That seems about right. Her mannerisms and performance are downright offensive
@@jeremyusreevu237 Either way I am also sick of Holocaust films myself. I've had family live through that so it's different than it would be for a gentile who might need the education. I want a Wolfenstein film that's like a typical schlocky action film where B.J. Blazkowicz just mows down a bunch of Nazis and collects treasure or something. Would be better than Adam Sandler's crap. The Hebrew Hammer is kinda like what I'm talking about.
I have Autism and ADHD and I’ve been a fan of Musical Hell for a long while. Thank you so, so very much for tearing into this awful movie. I would absolutely love to see a musical starring Autistic/Neurodiverse characters, so long as it’s done right and with respect. So in other words, not what Sia did. The only kind of credit I’ll give this film is the fact it turned me away from ever wanting to listen to anything made by Sia. And I already wasn’t even that interested in her music beforehand.
Sweet Jesus, it's like Sia watched College Humor's spoof of how to make an academy award winning movie, didn't realize it was satire, and took it all to heart.
As someone who has worked with people with Autism in the past, I was horrified, as were my former coworkers, when they implied that the best solution in helping with a breakdown was to "crush them with love." In reality, it would be the last thing you'd be advised to do, since it would only traumatise them further.
If someone tried that sort of thing with me while I'm having a meltdown, I would end up freaking out even worse than I already was. I'm ultra sensitive when I'm emotionally weak. Even having someone near me in that state stresses me out because at that moment I can only focus on them and how my actions must be making them feel when I really need to be focusing on trying to help myself.
No joke? I would actually be terrified if that happened to me. I, thankfully, haven’t had a meltdown in a good while, but the idea of someone forcing me to the ground and lying on top of me in that state would actually make me lose it. I’m someone who’s already uncomfortable with being touched without my permission, even if it’s someone I know personally. So having that happen would definitely make me worse. I got stressed just watching that scene.
As someone who was put through it as a kid due to it being considered the only way to handle meltdowns considered at the time.... and this was 20 years ago, mind you, thank you.
You know how we have the sexy lamp test for Women in fiction? I feel like for stories like this we should have the failing small business test. Music could literally he replaced by a failing small business and nothing would change
@@johnvinals7423 Zoo's grandmother runs a financially struggling business that is vital to the community culture. Then she up and dies. Zoo is left the business in her grandma's will and wants to sell it. She meets Ebo who tells her how important the business (lets call it a flower shop) is to the community. Zoo begrudgingly agrees to try running the flower shop with Ebo's help for a while. While they work together to run the shop Zoo becomes a better person and falls in love with Ebo. The drug plot line can still happen, the Sia cameo can still happen, the musical numbers can just be about running the business or be in Zoo's head instead of Music's (those aren't really about much anyway) and the boy across the street plot line doesn't need to happen because screw that plot line.
The only other thing I would like to bring up here is the 2009 Australian claymation movie 'Mary and Max', not only because it's one of the best film showcases of autism out there (specifically Asperger's), but also because it shows one of the best examples of an apology for committing ableism (or just apologies in general). Certainly a much better job than Sia's multiple non-apologies, that she failed to act upon and only conjured up once she could reap whatever benefits of her film she could. To summarize 'Mary and Max', a lonely Australian girl named Mary Daisy Dinkle, by random chance and in hopes of finding a friend, writes to an autistic New Yorker named Max Jerry Horowitz, who himself has been hoping for a friend, and the two of them beomce the best of PenPals who do things to nourish and benefit each others' lives. (SPOILERS!!!) When things start going right in Mary's life, she gets a dash of overconfidence and starts believing she can make better the lives of everyone she knows. She takes it upon herself to go to university and study autism (citing some *predictably biased and dated sources), and uses her PenPalship with Max as a case study for a book she writes (without his consent), that gets some good reviews. She sends Max the first copy of the book, promises to split the royalties with him, and says that she plans to visit him in hopes that she'll be able to help find a cure for his autism (forgetting that he once told her that he likes being autistic and does not wish to be cured of it). Max responds to this by ripping the M-key out of his typewriter and mailing to Mary, signifying his cutting all ties with her. Mary's immediate response is to destory every last copy of her book before she officially publishes it. She could have just published it and reaped all the critical and financial benefits of it for herself, if she only cared about herself and her career. But she doesn't because she values her freindship with Max a lot more, and even after it's over between them, she still tries to be as respectful of him as she can. This is further exemplified when Mary finds a can of sweetened condensed milk in her cupboard and remembers Max telling her that he always wanted to try one, she mails it off to him with a simple I'M SORRY written on the front, and lets that be the last exchange on her part. She doesn't try to follow up with multiple letters filled with excuses or pleas for forgiveness, she just waits to see if he wants to respond. Eventually, Max does respond with a letter of forgiveness, saying that he recognizes that she is imperfect as is he, that none of us can chose our warts but we can chose our friends, and that her simply being his one true friend is really the best thing she could possibly do for him.
As an autistic New Yorker with an Aussie friend myself, this film hit close to home for me. It was refreshing to see a movie portraying it so accurately, especially for the fact it was made in 2009 before we started to get more accurate portrayals.
Oh damn... This film made me bawl my eyes out! I watched it almost a decade before I was diagnosed and it's still one of my favourite portrayals of autism!
That movie was such a beautiful movie. I think that the understanding of Asperger's and how being told that you need to be "cured" of something that makes you who you are can hurt even coming from someone you love because it makes you feel like you're considered defective by someone you trust. Mary and Max are such great characters. Even mentioning it tangentially to Sia's mess of an "inspirational" movie just shows how little she cared about the subject matter since she didn't do ANY of the work to make sure she wasn't being insensitive, spreading misinformation that could be deadly, and making the titular character a plot device to inspire her selfish sister rather than the focus of the story... I can't get over how hard-headed Sia is.
I thought it was sweet that the guy who wrote 'Mary and Max' actually based it on his own pen pal relationship with an old Jewish Autistic man from New York.
The dancing scenes with Music and Felix hints at an alternate timeline where this movie is the two of them developing a romance and bonding over their similar trash situations, and boy is that a far better movie. Non-verbal girl meets mild-mannered boy! A romance for the ages! But no, we got this. Take good care of yourself, Diva.
That does sound like a much better premise. It could be a really sweet love story, with two people who feel like no one around them understands them or cares about their feelings finding that understanding and companionship with each other.
Hi! I loved this so much that I got inspired to write an original short story based on this potential rewrite! I’m making many changes to make it it’s own original story and I removed all references to the movie Music. I’m working really hard to make the story amazing for everyone. I hope that’s ok with you, right? Btw, I’m autistic myself, so I promise I will do my best
And to add to the rage, Sia also said, and I quote, "I hate musicals". Even though she made a movie musical Plus the fact that she said that during a group interview in front of Leslie Odom Jr should earn another sin.
It reminds me of the part of Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory where Mike Teavee says that he hates chocolate after strategically ensuring himself a golden ticket
That honestly explains why none of the songs here helps us understand the characters or move the story along. Edit: Like, they could've used the songs to make the audience fully understand Music (her struggles, her feelings, etc). The opportunity was right THERE
To quote someone that put this whole musical so eloquently: “No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, in an infinite expanse of No’s, from the dimension of No, with a statue dedicated to their Great Creator - the God of No - who wept tears of No that filled the oceans with No, and brought about billions of creatures who were NO!”
To quote another one: "This is not Jumping the shark. This is jumping the shark, coming back, shooting it in the balls, raping it, eating its flesh, consuming its soul, mounting its head on a wall... and then doing the same thing to twelve more fucking sharks just to be safe!"
Ah yes, the film that claims to be pro autistic people but has things that involve sensory overloads and encourages holding down distressed autistic people when, if you actually knew someone on the spectrum, that’s a terrible idea. I don’t even blame Maddie. I hope the poor girl gets away from people like sia. If you watch her Lizzie Borden routine, you can see she can act. I hope she has a long career away from these people. I’m sorry. I don’t think I can watch this episode
That's fair. Based on everyone I've heard from this movie is almost designed to discomfort (if not outright traumatize) autistic people, and even if you're not autistic it can be a very painful watch. Opting out is definitely an understandable move in the face of this....thing.
And the only autism non profit they consulted was one that recommended electroshock therapy from a facility that has been proven to handle it so poorly that it legally qualifies as torture to treat autism.
Maddie broke down crying while filming saying she didn’t want people to think she was making fun of them. Sia ignored her and told her to suck it up. I feel so bad for Maddie, every adult in her life has failed her.
Maddie seems to have moved past all the adults that failed her and has been in three movies that have been received much more positively with viewers since Music was released which is a good thing for her.
And it is so hypocritical that Sia called this movie her love letter to the autistic community, and yet she is clearly not patient or cooperative to work with or adapt to working with someone with a severe form. And based on how Maddie is acting, it was clear she wanted Music to have a severe form.
Sia literally cherrypicked every VISUAL indicator she could find related to autism and "manufactured" her own autistic person. She did not clarify stims, sensory issues, level on the spectrum, any other conditions on the spectrum, any other impairments or disabilities, therapies for Music etc. Music was literally a stereotype of autism with no knowledge of the condition.
Honestly she has a creepy relationship with Maddie in general. Part of me thinks she really didn’t try to work with one. Just wanted an excuse to put Maddie in the role
All of the musical moments felt utterly pointless too. They also remind me of something on PBS like Teletubbies, making it feel like Sia is babying autistic people. The portrayal of autism is harmful and it just pressures autistic people (especially those with milder forms) to stay quiet about their diagnosis and "act normal." and we are already severely pressured by family, friends, and society to "act normal." It just validates a lot of autistic people's decisions to not disclose their diagnosis out of fear or being rejected by jobs or services or being treated in a condescending and demeaning way.
I remember when my mom finally learned about what masking is and my constant fatigue and lack of motivation after a day's work plus commute made more sense to her.
Exactly. I always hated this argument that "this is another type of autism that needs representation too!!1!". It's technically true, but this was literally the only representation we could get for the longest time. It only portrayed the worst parts of yourself, making you feel ashamed of your little quirks. It has the exact opposite effect to REAL representation.
As an autistic person, I have to say THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for talking about the rep in this movie and speaking out against the negative tropes it indulges in. For way too long, disabled rep, specifically rep for neurodivergent and mentally disabled people, has been pigeon-held to saccharine inspiration porn Oscar-bait about inspirational, fascinating, childlike, innocent, whimsical disabled people who change the lives of the "normal" people around them by teaching them important life lessons by existing. Think Forest Gump, I Am Sam, Rain Man, etc. I actually saw an interview where Sia admitted she took a lot of inspiration from Rain Man. A lot of non-disabled people don't see what's wrong with that and see these movies as positive representation. I'm not insulting non-disabled people for enjoying those movies or not knowing enough about disabled people to see the problem. The problem is these movies do affect or at least reinforce how people see disabled people. People use disabled folks as props for inspiration IN REAL LIFE. Here's a great Ted Talk on the subject: th-cam.com/video/8K9Gg164Bsw/w-d-xo.html . People infantilize disabled people in real life. People are ableist in real life. That's why the few people who tried to defend this movie really got under my skin. Throughout high school, I often hid the fact I was autistic because I found out in middle school that people will project their stereotypes about autism and disability onto you if they know. Don't say "It's just a movie" to me.
Did Forrest Gump fail as a movie? Because all I was worried about was how much of a b*tch that girl is to him and that helped me understand how people treat people on the spectrum.
@@toidIllorTAmI I have mixed feelings on Forrest Gump honestly. It has more redeeming qualities than Music for sure, but it did arguably start the trend of non-disabled actors playing characters with disabilities for the sake of getting an Oscar and movies with disabled characters being saccharine as hell melodramas. Plus, I'm not a big fan of how vague the movie was about what condition Forrest has. That just feels like lazy writing to me.
Can we add another sin for Autism Speaks involvement with the film. They claim they only got involved in the project during the editing period but A Sia has done multiple projects with the "charity" pre this movies production. and B the editing period was YEARs and they didn't flag the restraint scenes. So another Sin for working with a "Charity" which is widely condemned by the very group the claim to represent.
@@j3ssthealien283 autism isn't a disease or a sickness though. That's like forcing electricity through someone's brain just to "cure" gay people. And the way Autism Speaks wants to genocide those with Autism is with Eugenics you know something the Nazis used for the BS ideology that they are superior so that means everyone else should be eradicated
@@j3ssthealien283 Yeah, the ones who think autism is a disease, people with autism need to be cured, support restraint and extreme treatments that have injured and killed people, and refuse to take any autistic perspectives into account for their policies. That Autism Speaks.
I really hope Maddie Ziegler has since been able to move on from the horrible experience she had while making Music. To know that even *she* knew how wrong it was for her to be cast in this role and would frequently break down in tears because she didn't want the autistic community to think she was making fun of them, and clearly all her feelings on the matter went ignored. That's an awful thing to put a teenage girl through, especially since she ended up winning a Razzie for it. Happily, I've heard her performance as Mia in the recently acclaimed film The Fallout was praised.
Agreed. She's a talented dancer and she can be a good actress. She's only 19 right now. I think it's possible for her to have a great career. Sia's attachment to Maddie is...to put it nicely, strange. She's stated in interviews that she loves working with her and that she and Maddie are very close. Okay, nothing wrong with that. Sia's also apparently said that she can't do anything without Maddie and that she wants to make projects for Maddie to be in. That's pretty possessive, you can even say kind of creepy. I'm far from the only person who has pointed that out. I really hope that now that she's an adult, she can move away from being Sia's "muse".
This might be the most deserving movie you’ve ever featured in the court, Diva. Even moreso than Cats. Cats is bad, but it’s entertainingly bad. Music is downright offensively bad
Cats is watchable because at least the acting is decent enough to endure an entire hour and several of the musical numbers were performed well either by the singing (which some songs could be difficult to perform under normal circumstances) or the movement involved in the songs. Beautiful Ghosts might have been better received had it been performed near the end of the movie right after MacCavity has been defeated and Victoria starts singing the song after being inspired and moved by the candidates to go to Heavenside and then Grizzabella gets the courage to sing the Memory reprise. Music is just insulting.
@@kenthuang436 and if yhe effects were given at least 6 more months than needed and characters jenny enddydots were more respectful it might have been a fun romp.
And Autism Speaks themselves have even condemned this train wreck and ripped Sia a new one. If you managed to make that organization discredit your movie about autism harshly, you know you’ve messed up biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig time.
People with disabilities really are treated horribly in Ghana. There's a Wikipedia article about Disabilities and Ghana. A lot of people with disabilities are treated as a curse. Some are even branded as "spirit children" and killed. However...Music wasn't the right film to bring that up. With how Odom's character is characterized, the mention of the mistreatment of disabled people in Ghana makes it sound like "Of course, Africans treat the disabled like a curse! All Africans are superstitious!". I applaud Musical Hell for pointing out the bad representation of Odom's character because that did seem to fly under the radar. It's not as bad as the Autism representation, but it still wasn't good either.
I've seen a lot of criticism for that character, though often as a footnote in a larger review, saying "Sia can't even write Africans correctly, what made her think that the could write this movie?"
That problem is even worse when you contrast it with the idealist version of America that Sia has created. Where a 14 year old non vocal autistic girl can walk around the city all alone without a single problem. Not only that but everyone knows her, loves her, and helps her. As an autistic person who grow up in Los Angles California. I that was who thing were. But sadly that is not the case.
@@reasyrandom Honestly, I never realized how racist Odom's character was because I was too angry over Music being a prop for her annoying sister: really, it's just icing on the cake here.
There's a TV show that I can't remember the name of right now where an *older* autistic brother is the one to take in his younger siblings after they lose their parents, and I feel like that kind of set-up would have at least pushed this movie in a better direction - if Music was the older sibling, had been out living on her own and had her own way of doing things, and suddenly she now has a sister struggling with substance abuse that she has to take care of. At least then she'd feel like the main character in her own movie.
I think we're all lucky that we got to see Kate Hudson and Leslie Odom Jr. being terrible people in a movie with a good script. Yes, I am talking about Glass Onion. Although, I think Birdie Jay might unironically like this movie for the songs...
Even from the start, I NEVER held anything against Maddie the actress. Even if she hadn’t been given bad direction, she’s still a child actress and the pressure on them is always boiling. She’s clearly a sweet girl and the fact that she was so conscientious of her portrayal of autistic people shows this. This movie has done some serious damage to our community though. I’m very high functioning, so high functioning that I was already getting people who had difficulty believing I’m on the spectrum. We all face our challenges on the spectrum, but I believe that high functioning people have a very unique challenge in that they don’t always “look” neurodivergent enough to fit peoples expectations, whereas mid or low functioning people can be recognized instantly and it’s those levels of the spectrum that become the public expectation people look for in our community. If they don’t see it, they get dubious at best and scoffing at worst. After the release of his movie, I noticed that I had a lot more instances of people either looking at me funny if they caught me rocking slightly while sitting or standing, with one woman asking innocently but bluntly “Are you panicking, honey?” …no, this is just what I do to stave off the tingling of understimulation while waiting for my turn at the doctor’s office. Or like at work, I had several instances this year alone. Ahem. “I’d never have guessed! You look so normal!” “So what are you fixating on right now?” “Oh, I had a sister like that, but she’s better now. This was back in the fifties and doctors didn’t know how to cure it back then.” “Why aren’t you flapping?” “But you talk so well!” “…They let you decorate cakes??” And my personal favorite; “Well, it’s a good thing asylums aren’t a thing anymore, isn’t it?” I’m convinced this influx of interest was generated by this fucking movie. Sia depicted a bad example of ONE type of neurodivergence. There are literally DOZENS of levels of it, she picked arguably the most stereotypical and dumbed it down so much that it set our progress as a community back about five years. 😒 Edit: I described this movie and very begrudgingly what Music looks like through the film to my therapist, and she was baffled, saying “That doesn’t sound like autism, that sounds more like a developmental delay mixed with cerebral palsy.” Sia had no idea what the hell she was doing and a professional therapist basically just confirmed it.
One possible reason why it was easy for Sia to force Maddie into this was because of rewrites to laws governing child actors advanced in part by one Joanne Kathleen Rowling.
Now what's she done? Okay, a quick Google told me British law was changed so the series would be filmed in the UK, making our laws more in line with those in the USA, as before they were more strict with regards to children. This travesty was filmed in California, so nothing to do with British law.
Every time I tell people I’m autistic, and I mean EVERY SINGLE TIME, even from the sweetest, nicest, most well meaning people, every time without fail they go “You’re not autistic” and they give me te expectant look of someone expecting a joke. So I look a them straight in the eyes and repeat in a serious tone “No, I am” which is usually followed by baffled looks or “Well, you must be very high functioning then, right ?” Yeah, what about it ? Anyways thanks for making me feel less alone 💛
This movie is basically Lilo and Stitch if they took out everything that made that movie good and compelling. While Nani also struggled to take care of Lilo after their parents' died, she actually cared about her sister and she can be cut a little slack since she's also grieving and literally just became an adult and Lilo actually has agency in the story instead of being reduced to an object to inspire pity/sympathy for the neurotypical character and nothing else. Honestly, this movie made me so mad that I'm in the process of writing a horror/fantasy series (with autistic people as the main characters because, speaking as an autistic person, we need more autistic main characters) calling out "benevolent ableism" and this idea that all autistic people are good for are being pets/props for self-absorbed people like Sia to use to make themselves look good.
@@johnvinals7423 The mall has a first floor that is somewhat active but's struggling to keep up with the times while the second floor is closed off and abandoned, but the main characters converted that floor to be their hideout
I'm an autistic person and I find the "fantasy sequences" atrocious! The weird editing, the colours and the music (hehe) assault my senses. I use my fantasy world to ESCAPE loud noises and eye-straining aesthetic choices you numpties! I wish Sia would just...stop! How can she be in so much denial!?
Those fantasy sequences made me imagine they would be the result of what would happen if you recorded Björk eating 50 lbs of drugs and had a really really bad trip as a result.
I work in hospital auditing and compliance. One of our biggest things we are constantly updating and documenting is patient restraint. The way they restrain Music is so wrong it’s not even funny. If a hospital ever restrained anyone like that, we would immediately lose our accreditation. How they handle her meltdown is so offensive.
Music is the purest depiction of the Dunning-Kruger effect in cinema. Sia thought she knew how to depict autistic people, she thought she knew how to write a script, direct performances and tell a story coherently. But she didn't know. As such, all we saw was a display of arrogance and ignorance (not named Donald Trump) to not only the neurodivergent experience (not to mention the black experience), but to filmmaking in general. The only reason this film wouldn't be the most offensive film ever is because films such as The Birth Of a Nation sadly exist in the same plane of reality. This is why people don't swing from chandeliers, Sia. So we don't risk getting concussion and start making movies such as THIS. Signed, Juhani Aho, a person with Asperger Syndrome.
Here's a very telling quote from Sia: "For me, the process was basically, I work out the movie. I'll act it out, I'll have the dialogue already in my head... I can't be bothered to learn Final Draft. Like, when I sing, I just want to sing the melody and write the lyrics. I don't want to have to do production, which is very technical. I don't enjoy that." She just thought she could wing it. She thought she could spew out the entire thing, unformed, off the top of her head. The first time she'd ever directed a film or written a screenplay. In her life.
@@colleen4ever "Don't bring up politics!!! **immediately brings up politics**" Keep your nasty 1940's wannabe dictator the hell away from the rest of us.
@@colleen4ever No need to turn the fight political at all, at least not in that sense. We should be uniting over our disgust for this movie, not dividing over who we think is the better president.
Aside from the offensive and horrendously insulting portrayal of people on the autism spectrum, several of the side characters/subplots (e.g., Felix, Ebo) remind me a lot of “Crash” with how heavy-headed and hamfisted their stories and character arcs are.
I said this in my own comment but... literally one of the first things we see the black man do in this movie is pin a white girl down and say he's crushing her with his love. They later reveal this black man also has AIDS. It says a lot about how horrible this movie is to autistic people that it manages to vastly overshadow how horrible it is to black people.
You handled this topic so well. The mere existence of this movie is an insult. I’m not autistic myself, but I have friends on the spectrum, and I have seen how much this movie has humiliated and scared them. I didn’t know a movie’s existence could be dangerous, but congratulations Sia, you’ve made an entire community of people fear for their lives!
I just wanted to say, as someone who has Aspergers, how cathartic watching this review was. I've not actually watched it myself, but honestly it's mere existence is offensive in and of itself. Thank you Christi for calling Sia out on this self-indulgent tone-deaf nonsense. Also, just on a side note, I personally have no problems with neurotypical performers playing neurodivergent roles, just so long as they're careful not to fall into the easy stereotypes of course.
On your last point, Maddie didn't really get to "act", since Music is such a non-character that there is no person to be acted as. Maddie didn't get to play a part, express a character with dreams and wants and emotions, they just told her to flail in the most insulting and stereotypical way possible. Music doesn't have an inner world so we can't be impressed by how well Maddie expressed the character. There's no one to empathize with, so the audience is able to conjure pity or sympathy at best. I'm glad this movie hasn't ruined Maddie's career, and she's breaking away from Sia's control.
@@pinkcupcake4717 I meant in general I have no issue. I wasn't specifically referring to Maddie's performance. As pointed out in the review she was merely doing what was asked of her by the director.
I'm also an aspie and I can't tell you how uncomfortable the restraint scenes made me, autism isn't as bad as it's portrayed in media ... I get fixations on anime and american cartoons mostly (currently fixating on Gantu from Lilo and Stitch right now,if anyone wants to know) and I've liked cats for as long as I can remember
These are the 9-11 sin cases Diva has done 2012: From Justin to Kelly (10) 2013: Love Never Dies (10) 2013: The King and I (9) 2014: Spice World (10) 2015: Tentacolino (9) 2015: Walking on Sunshine (9) 2015: Burlesque (9) 2016: Glitter (10) 2016: Christmas is Here Again (10) 2017: Strange Magic (9) 2017: Sci-fi High (9) 2018: Sextette (9) 2019: The Mighty Kong (10) 2019: TMNT: Out of the Shadows (9) 2019: Z-O-M-B-I-E-S (10) 2019: Elf Bowling (10) 2020: Hi-tops (9) 2021: Basmati Blues (9, Diva claimed it got close to 10) 2022: Z-O-M-B-I-E-S 2 (9) 2022: Music (11) These are 20 cases that Diva has given 9 sins or above, which is 17% of the episodes released
@@monstrouspegasister Any episode that has 6 sins. There was one collab episode of High School Musical that was four sins ONLY to give the other reviewer some spotlight, and she has admitted that in a normal review she would have given it 7-to-8-sins
I’m autistic and adhd (double package babyyy), and Music is nothing short of mockery for us. The way she carries her body, the way she stims, the facial expressions she uses, all of it is just a caricature. I especially hate the fact that it’s yet another case of the “pure innocent infantilised neurodivergent person” when what the world really needs is ND people just being…people. That’s why I’m probs one of the few people who prefers the characterisation of Forrest Gump in the novel over the movie, because this Forrest is an asshole. He blindly replicates racist/sexist/everything-ist dialogue without any drive to actually consider what he’s saying and it’s so not what neurotypical people are used to. I love it. I was actually in a play last year where *I* was playing a non verbal autistic person (I’m a verbal autistic person) and I was consistently concerned about playing the character accurately. We had a coach during the rehearsal process who taught me not only to accurately play her, but helped me undo about 25 years of masking I didn’t realise I had. It was an incredible experience and I owe that show a lot.
I feel this video is missing a much needed "Everybody got AIDS and shit" showgirls clip. Can't for the life of me remember who used to use that from the olden blip video reviewers. Seriously, even if we're able to get past the concept of restraining autistic people (and we shouldn't) we are pretty literally introduced to the black man of the movie by having him pin down a white woman and say he's crushing her with his love? And he's later revealed to have AIDS? Was this movie some sort of attempt at a Guinness world record for "Most Unfortunate Implications In A Self Indulgent So Called Ally Artpiece"?
I'm an autistic man who has an African NDIS support worker from Liberia come to my house twice a week to go bike riding or swimming at the local pool, and he's not backward about people on the spectrum. This movie stinks in terms of representation on multiple levels.
You know what really freaking sucks. That there is so much potential for a heartfelt, interesting, and eye opening movie with an austic protagonist and someone learning about them. Hell it could even be interesting to have a movie with a sort of anthology vibe showing multiple people on the spectrum and how they go about their daily lives.
You know what have been a really good move? Have Kazoo also be on the spectrum and realize it over the course of the movie. Drug abuse and alcholism is common in autistic people because for some of us it can give a relief to the constant ahhhhhh. Also it would have shown multiple autistic perspectives (I know this movie doesn't really show Music's perspective but hear out my pitch), one from someone who had been constantly underestimated and infantilised because of her diagnosis, and the other from someone who had never gotten the support she needed because she didn't fit the autistic stereotype, and now struggles to have people believe that she needs support because she "doesn't look like her sister". Anyway no doubt Sia would have fucked it up regardless.
Humiliating and dehumanizing is SO ACCURATE. (I know from experience, and while I wasn't diagnosed at the time, I was in special ed, where most of the class is assumed to be ND, and basically everyone was "restrained" at least a few times)
As someone who is Autistic and trying to become a writer, this movie fails in every aspect. It wants to be like Miracle Worker or Forrest Gump, films about individuals with disabilities who inspire those around them. The difference is that those films treated the said characters as people who were not perfect and were allowed to grow and be treated like human beings. MUSIC, on the other hand, as a character, is treated as a prop, not a person with thoughts or feelings of her own. This film is an example of how not to write disabled characters; seriously, what was Sia thinking about that restraint scene and going to Autism Speaks for advice; an organization that cares only sees autism as a hindrance and uses fear to make said stereotypes worse and not better. In conclusion, any respect I had for Sia as a singer, mainly as a person, died with this film.
Sin #4.5 In addition to the songs being pointless as they serve no other purpose, they make this film pretty much unwatchable for someone with autism. Hell, between the flashing lights, quick camera cuts, bright colors, and loud noises, it’s almost as if this movie was trying to actively attack autistic people.
True. There are some people on the spectrum that are drawn to lights and movement, but it's more common and widely known trait to have visual or auditory sensitivities. If Sia had done any actual research, the overstimulation issue should have come up pretty much immediately. The frenetic editing and sounds would be torturous for a lot of people.
Wow. You actually gave this movie 11 sins. I never thought I'd see the day but it is deserved. This was pretty uncomfortable to watch. I mean, I had heard of its portrayal of autism but the other aspects like the directing, editing and music videos were equally awkward. I'm on the spectrum myself and you did a good job of tackling the problems with this film. Another creator who has talked about this film that also did a good job talking about the autistic representation was Jessie Gender. Good job, Diva.
As someone on the autism spectrum, not only do I not find this film’s characterization of autism very respectful, but I feel bad for the actress who was directed to act like a caricature of us. And, holy fuck, the representation of other minorities…
I have Asperger's Syndrome. I tend to use this phrasing rather than autism, because I do not like it when people confuse it with non-verbal autism (although there are people with non-verbal autism in my family). I have been mistreated due to my disability and I wasn't even able to understand. Trust me when I say that the following story only includes the most important details. During the worst period of my life I went to live in assisted living for disabled people. I was ignored by the staff, who didn't even come in to see if I was awake yet. I once spent an entire day alone in my room, in my pyjamas, without ANYONE coming to see if I was even still alive. They had the capability to drive me to the pizza takeaway or the cinema or to the supermarket, but chose not to, causing a journey that would normally take 5-10 minutes up to an hour. Sometimes this was in the rain, or even in the dark. If I complained, they told me to get an Uber. I could afford one, but I didn't see why I had to when the staff there had both vehicles and the permission to drive us. I was a 5'3 woman, by the way. When the freezer broke down, people lost a lot of food. When we asked for the staff to reimburse us, they refused and said that we had to buy the food ourselves. Again, I could afford to, but most of the other disabled residents couldn't. The oven kept breaking down, the cupboards didn't have any locks (nor did the freezer, which meant that the same person kept stealing my expensive food, even after I went to the police), the washing machine was so useless that I once ended up washing my clothes in the bathtub and they went through staff members like underwear, which meant that sometimes I didn't even get to say goodbye. One of the other residents kept breaking into my room - and other people's rooms - and stealing small items. He was severely mentally disabled and didn't understand what he was doing was wrong, but the staff let him keep on doing it. The resident whom I got on with the most had gerbils, which he allowed to run all over the floor. Even in the kitchen and when we had guests. But the worst two incidents came from the same staff member. He came all the way from Mauritius (I only mention this so that you can properly visualise him) along with another man who was at worst a bit dopey. But this staff member did two horrendous things. The first was that when I was late for my writing course (I had to take two buses to get there and even had to leave the classes ten minutes early so that my journey back would take an hour less than it would otherwise) he offered to drive me there. Several hours after I got back, he knocked on my door and told me that I owed him for the petrol, saying that I owed him £4.50. I think he got his maths wrong and it was closer to £2, but the point still stands. This was the first time that I stood up to a staff member, telling him, "Absolutely not!" I believed that this had been a favour. If he had mentioned paying for petrol BEFORE we had set off, I might have considered it. But I point blank refused to give him any of my money. The experience made me very stingy with my money, even when it concerns my family's presents. The second incident took place on my birthday. This man promised me that he would make me a birthday cake.I came back at 10pm when my parents dropped me off, slightly drunk. The man had not made me my cake. He told me to go out and get the cake mix myself. I did so, going to the supermarket at the dead of night, drunk and miserable. When I made the cake, they only had one cake tin at the house so I had to bake the layers one at a time. It was at that point that I realised that none of the staff members (save for a couple long term ones) did not care about me in the slightest. The reason I put up with this for as long as I did was because I knew that it would be difficult for my parents to look after me on their own. The only good thing in the long term about the pandemic was that I went back to live with my parents, who then selected somewhere else for me to live, where I am much happier. So to summarise, abuse against the disabled is far more common than you would imagine. It is not spoken about because the disabled either cannot understand that they are being abused or are non-verbal. And for someone to create a film that greatly misrepresents autism is a travesty. Thank you, Diva, for this review.
I do not mean to sound rude at all, just genuinely confused; I don't see how Asperger's Syndrome, an outdated term, can be used to not be confused with non-verbal, which is a symptom and not a level/type of autism per se? I'm autistic, originally diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome and have selective mutism so I go non-vocal or non-verbal at times, I find levels (1, 2, 3) much easier to use when talking about my experience Edit: Again, not trying to attack you in any way!! And thank you for sharing your experience and discussing the movie!
@@MinimalistTheatre333 Forgive me but I still don't understand... People who originally were diagnosed with Asperger's (which *is* autism, and is today only labeled as ASD medically) can be non-vocal/non-verbal/have selective mutism as a symptom, so that's no way to tell them apart from other autistic people :/ What I also, especially don't get is why people prefer using a term associated with n4z1s (Asperger's) rather than be associated with level 3 autistic people, it feels incredibly wrong...
Also Diva, I’m surprised you didn’t mention the box office numbers, like seriously this movie no joke made only a few thousand dollars. The friggin Oggieloves made more money.
As an autistic person who has been restrained, the restraining scenes are really unsettling and uncomfortable to watch. I know how it feels to be restrained and by god it’s like hell.
Musicals are one of my biggest special interests, which makes the lack of neurodiverse representation especially hard for me. Until people finally wake up and decide to actually talk to people like me, I’m left settling for headcanons. My current (and most popular) go-to is Orpheus from Hadestown.
@@mirandatilley2486 Honestly, the fact that he’s such a positive example of neurodiverse representation despite not being canonically confirmed to be neurodiverse should be a hint for future writers.
One thing I think you could do is increase adaptations of stories about neurodivergent people. One of my ideas is an adaptation of “The Odyssey” where Odysseus is explicitly ADHD. See also: “IT” by Stephen King, wherein one of the main characters is all but stated to have ADHD and two others are heavily implied to be autistic. Or if you want something PoC + Sapphic as well as neurodivergent, we could always do “The Owl House” by Dana Terrace.
I remember seeing other reviews on this and there was one line by Ebo that felt completely wrong. He said that "Music CAN'T change" while I think the message should be "she doesn't have to change". Music is treated like a burden and we basically see no bonding between her and Zu which makes her change of mind believable. I'm not surprised and very disappointed that out of all organizations Sia choose autism speaks to consult on this movie. An organization which dehumanizes autistic people and portray them as monsters and a burden to their loved ones. Also seeing the music sequences I can see why an autistic actress might not be comfortable with those especially due to oversaturation in them. Why don't instead change the style to make the environment more friendly to neurodivergent actors? Isn't that what the movie tries to preach for? Sia wanted the poor Maddie from the start to be the actual lead. Edit: also I see that there is a reply, but when I try to open it there is nothing. Whats it?
I remember a review for Music that was like “it’s bad when you could replace Music with like, a dog, and nothing would really change in terms of the story”, and it’s true. Music is the title character, but she’s just sort of there in the background while we follow Zu and Ebo around. And I do think that Zu and Ebo, if written properly, could be interesting characters and Kate Hudson and Leslie Odom Jr are clearly trying
There was no way Sia was gonna cast any young girl except maddie Zeigler to play music. Maddie seems to be Sia's doll, her obsession... yikes. Hollywood is so full of creeps grooming children.
@@erikdaniels0n it's just sad that we barely saw a bonding between Zu and Music. Not to mention Music suddenly saying something instead of being non verbal was what convinced Zu to stay. Would she have left if Music didn't perform a medical wonder ?
As to the missing reply, that's been happening a lot lately. I think it might be a) a bot that's been blocked, or b) a glitch in YT's comments section format.
As an autistic myself, this film was one of the biggest middle finger to the community in most recent years. The more I saw of this movie, the more disgusted and insulted I felt. I would never advise anyone to see this, not even my worst enemies! Diva, I applaud you and your bravery to endure this absolute misery!
As someone with Asperguer-ish traits... I'm baffled. I'm so, so, SO baffled at this. And the worst part is... it was doomed from the start. This movie not only has no redeeming qualities, but it didn't have any potential to be something more informative or something that cares about their characters and target audience... if any. Sia... is a nice singer. A nice musician. But... this is just... a 180° of her talents. Goes to prove that not every artist is qualified to direct...
I think you mean 180°, not 360°. I realize this is petty, but...it kinda reverses the intended meaning of the statement? I mean, being 360 degrees off her talents would mean that it's actually spot-on, it just might not look that way at first.
When I heard that Odom's character was "from Ghana," I cringed. Not at all an expert on African countries, but I do know that Ghana is one of the safest, politically stable, most toured, and HDI-listed developed countries in the continent, especially in the Western region. Accra is a vibrant, cosmopolitan city, and while no doubt "villages" exist, it just seems like the creative team was trying to exoticize a country that, along with nearby Cote d'Ivoire, is actually quite modern internationally well-known.
Sin number 5 is ESPECIALLY atrocious because we KNOW that does not help. Even in the late 2010s we KNEW it was abuse. I think that scene alone is worth at least 2 sins.
It actually broke her mind. I think that there could have been even more sins than what we had gotten and it was impossible for this abomination to get less than ten sins if Diva was feeling extra generous and forgiving that day. Every other movie that reached ten sins had at least one sin that could be argued that was unearned because either Diva missed the point or didn’t understand what had happened or because it comes down to one’s personal opinion about the sin and if it really counts as one or not.
It's worth noting that Sia's claim that she tried casting a non-speaking autistic girl in the role of Music may actually have been a lie. Back in 2015, in an interview with an Australian radio station, she claimed that she had "written the movie with Maddie in mind". th-cam.com/video/5hJMCsSAVZg/w-d-xo.html
Actually, that might be a better plot… Ebo gives his terrible advice and Zu falls for it. Music is obviously uncomfortable with this, distrusts Ebo, and tries to tell Zu about it, but Zu doesn’t understand or thinks Music is just being whiny. Eventually, Music is injured in a restraint gone wrong. Obviously Zu is horrified at accidentally hurting her sister and confronts Ebo, who acts like it’s not a big deal. This callousness infuriates Zu and leads her to do a bit of research into Ebo’s background, and she finds out that he killed his brother and is on the run from the law. Ebo gets arrested and Zu acknowledges that Music was right about him. The sisters reconcile and talk to an actual professional who helps them find healthier ways to help Music through meltdowns. The end.
11 sins in one video. Considering how your previous "worst of the worst" reviews went up to 10 sins, that really is a new record. And your review of Music was just excellent, and you really did a great job explaining why the film ended up getting the terrible reputation it rightfully deserves. Happy 10 years of Musical Hell, and keep going strong!! Your show is just wonderful!
The definition of a career killer. This is on a level with The Clash's Cut the Crap album, Showgirls, St. Anger, Gigli, Milli Vanilli lip-synching, etc. Sia should be embarrassed and she deserves her fall from grace because of this movie.
I've heard the ending song, "Together," lots of times at work, merely tolerating it at best, but I've developed a newfound detestation now that I know its origin. Poor show, Sia. Poor show.
I knew from the first 2 minutes of this video that you did more research for this 30 minute trial than Sia did for the entire movie. Well done, and a good way to speak out for Autism Acceptance Month.
"Oh Jesus" are the words I kept repeating to myself every time I saw something wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong with this movie. I cannot imagine what it was like actually sitting through the whole thing. My sincere condolences and gratitude for suffering through this crap to warn others away from it.
The fact that Maddy had a meltdown because she thought she was offending autistic people makes this even worse. She may be a teen but she’s a minor and she literally had doubts that this was wrong, but the adults didn’t listen and now this happened.
Some random Musical Hell Trivia: For also having similarly bad editing, much like Music, Diva punished the editors of Glitter to having the thought interruption devices from Harrison Bergeron.
For whatever reason, I really felt like this was going to have a low sin count, in a "how can you pinpoint individual sins when the whole damned thing is an utter mess?" kind of way, but alas, I was wrong.
I feel like this would make the movie better, actually. Ebo steps in with his creepy restraint shit, and Zu is so out of her depth that she buys into it. Music, however, is uncomfortable around Ebo because his methods hurt her, but since she can’t speak and Zu has the awareness of a brick, she can’t tell Zu about the problem. Zu remains clueless even as Ebo grows more and more threatening and abusive toward Music. Eventually, Music gets ahold of a computer or smartphone and does some research into this creepy guy, leading her to discover that Ebo is on the run from the law in Ghana for murdering his brother. She tries once again to tell Zu, but Zu is still clueless and doesn’t understand what Music is trying to tell her, so Music runs away, leaving only a printout of the article detailing Ebo’s crimes. Faced with proof, Zu is now in a desperate race to find Music before Ebo does.
Cats had some decent acting and several of the musical numbers weren’t so awful that you want to shove sharp objects into your ears to not hear them anymore and the choreography was good. Music is insulting on so many loves and I am extremely disappointed with Kate Hudson given her mom is Goldie Hawn and she had a nearly flawless career in that some of her movies flopped but no one had anything bad to say about her still but Music is way beneath Kate. And it’s not like Kate is having trouble getting parts in movies either.
Sia coercing Maddie into this role is something I find extremely disturbing, because my mother did the same thing to me pretty much for my entire life, albeit not for a film If I didn’t act or think exactly like a verbal version of Music (the character) then I’d be on the receiving end of any form of abuse you could think of I was forced to lie to everyone around me for 20 years just so she could live out her sick little munchausen by proxy fantasy She even went so far as to harass doctors into falsely diagnosing me with Aspergers (which I don’t have, although I do have mild dyspraxia) This film doesn’t just disgust me, it traumatises me and shakes me to my very core because I know this shit happens in real life There’s undoubtedly many other children who are being pressured like this and it not only hurts them, but increases stigma around neurodivergent individuals in a thoroughly insidious way This world is full of evil people And there’s no other word to describe this piece of shit that calls itself a film It’s genuinely evil I hope someone rescues that girl and that Sia is never allowed near her ever again
I hate that Sia has probably been able to get away with what is essentially child grooming. I dunno why she's been able to get away with it, but clearly it's sus.
As a person with high functioning autism, I find this movie offensive and cringe worthy. We have hearts and souls, as well as brains too. I’m an enlightened, intellectual, and imaginative person.
Jesus, I feel bad for that person Sia met at Rehab. It's bad enough that this insults the whole autistic community, but being the inspiration for his insulting shit? I'd want to get some payback.
As someone who is on the spectrum, the fact that a film like this was made in the past few years, instead of back in the dark days of the 80s to early 2000s when characters on the spectrum were overwhelmingly depicted (usually as the butt of jokes) as being oversized children who couldn’t be capable of doing anything on their own, is utterly depressing and infuriating.
The fact that Sia got her "research" from Autism Speaks is yet another point against her and this film. Of all the sources she could have gone to, she went with the worst one.
“I got all my information from the very first source I found and didn’t bother to look for any other sources to see if any of the information I got from them may be incomplete, contentious, or just wrong, or if the source itself is considered unreliable or harmful, and I am shocked to find out that relying on exactly one source for all information on a widely diverse group of people I am not a part of didn’t work out!”
It's even worse than that. She "researched" autism by binge-watching Rain Man-type movies.
Someone referred to them as "The PETA of Autism but even worse" and that's fitting.
To quote one of my favorite reactions to that fact: “that’s like making a movke about MLK and the only people you consult are the KKK”
@@ashkitt7719 I see you're a fan of Cynical Reviews as well. And I do find it both sad and hilarious that AS disassociated themselves from this movie.
The thought of being “love crushed” sounds so horrible. i can’t even imagine being non verbal, having a meltdown, grieving for the person who loved you. Then, some….person decides to crush your body without any explanation 🥺
It's pretty pedophilic too given that it's an adult man on a kid's body
I'm on the autism spectrum. I also have a crippling phobia of physical contact, especially without warning. If anyone did that to me, I can't imagine how badly I'd react.
@@LadyBrightcynder Same here! It takes my breath away just imagining that fear. It’s like drowning and being smothered all at once.
How exactly do you write the line "I am crushing her with my love" for a character who's not meant to be a villain and not rethink your life? Especially when you later have that character smile when he talks about his brother being dead?
@@Talisguy There’s so many things wrong with it!!! Not to mention the child actress trapped in the scene 😖
"My research was clearly not thorough enough. Not wide enough." Translation: "Talking to autistic people about autism sounds hard so I listened to an organization known for their horrible treatment of autistic people instead-"
Did you see their latest ad campaign which is them trying to hide their hate by acting like they want inclusion of those with autism and on the spectrum
@@sarahtelles1957 I've seen it.
It is almost anger-inducing that people fall for Autism Speaks' garbage.
@@eatatjoes6751 I know right. Have you heard of the Autism Self Advocacy Network. Those with autism actually run it
granted that Autism Speaks has all the money and have effectively pigeonholed ASAN into the "radical disability activists who refuse to recognize when a disability is debilitating" category, i don't doubt that sia was mislead by propaganda. the problem is that the disability rights movement began to pick up steam around 2015-16, so she should've had at least one autistic person look through her story and offer criticism). sia just got too comfortable that, when autism rights activists pointed out her flawed methodology, she was like "WELL THEN WHY DON'T CHA WATCH THE FUCKEN MOVIE THEN ARSEHOHL"
@The Name Thing Is Not Happening TH-cam that speaks volumes
I feel sorry for Maddie the most. She was only 14 years old during filming, and reportedly broke down on set because she was worried that the Autistic Community would think that she was making fun of them. Sia should have known better than to put Maddie in an uncomfortable position like this.
And knowing how women on the internet are generally treated, I hope she didn't get horrific threats and/or doxed.
I’m so sorry that this happened to her
Especially since she also starred in The Book of Henry the *same year* this was filmed. Being typecast as a living prop who inspires a flawed mother figure to grow as a person must be brutal, and while it's *probably* too early to call Music one of the worst films of the decade when we're only two years into it, The Book of Henry is absolutely one of the worst films of the 2010s. ...Nobody deserves to have their acting career get off to this kind of start.
Also the large amount of people believing that most of this was a scam and she’s having he lawyers cover this up, like srsly, people will go out of their way to make the actions of a 14 year old into a malicious act of ableism
I’m part of the autistic community and I will say right now, no one blames Maddie. After the initial reactions to the trailer settled down and Sia just…KEPT TALKING, we all knew who was really to blame. Sia.
I am autistic and “inspiration porn” is such a perfect description. Just watching this review my jaw dropped a few times and several times I was saying “No- they wouldn’t actually go there. They’re not that stupid right?!” I really do feel bad for Maddie Ziegler, she’s just a kid and this isn’t her fault. I have strong words for her mother who keeps letting her work with toxic people and their vanity projects (first Abby Miller and now Sia), it’s gotta be doing lasting damage to this kid’s mental health.
No decent parents worth their salt would ever take their child to an Abby Miller dance class after seeing just one episode of Dance Moms. And any parents who HAD a child in that school should have enough sense to TAKE THEM OUT!
It's funny how when Sia and Maddie collaborated in Sia's music videos people were thinking Sia was such a step up from Abby... Sia's worse cause she literally treats Maddie like a prized poodle. I think Abby's bonkers and verbally abusive, but she didn't have that kind of pull. Sia makes the attention she gives Maddie seem like a wonderful thing but it's so creepy.
@@Nightman221k Maybe that’s why Sia and Dallas Clayton made Music Special Interest in dogs, because that’s how Sia sees both this movie as a whole and Maddie as a person.
What do you think Sia’s direction to Maddie even was, by the way?
Fellow autistic here too, and honestly "inspirational porn" should be included in the dictionary with so many movies, tv shows, books, etc. that fall under that category
I also feel bad for Ziegler as well because it seems like even she realized that this was wrong and the blame should not be on her
Just gives real creepy chills knowing Ziegler and Sia's "friendship" and sadly I get the feeling she'll be needing years of therapy as well
Your channel: it's just 10 years old...
TEN YEARS OLD! (orchestra swells as eyes roll)
But really... congratulations and thanks for all the laughs!
*T* *E* *N* *L* *O* *N* *G* *Y* *E* *A* *R* *S*
TEN YEARS OOOOOOOOOOOOOLDDDD
Ten years old, huh?! A DECADE! - Alex the Lion
*cut to ten-year-old with the blankest expression possible*
"Her bag with the drug stash for Sia was left behind at the park, so now she has no way to pay off her debt to vaguely gay Rudy" is one hell of a sentence.
Maddie is a victim. She was forced to go on Dance Moms at a young age and was abused while there; and continues to be forced into uncomfortable and borderline abusive situations by the adults around her.
I hope she doesn't go into substance abuse to cope with her abusive situations.
I think Maddie managed to escape that curse.She seems to not to like partying at nightclubs and more interested in staying healthy and cutting off ties with the unpleasant parts of her past.
@@kenthuang436 I hope that means she cuts of Sia soon
I hope she gets the help she needs.
You're the first person I've heard state that Dance Moms was a bad idea. I find that unnerving.
On the bright side, the backlash towards this film cost Sia basically all of her public credibility, because how the hell can you recover from making a trainwreck like this?
This is the first I've heard of it and... holy shit I thought I had a handle on what Sia's issues were.
I mean, it's definitely possible to recover from something like this if you have the right attitude about the backlash. Eccentric Japanese indie developer Swery65 attracted criticism for playing into offensive tropes surrounding transgender characters in games like Deadly Premonition (and...yeah, it's *problematic.)* But to his credit, he responded to that criticism by consulting trans women about their experiences and making a game that treated those experiences with much more tact and empathy, as a kind of apology. That's the way to handle something like this. Learn from your mistakes, show humility and display a willingness to learn from other people about their experiences.
...Judging by the way Sia responded to criticism regarding the film, I don't see her making that kind of recovery. She could. But she won't.
The apology game I mentioned is The Missing: JJ MacField and the Island of Memories, if anyone's curious. The title was too long for me to neatly drop it into my original comment. It's definitely not for everyone. It's very weird, it's rough around the edges, and anyone triggered by self-injury might want to steer clear, since it's both plot-relevant and an actual gameplay mechanic. But it does use the horrific subject matter to excellent and ultimately extremely validating effect.
Half way through 2021 Sia opened her instagram coments again, while promoting some necklace charms or whatever 🤷🏾♂️🤷🏻♀️
The movie was bad enough but her grand and glorious martyr syndrome when people told her how much mistakes she was making and how bad an idea it was to portray Music in such a way makes her look like an even bigger asshole.
For me, she lost my respect when she started working with David Guetta and Flo Rida. She Is a talented song-writer, but her vocal style is more Miss than Hit.
And, or course, she's a Garbage film-maker.
I feel so bad for Maddie Ziegler, who basically got coerced into being in this movie by Sia.
I agree, Maddie was just a vulnerable child who only did this movie as a favour to Sia, her mother figure who should have known better.
Their relationship is disturbing AF; it seems like Sia treats that girl as a possession.
Word of advice to any future filmmakers: If your lead actress bursts into tears on the first day of filming, rewrites are obviously in order.
Very sorry that she had to go through this
@@FormalFilmsProductions Hope it;s not gonna hurt her dancing career in anyway, cause it;s not her fault.
I can't believe that you've been doing this for 10 years. As an autistic, I thank you for trashing this travesty.
Yeah, she acted more like the child in the movie Nell than someone with autism.
It's not even a sensory friendly movie, the bright colors and flashing lights could cause a seizure....I'm autistic and wear headphones almost 24/7 and its like a fun house mirror that just shows us as a rock with a face.
wow
Me too. This is probably the best format I could possibly have experienced this movie through, Diva. Anything else would have left me screaming in rage.
Indeed, happy 10th Anniversary, Diva!
As someone who is autistic, this really was insulting to me, casting someone who isn’t autistic and claiming you did research about autism while partnering with autism speaks and adding in dangerous restraining scenes is more like a huge middle finger to me and many others
You can't deny that it's research! It's just research on the level of reading Nazi research to understand race.
I guess Autism Speaks has better optics than Nazi Germany, so I'll give Sia that! Her choice wasn't blunderingly idiotic, just dangerously ignorant!
Me too
I’m also autistic and this movie is fucking horrid.
I take personal offense as someone who wear headphones a lot and lowkey stims to songs via pacing/dancing like Music does /hj
For anyone who doesn't know, Autism Speaks is a generally abusive "charity" that largely exists to portray parents of autistic children as victims of circumstance thereby adding new layers of abuse to autistic people. They also have only ever had one autistic board member who quit after being almost completely ignored in their position. There's a lot more and I don't want to misspeak here since I only recently learned about the issues.
As an autistic person, I don’t usually mind when an able-bodied person portrays an autistic character. As long as that portrayal is respectful, well researched, and isn’t just the defining part of a character, then that is fine. However Music is a glaring exception. It’s portrayal of autism is horribly patronizing, reinforcing false stereotypes and dangerous misinformation, and objectifies the main character as an prop who is just autistic. I don’t blame Maddie Ziegler for her performance, she’s a child actor/ performer who’s just doing her job and I feel for the emotional turmoil this role brought for her. I 100% blame Sia for this though.
The one part that rubs me the wrongest of ways is how she portrays nonverbal autism. Displaying the eponymous character as pure, infantilized, and unchanging, but can speak only at dramatic moments is genuine bullshit. As someone who started his life as incapable to talk, I can assure you that being nonverbal, being unable to talk like everyone else and not know why, sucks. You can get out of that by attending speech therapy and that takes a year at best where you could start talking in full sentences. But even then, that largely depends on the severity of the person’s case of autism. That’s why we call it the Autistic *Spectrum,* cause we all deal with it differently. It’s a complex subject that should be handled with care and consideration. You’re also going in with the expectation that one performance is only reflecting less than a fraction of being on the spectrum. So what does Sia do? Make a tone-deaf movie full of stereotypes and inaccuracies that is justifiably panned by everyone, goes on Twitter to throw a weeks-long tantrum, hurls some f-bombs and even insulting an actress on the Spectrum a “bad actor.”
Sia is a shining example of how *not* to portray diverse roles and handling criticism. She was rude, out-of-touch, air-headed, and just downright petulant throughout this filmmaking and the backlash after. Hell, She even hired the controversial group Autism Speaks for research, who are probably responsible for the restraint scenes and leaving out the part that autistic individuals are hypersensitive to sound and lighting. Apart from it being a terrible representation of being on the spectrum and being nonverbal, Music is just a terrible movie in general. It’s a film that actively thinks that it’s a good movie about Autism, but in actuality Music is so inept that it ends up becoming a film that *hates* autistic people.
There’s a difference between an able bodied actor playing somebody on the higher end of the Autism spectrum and what could charitably be called the autism version of blackface
Totally agree! The sad part that they’re somes who are still defending and idolizing her. Smh
It’s like she doesn’t understand the point of those headphones Music wears. She treats them like nothing more than a prop or an accessory.
I agree with this as an autistic person as well. As long as the role is portrayed with respect and research, which music clearly wasn't...
Also access to aac is so Important!
The fact that this review came out during autism awareness month is very fitting.
Edit: As a man with autism myself, well done tearing this atrocity apart.
Probbably on purpose
Indeed, the irony is so sweet
And hey, how's it going buddy?
@@TrueBuddhaCat Can’t complain. :)
We call it Autism Acceptance month now
@@thejman5683 Thanks for clarifying.
This film is so hideously insulting.
Sia always struck me as that art school stereotype, so pretentious, often twee and airy fairy in her quirks and mannerisms, so dedicated to modern art and then you find out she’s from a rich family and has become surrounded by Yes-Men who don’t say no to each one of her bad decisions. This was one of them.
(chef's kiss)
It combines the worst aspects of the Star Wars prequels, turgid inspiration porn, The Room, Rain Man and every pretentious wannabe auteur who's ever decided they have something Important to Say when, in fact, they really don't.
...Who wanted this combination?
I feel the need to apologise to George Lucas, Tommy Wiseau and every stereotypical art school douchebag just for that comparison. And nobody should feel the need to apologise to Tommy Wiseau for anything, by many accounts he's a terrible person.
@@Talisguy I've heard Lucas ain't such a swell guy, either. That being said, I know exactly what you mean
@@cam4636 This thing fills me with so much rage, I feel so bad for Maddie Ziegler.
@@Talisguy At least the Room was so bad, it's funny and Tommy actually gives a shit about his fans.
Music is just horrible all the way through and Sia only sees her fans as tools.
I am not Autistic, but I am neurodivergent. And as someone who is neurodivergent, this movie is even more loathsome than it already is. The way it treats people who have conditions like autism that causes them to see the world differently is akin to a fricking minstrel show, and I am so glad the day has finally come that I see this film burn in the pits of musical hell.
Like I wouldn't be surprised if that were a thing for other groups too. Like there was some discourse a while back about how films about Black folk often are about pain and struggles with racism. I get why Black Panther was so huge in that respect. When the options are seeing your people suffer or Tyler Perry, any third option is always good. Even if Killmonger did Nothing Wrong.
@@ashkitt7719 At least Madea had a personality and agency in her movies.
I remember reading somebody describe Maddie Zeigler’s performance as “the autistic version of a minstrel show”, and yeah. That seems about right. Her mannerisms and performance are downright offensive
@@jeremyusreevu237 Either way I am also sick of Holocaust films myself. I've had family live through that so it's different than it would be for a gentile who might need the education. I want a Wolfenstein film that's like a typical schlocky action film where B.J. Blazkowicz just mows down a bunch of Nazis and collects treasure or something. Would be better than Adam Sandler's crap. The Hebrew Hammer is kinda like what I'm talking about.
@@jeremyusreevu237 yeah, a personality more annoying that Jar Jar Binks and an agency to make shitloads of money
I have Autism and ADHD and I’ve been a fan of Musical Hell for a long while. Thank you so, so very much for tearing into this awful movie.
I would absolutely love to see a musical starring Autistic/Neurodiverse characters, so long as it’s done right and with respect. So in other words, not what Sia did.
The only kind of credit I’ll give this film is the fact it turned me away from ever wanting to listen to anything made by Sia. And I already wasn’t even that interested in her music beforehand.
I only like two of her songs and had liked them long before I learned about Music.
Sweet Jesus, it's like Sia watched College Humor's spoof of how to make an academy award winning movie, didn't realize it was satire, and took it all to heart.
Does it have a Vertigo Zoom?
Or was that “Last Week Tonight’s” spoof?
@@ebwarg I don't remember, I'll have to re-watch it.
@@lizzychrome7630 Turns out I was doubly wrong! It was the “Oscar Bait” spoof trailer from Late Night with Seth Myers.
Or saw the simple Jack parody trailer in tropic thunder and didn’t know it was a parody!
I have a feeling she believes everything the Onion says
Sister's name is Kuzu- 'Trash' in Japanese.
Tells you everything you need to know about the writing, says I.
And everything about her personality, to be honest.
As someone who has worked with people with Autism in the past, I was horrified, as were my former coworkers, when they implied that the best solution in helping with a breakdown was to "crush them with love." In reality, it would be the last thing you'd be advised to do, since it would only traumatise them further.
It even killed a kid.
37 and still traumatised and in therapy.
If someone tried that sort of thing with me while I'm having a meltdown, I would end up freaking out even worse than I already was. I'm ultra sensitive when I'm emotionally weak. Even having someone near me in that state stresses me out because at that moment I can only focus on them and how my actions must be making them feel when I really need to be focusing on trying to help myself.
No joke? I would actually be terrified if that happened to me. I, thankfully, haven’t had a meltdown in a good while, but the idea of someone forcing me to the ground and lying on top of me in that state would actually make me lose it. I’m someone who’s already uncomfortable with being touched without my permission, even if it’s someone I know personally. So having that happen would definitely make me worse. I got stressed just watching that scene.
As someone who was put through it as a kid due to it being considered the only way to handle meltdowns considered at the time.... and this was 20 years ago, mind you, thank you.
You know how we have the sexy lamp test for Women in fiction? I feel like for stories like this we should have the failing small business test. Music could literally he replaced by a failing small business and nothing would change
Or a dog. Just put literally anything dehumanizing in her place.
You're a genius!
If you don’t mind me asking, how would this story look if Music was a failing small business?
@@johnvinals7423 Zoo's grandmother runs a financially struggling business that is vital to the community culture. Then she up and dies. Zoo is left the business in her grandma's will and wants to sell it. She meets Ebo who tells her how important the business (lets call it a flower shop) is to the community. Zoo begrudgingly agrees to try running the flower shop with Ebo's help for a while. While they work together to run the shop Zoo becomes a better person and falls in love with Ebo. The drug plot line can still happen, the Sia cameo can still happen, the musical numbers can just be about running the business or be in Zoo's head instead of Music's (those aren't really about much anyway) and the boy across the street plot line doesn't need to happen because screw that plot line.
@@limelantern5637 That's actually pretty good if I say so myself.
The only other thing I would like to bring up here is the 2009 Australian claymation movie 'Mary and Max', not only because it's one of the best film showcases of autism out there (specifically Asperger's), but also because it shows one of the best examples of an apology for committing ableism (or just apologies in general). Certainly a much better job than Sia's multiple non-apologies, that she failed to act upon and only conjured up once she could reap whatever benefits of her film she could.
To summarize 'Mary and Max', a lonely Australian girl named Mary Daisy Dinkle, by random chance and in hopes of finding a friend, writes to an autistic New Yorker named Max Jerry Horowitz, who himself has been hoping for a friend, and the two of them beomce the best of PenPals who do things to nourish and benefit each others' lives.
(SPOILERS!!!) When things start going right in Mary's life, she gets a dash of overconfidence and starts believing she can make better the lives of everyone she knows. She takes it upon herself to go to university and study autism (citing some *predictably biased and dated sources), and uses her PenPalship with Max as a case study for a book she writes (without his consent), that gets some good reviews. She sends Max the first copy of the book, promises to split the royalties with him, and says that she plans to visit him in hopes that she'll be able to help find a cure for his autism (forgetting that he once told her that he likes being autistic and does not wish to be cured of it).
Max responds to this by ripping the M-key out of his typewriter and mailing to Mary, signifying his cutting all ties with her. Mary's immediate response is to destory every last copy of her book before she officially publishes it. She could have just published it and reaped all the critical and financial benefits of it for herself, if she only cared about herself and her career. But she doesn't because she values her freindship with Max a lot more, and even after it's over between them, she still tries to be as respectful of him as she can.
This is further exemplified when Mary finds a can of sweetened condensed milk in her cupboard and remembers Max telling her that he always wanted to try one, she mails it off to him with a simple I'M SORRY written on the front, and lets that be the last exchange on her part. She doesn't try to follow up with multiple letters filled with excuses or pleas for forgiveness, she just waits to see if he wants to respond.
Eventually, Max does respond with a letter of forgiveness, saying that he recognizes that she is imperfect as is he, that none of us can chose our warts but we can chose our friends, and that her simply being his one true friend is really the best thing she could possibly do for him.
As an autistic New Yorker with an Aussie friend myself, this film hit close to home for me. It was refreshing to see a movie portraying it so accurately, especially for the fact it was made in 2009 before we started to get more accurate portrayals.
Oh damn... This film made me bawl my eyes out! I watched it almost a decade before I was diagnosed and it's still one of my favourite portrayals of autism!
That movie was such a beautiful movie. I think that the understanding of Asperger's and how being told that you need to be "cured" of something that makes you who you are can hurt even coming from someone you love because it makes you feel like you're considered defective by someone you trust. Mary and Max are such great characters. Even mentioning it tangentially to Sia's mess of an "inspirational" movie just shows how little she cared about the subject matter since she didn't do ANY of the work to make sure she wasn't being insensitive, spreading misinformation that could be deadly, and making the titular character a plot device to inspire her selfish sister rather than the focus of the story... I can't get over how hard-headed Sia is.
I thought it was sweet that the guy who wrote 'Mary and Max' actually based it on his own pen pal relationship with an old Jewish Autistic man from New York.
Mary and Max is a phenomenal film that deserves infinitely more credit
The dancing scenes with Music and Felix hints at an alternate timeline where this movie is the two of them developing a romance and bonding over their similar trash situations, and boy is that a far better movie. Non-verbal girl meets mild-mannered boy! A romance for the ages!
But no, we got this. Take good care of yourself, Diva.
I would pay so much money to see that!
That does sound like a much better premise. It could be a really sweet love story, with two people who feel like no one around them understands them or cares about their feelings finding that understanding and companionship with each other.
oh man, there could be exchanging of mix tapes instead of love letters, it could be so cute!
Isn’t there like a Pixar short about this
Hi! I loved this so much that I got inspired to write an original short story based on this potential rewrite! I’m making many changes to make it it’s own original story and I removed all references to the movie Music. I’m working really hard to make the story amazing for everyone. I hope that’s ok with you, right?
Btw, I’m autistic myself, so I promise I will do my best
And to add to the rage, Sia also said, and I quote, "I hate musicals". Even though she made a movie musical
Plus the fact that she said that during a group interview in front of Leslie Odom Jr should earn another sin.
It reminds me of the part of Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory where Mike Teavee says that he hates chocolate after strategically ensuring himself a golden ticket
@@MovieFan1912 Leslie is far too deluded by his admiration for that bitch to ever think that.
Poor Leslie, let's hope he gets better.
That honestly explains why none of the songs here helps us understand the characters or move the story along.
Edit: Like, they could've used the songs to make the audience fully understand Music (her struggles, her feelings, etc). The opportunity was right THERE
@@limelantern5637 _"WELL, IT'S A GOOD THING _*_YOU'RE GOING TO A CHOCOLATE FACTORY,_*_ YOU UNGRATEFUL LITTLE BAST-"_
All autistic people have what is called a special interest. Mine is musicals, among other things, and that is what makes me hate this movie more.
To quote someone that put this whole musical so eloquently: “No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, in an infinite expanse of No’s, from the dimension of No, with a statue dedicated to their Great Creator - the God of No - who wept tears of No that filled the oceans with No, and brought about billions of creatures who were NO!”
Hell yeah, love Atop The Fourth Wall
Linkara.
To quote another one:
"This is not Jumping the shark. This is jumping the shark, coming back, shooting it in the balls, raping it, eating its flesh, consuming its soul, mounting its head on a wall... and then doing the same thing to twelve more fucking sharks just to be safe!"
@@MrKlausbaudelaire I've been missing some videos which one was that in
@@sarahtelles1957 from his review of Never Ending Story 3.
Ah yes, the film that claims to be pro autistic people but has things that involve sensory overloads and encourages holding down distressed autistic people when, if you actually knew someone on the spectrum, that’s a terrible idea. I don’t even blame Maddie. I hope the poor girl gets away from people like sia. If you watch her Lizzie Borden routine, you can see she can act. I hope she has a long career away from these people. I’m sorry. I don’t think I can watch this episode
That's fair. Based on everyone I've heard from this movie is almost designed to discomfort (if not outright traumatize) autistic people, and even if you're not autistic it can be a very painful watch. Opting out is definitely an understandable move in the face of this....thing.
@@MusicalHell I’m on the spectrum and this film does make me uncomfortable. Love your content, though
And the only autism non profit they consulted was one that recommended electroshock therapy from a facility that has been proven to handle it so poorly that it legally qualifies as torture to treat autism.
@@BurningAzure autism speaks? I know they were involved
*invoke sensory overloads
Maddie broke down crying while filming saying she didn’t want people to think she was making fun of them. Sia ignored her and told her to suck it up. I feel so bad for Maddie, every adult in her life has failed her.
Maddie seems to have moved past all the adults that failed her and has been in three movies that have been received much more positively with viewers since Music was released which is a good thing for her.
And it is so hypocritical that Sia called this movie her love letter to the autistic community, and yet she is clearly not patient or cooperative to work with or adapt to working with someone with a severe form. And based on how Maddie is acting, it was clear she wanted Music to have a severe form.
All of those tweets she gave out proved it.
As an autistic person, this film isn’t a love letter to me and people like me, it’s the cinematic equivilent of a hate crime
Sia literally cherrypicked every VISUAL indicator she could find related to autism and "manufactured" her own autistic person.
She did not clarify stims, sensory issues, level on the spectrum, any other conditions on the spectrum, any other impairments or disabilities, therapies for Music etc.
Music was literally a stereotype of autism with no knowledge of the condition.
When you claim your movie is a love letter to the autistic community but everyone in the autistic community hates it
Honestly she has a creepy relationship with Maddie in general. Part of me thinks she really didn’t try to work with one. Just wanted an excuse to put Maddie in the role
All of the musical moments felt utterly pointless too. They also remind me of something on PBS like Teletubbies, making it feel like Sia is babying autistic people. The portrayal of autism is harmful and it just pressures autistic people (especially those with milder forms) to stay quiet about their diagnosis and "act normal." and we are already severely pressured by family, friends, and society to "act normal." It just validates a lot of autistic people's decisions to not disclose their diagnosis out of fear or being rejected by jobs or services or being treated in a condescending and demeaning way.
I remember when my mom finally learned about what masking is and my constant fatigue and lack of motivation after a day's work plus commute made more sense to her.
Exactly. I always hated this argument that "this is another type of autism that needs representation too!!1!".
It's technically true, but this was literally the only representation we could get for the longest time.
It only portrayed the worst parts of yourself, making you feel ashamed of your little quirks. It has the exact opposite effect to REAL representation.
@@reasyrandom yes, this exactly.
Woah, don't insult PBS like that.
Seriously! If she had just interviewed autistic people who love musicals (there are quite a lot of us), this movie would have been WAY better!
This movie is like Simple Jack from Tropic Thunder except it's an actual movie and meant to be taken seriously
You should look up "Riding the Bus With My Sister" sometime. Same idea, and even predates Tropic Thunder.
And Simple Jack was basically making fun of movies like this.
And Simple Jack was a parody making fun of trash like this and somehow that fake movie was far better than this travesty
As an autistic person, I have to say THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for talking about the rep in this movie and speaking out against the negative tropes it indulges in. For way too long, disabled rep, specifically rep for neurodivergent and mentally disabled people, has been pigeon-held to saccharine inspiration porn Oscar-bait about inspirational, fascinating, childlike, innocent, whimsical disabled people who change the lives of the "normal" people around them by teaching them important life lessons by existing. Think Forest Gump, I Am Sam, Rain Man, etc. I actually saw an interview where Sia admitted she took a lot of inspiration from Rain Man. A lot of non-disabled people don't see what's wrong with that and see these movies as positive representation. I'm not insulting non-disabled people for enjoying those movies or not knowing enough about disabled people to see the problem. The problem is these movies do affect or at least reinforce how people see disabled people. People use disabled folks as props for inspiration IN REAL LIFE. Here's a great Ted Talk on the subject: th-cam.com/video/8K9Gg164Bsw/w-d-xo.html . People infantilize disabled people in real life. People are ableist in real life. That's why the few people who tried to defend this movie really got under my skin. Throughout high school, I often hid the fact I was autistic because I found out in middle school that people will project their stereotypes about autism and disability onto you if they know. Don't say "It's just a movie" to me.
Did Forrest Gump fail as a movie? Because all I was worried about was how much of a b*tch that girl is to him and that helped me understand how people treat people on the spectrum.
@@toidIllorTAmI I have mixed feelings on Forrest Gump honestly. It has more redeeming qualities than Music for sure, but it did arguably start the trend of non-disabled actors playing characters with disabilities for the sake of getting an Oscar and movies with disabled characters being saccharine as hell melodramas. Plus, I'm not a big fan of how vague the movie was about what condition Forrest has. That just feels like lazy writing to me.
Can we add another sin for Autism Speaks involvement with the film. They claim they only got involved in the project during the editing period but A Sia has done multiple projects with the "charity" pre this movies production. and B the editing period was YEARs and they didn't flag the restraint scenes. So another Sin for working with a "Charity" which is widely condemned by the very group the claim to represent.
Autism.Speaks never represented those with autism though
Isn't Autism Speaks the people that want to cure autism
@@j3ssthealien283 autism isn't a disease or a sickness though. That's like forcing electricity through someone's brain just to "cure" gay people. And the way Autism Speaks wants to genocide those with Autism is with Eugenics you know something the Nazis used for the BS ideology that they are superior so that means everyone else should be eradicated
@@j3ssthealien283 Yeah, the ones who think autism is a disease, people with autism need to be cured, support restraint and extreme treatments that have injured and killed people, and refuse to take any autistic perspectives into account for their policies. That Autism Speaks.
It's basically the equivalent having the Paw Patrol movie being sponsored by PETA, an "animal rights" group that advocates killing dogs and cats
I really hope Maddie Ziegler has since been able to move on from the horrible experience she had while making Music. To know that even *she* knew how wrong it was for her to be cast in this role and would frequently break down in tears because she didn't want the autistic community to think she was making fun of them, and clearly all her feelings on the matter went ignored. That's an awful thing to put a teenage girl through, especially since she ended up winning a Razzie for it.
Happily, I've heard her performance as Mia in the recently acclaimed film The Fallout was praised.
She's great in West Side Story and The Fallout.
@@justinriley Exactly; I'm happy that she was able to bounce back acting-wise, so I hope she's doing well mentally and personally too.
@@justinriley What part did she play in West Side Story?
@@colleen4ever She played Velma.
Agreed. She's a talented dancer and she can be a good actress. She's only 19 right now. I think it's possible for her to have a great career. Sia's attachment to Maddie is...to put it nicely, strange. She's stated in interviews that she loves working with her and that she and Maddie are very close. Okay, nothing wrong with that. Sia's also apparently said that she can't do anything without Maddie and that she wants to make projects for Maddie to be in. That's pretty possessive, you can even say kind of creepy. I'm far from the only person who has pointed that out. I really hope that now that she's an adult, she can move away from being Sia's "muse".
This might be the most deserving movie you’ve ever featured in the court, Diva. Even moreso than Cats. Cats is bad, but it’s entertainingly bad. Music is downright offensively bad
Cats is honestly really boring once you get past the bad animation
Cats is watchable because at least the acting is decent enough to endure an entire hour and several of the musical numbers were performed well either by the singing (which some songs could be difficult to perform under normal circumstances) or the movement involved in the songs. Beautiful Ghosts might have been better received had it been performed near the end of the movie right after MacCavity has been defeated and Victoria starts singing the song after being inspired and moved by the candidates to go to Heavenside and then Grizzabella gets the courage to sing the Memory reprise. Music is just insulting.
@@kenthuang436 and if yhe effects were given at least 6 more months than needed and characters jenny enddydots were more respectful it might have been a fun romp.
This video got interrupted by an ad for a horror movie, and I barely noticed the difference.
Don't forget also that Sia sought advice on Music's character representation from Autism Speaks, one of the most ableist groups to ever exist
That was the true icing on the ableist shit cake.
And Autism Speaks themselves have even condemned this train wreck and ripped Sia a new one. If you managed to make that organization discredit your movie about autism harshly, you know you’ve messed up biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig time.
People with disabilities really are treated horribly in Ghana. There's a Wikipedia article about Disabilities and Ghana. A lot of people with disabilities are treated as a curse. Some are even branded as "spirit children" and killed. However...Music wasn't the right film to bring that up. With how Odom's character is characterized, the mention of the mistreatment of disabled people in Ghana makes it sound like "Of course, Africans treat the disabled like a curse! All Africans are superstitious!".
I applaud Musical Hell for pointing out the bad representation of Odom's character because that did seem to fly under the radar. It's not as bad as the Autism representation, but it still wasn't good either.
The black critics of Double Toasted found Odom's character to be extremely racist.
I've seen a lot of criticism for that character, though often as a footnote in a larger review, saying "Sia can't even write Africans correctly, what made her think that the could write this movie?"
A movie earnestly exploring the way disabled folks are treated in Ghana would be more worthwhile than this.
That problem is even worse when you contrast it with the idealist version of America that Sia has created. Where a 14 year old non vocal autistic girl can walk around the city all alone without a single problem. Not only that but everyone knows her, loves her, and helps her. As an autistic person who grow up in Los Angles California. I that was who thing were. But sadly that is not the case.
@@reasyrandom Honestly, I never realized how racist Odom's character was because I was too angry over Music being a prop for her annoying sister: really, it's just icing on the cake here.
This movie is literally one of those articles that goes
"How do women work? We asked a man!"
There's a TV show that I can't remember the name of right now where an *older* autistic brother is the one to take in his younger siblings after they lose their parents, and I feel like that kind of set-up would have at least pushed this movie in a better direction - if Music was the older sibling, had been out living on her own and had her own way of doing things, and suddenly she now has a sister struggling with substance abuse that she has to take care of. At least then she'd feel like the main character in her own movie.
That's a much better idea.
Everything's Gonna Be Okay.
Damn, that would’ve saved the movie and at least made her a main character
I think we're all lucky that we got to see Kate Hudson and Leslie Odom Jr. being terrible people in a movie with a good script. Yes, I am talking about Glass Onion. Although, I think Birdie Jay might unironically like this movie for the songs...
Even from the start, I NEVER held anything against Maddie the actress. Even if she hadn’t been given bad direction, she’s still a child actress and the pressure on them is always boiling. She’s clearly a sweet girl and the fact that she was so conscientious of her portrayal of autistic people shows this.
This movie has done some serious damage to our community though. I’m very high functioning, so high functioning that I was already getting people who had difficulty believing I’m on the spectrum. We all face our challenges on the spectrum, but I believe that high functioning people have a very unique challenge in that they don’t always “look” neurodivergent enough to fit peoples expectations, whereas mid or low functioning people can be recognized instantly and it’s those levels of the spectrum that become the public expectation people look for in our community. If they don’t see it, they get dubious at best and scoffing at worst.
After the release of his movie, I noticed that I had a lot more instances of people either looking at me funny if they caught me rocking slightly while sitting or standing, with one woman asking innocently but bluntly “Are you panicking, honey?”
…no, this is just what I do to stave off the tingling of understimulation while waiting for my turn at the doctor’s office.
Or like at work, I had several instances this year alone. Ahem.
“I’d never have guessed! You look so normal!”
“So what are you fixating on right now?”
“Oh, I had a sister like that, but she’s better now. This was back in the fifties and doctors didn’t know how to cure it back then.”
“Why aren’t you flapping?”
“But you talk so well!”
“…They let you decorate cakes??”
And my personal favorite; “Well, it’s a good thing asylums aren’t a thing anymore, isn’t it?”
I’m convinced this influx of interest was generated by this fucking movie. Sia depicted a bad example of ONE type of neurodivergence. There are literally DOZENS of levels of it, she picked arguably the most stereotypical and dumbed it down so much that it set our progress as a community back about five years. 😒
Edit: I described this movie and very begrudgingly what Music looks like through the film to my therapist, and she was baffled, saying “That doesn’t sound like autism, that sounds more like a developmental delay mixed with cerebral palsy.”
Sia had no idea what the hell she was doing and a professional therapist basically just confirmed it.
One possible reason why it was easy for Sia to force Maddie into this was because of rewrites to laws governing child actors advanced in part by one Joanne Kathleen Rowling.
Now what's she done?
Okay, a quick Google told me British law was changed so the series would be filmed in the UK, making our laws more in line with those in the USA, as before they were more strict with regards to children. This travesty was filmed in California, so nothing to do with British law.
Every time I tell people I’m autistic, and I mean EVERY SINGLE TIME, even from the sweetest, nicest, most well meaning people, every time without fail they go “You’re not autistic” and they give me te expectant look of someone expecting a joke. So I look a them straight in the eyes and repeat in a serious tone “No, I am” which is usually followed by baffled looks or “Well, you must be very high functioning then, right ?”
Yeah, what about it ? Anyways thanks for making me feel less alone 💛
@@johnvinals7423 Uh…that doesn’t sound right to me. How does an American film get affected by British laws?
@@happyjellycatsquid You’re welcome. I’m sorry you have to go through that too. That sucks. ❤️
This movie is basically Lilo and Stitch if they took out everything that made that movie good and compelling. While Nani also struggled to take care of Lilo after their parents' died, she actually cared about her sister and she can be cut a little slack since she's also grieving and literally just became an adult and Lilo actually has agency in the story instead of being reduced to an object to inspire pity/sympathy for the neurotypical character and nothing else.
Honestly, this movie made me so mad that I'm in the process of writing a horror/fantasy series (with autistic people as the main characters because, speaking as an autistic person, we need more autistic main characters) calling out "benevolent ableism" and this idea that all autistic people are good for are being pets/props for self-absorbed people like Sia to use to make themselves look good.
You too, huh? Maybe not a series in my case but more of a one-off
I'm also working on a potential series which is about a group of autistic teenage girls hanging out at a half-abandoned mall
I said that, too! And Lilo's not even canonically autistic (many viewers, myself included, just read her that way).
@@KaminoKatie Post-apocalypse or just a run-down small town?
@@johnvinals7423 The mall has a first floor that is somewhat active but's struggling to keep up with the times while the second floor is closed off and abandoned, but the main characters converted that floor to be their hideout
I'm an autistic person and I find the "fantasy sequences" atrocious! The weird editing, the colours and the music (hehe) assault my senses. I use my fantasy world to ESCAPE loud noises and eye-straining aesthetic choices you numpties! I wish Sia would just...stop! How can she be in so much denial!?
Those fantasy sequences made me imagine they would be the result of what would happen if you recorded Björk eating 50 lbs of drugs and had a really really bad trip as a result.
As a man on the autism spectrum I would like to thank you for sending this vile film to where it should always be.
I work in hospital auditing and compliance. One of our biggest things we are constantly updating and documenting is patient restraint. The way they restrain Music is so wrong it’s not even funny. If a hospital ever restrained anyone like that, we would immediately lose our accreditation. How they handle her meltdown is so offensive.
Is there a proper way to restrain a person if needed?
@@gentlemanlygeeky4088 it depends on what their needs are, how violent they are being, what type of consent they can provide, etc.
As an autistic woman, I fucking LOVE your review on this POS film.
Music is the purest depiction of the Dunning-Kruger effect in cinema. Sia thought she knew how to depict autistic people, she thought she knew how to write a script, direct performances and tell a story coherently.
But she didn't know. As such, all we saw was a display of arrogance and ignorance (not named Donald Trump) to not only the neurodivergent experience (not to mention the black experience), but to filmmaking in general. The only reason this film wouldn't be the most offensive film ever is because films such as The Birth Of a Nation sadly exist in the same plane of reality.
This is why people don't swing from chandeliers, Sia. So we don't risk getting concussion and start making movies such as THIS.
Signed, Juhani Aho, a person with Asperger Syndrome.
Here's a very telling quote from Sia:
"For me, the process was basically, I work out the movie. I'll act it out, I'll have the dialogue already in my head... I can't be bothered to learn Final Draft. Like, when I sing, I just want to sing the melody and write the lyrics. I don't want to have to do production, which is very technical. I don't enjoy that."
She just thought she could wing it. She thought she could spew out the entire thing, unformed, off the top of her head. The first time she'd ever directed a film or written a screenplay. In her life.
Will you PLEASE leave Trump out of this?! We're talking about the MOVIE!!
And if anyone should be accused of ignorance, it;s Biden!!
@@colleen4ever "Don't bring up politics!!! **immediately brings up politics**" Keep your nasty 1940's wannabe dictator the hell away from the rest of us.
@@colleen4ever No need to turn the fight political at all, at least not in that sense. We should be uniting over our disgust for this movie, not dividing over who we think is the better president.
Aside from the offensive and horrendously insulting portrayal of people on the autism spectrum, several of the side characters/subplots (e.g., Felix, Ebo) remind me a lot of “Crash” with how heavy-headed and hamfisted their stories and character arcs are.
Ebo should have a word with Chris Hansen if he ever tries to "crush a kid with his love" ever again
I said this in my own comment but... literally one of the first things we see the black man do in this movie is pin a white girl down and say he's crushing her with his love.
They later reveal this black man also has AIDS.
It says a lot about how horrible this movie is to autistic people that it manages to vastly overshadow how horrible it is to black people.
Maybe he accidentally killed his brother after "crushing him with his love" a little too hard.
@@ultra6671 That's what I thought, too!
The songs that Sia wrote in Vox Lux was so good. This film?! CHRIST.
Vox Lux is so underrated and that was when I cared about her work. Oh how times have changed.
@@litlblkhouse Same.
I used to love her music so much. How the mighty have fallen.
Vox Lux had no ending!!! Nothing remotely close to a third act, it just stops
@@alejandrocervantes3624 Hey, at least Sia didn't make that movie, she just provided the songs. It could have been worse.
You handled this topic so well.
The mere existence of this movie is an insult. I’m not autistic myself, but I have friends on the spectrum, and I have seen how much this movie has humiliated and scared them. I didn’t know a movie’s existence could be dangerous, but congratulations Sia, you’ve made an entire community of people fear for their lives!
I just wanted to say, as someone who has Aspergers, how cathartic watching this review was. I've not actually watched it myself, but honestly it's mere existence is offensive in and of itself. Thank you Christi for calling Sia out on this self-indulgent tone-deaf nonsense.
Also, just on a side note, I personally have no problems with neurotypical performers playing neurodivergent roles, just so long as they're careful not to fall into the easy stereotypes of course.
On your last point, Maddie didn't really get to "act", since Music is such a non-character that there is no person to be acted as. Maddie didn't get to play a part, express a character with dreams and wants and emotions, they just told her to flail in the most insulting and stereotypical way possible. Music doesn't have an inner world so we can't be impressed by how well Maddie expressed the character. There's no one to empathize with, so the audience is able to conjure pity or sympathy at best.
I'm glad this movie hasn't ruined Maddie's career, and she's breaking away from Sia's control.
@@pinkcupcake4717 I meant in general I have no issue. I wasn't specifically referring to Maddie's performance. As pointed out in the review she was merely doing what was asked of her by the director.
I am autistic too and I have to agree. Just do your goddamn research and you'll be set!
I'm also an aspie and I can't tell you how uncomfortable the restraint scenes made me, autism isn't as bad as it's portrayed in media ... I get fixations on anime and american cartoons mostly (currently fixating on Gantu from Lilo and Stitch right now,if anyone wants to know) and I've liked cats for as long as I can remember
At first I was like “Oh God, I didn’t know it was racist, too” and then “OH GOD, they gave him AIDS” WTF is this
What is this? The 1980s? Seriously we're well past these stereotypes.
Could have been worse if Ebo was gay.
These are the 9-11 sin cases Diva has done
2012: From Justin to Kelly (10)
2013: Love Never Dies (10)
2013: The King and I (9)
2014: Spice World (10)
2015: Tentacolino (9)
2015: Walking on Sunshine (9)
2015: Burlesque (9)
2016: Glitter (10)
2016: Christmas is Here Again (10)
2017: Strange Magic (9)
2017: Sci-fi High (9)
2018: Sextette (9)
2019: The Mighty Kong (10)
2019: TMNT: Out of the Shadows (9)
2019: Z-O-M-B-I-E-S (10)
2019: Elf Bowling (10)
2020: Hi-tops (9)
2021: Basmati Blues (9, Diva claimed it got close to 10)
2022: Z-O-M-B-I-E-S 2 (9)
2022: Music (11)
These are 20 cases that Diva has given 9 sins or above, which is 17% of the episodes released
So... do you know which episode has the least amount of sins?
@@monstrouspegasister Any episode that has 6 sins. There was one collab episode of High School Musical that was four sins ONLY to give the other reviewer some spotlight, and she has admitted that in a normal review she would have given it 7-to-8-sins
11 is too little for this film
The TMNT Musical is "coming out of their shells"
You can add the magical voyage and Cinderella 2021.
I’m autistic and adhd (double package babyyy), and Music is nothing short of mockery for us. The way she carries her body, the way she stims, the facial expressions she uses, all of it is just a caricature. I especially hate the fact that it’s yet another case of the “pure innocent infantilised neurodivergent person” when what the world really needs is ND people just being…people. That’s why I’m probs one of the few people who prefers the characterisation of Forrest Gump in the novel over the movie, because this Forrest is an asshole. He blindly replicates racist/sexist/everything-ist dialogue without any drive to actually consider what he’s saying and it’s so not what neurotypical people are used to. I love it.
I was actually in a play last year where *I* was playing a non verbal autistic person (I’m a verbal autistic person) and I was consistently concerned about playing the character accurately. We had a coach during the rehearsal process who taught me not only to accurately play her, but helped me undo about 25 years of masking I didn’t realise I had. It was an incredible experience and I owe that show a lot.
This movie handles mental illness worse than the Dear Evan Hansen movie. I DIDN’T KNOW THAT WAS POSSIBLE.
At least the boardway version does the topic justice.
Yeah@@frankieseward8667
I feel this video is missing a much needed "Everybody got AIDS and shit" showgirls clip. Can't for the life of me remember who used to use that from the olden blip video reviewers.
Seriously, even if we're able to get past the concept of restraining autistic people (and we shouldn't) we are pretty literally introduced to the black man of the movie by having him pin down a white woman and say he's crushing her with his love?
And he's later revealed to have AIDS?
Was this movie some sort of attempt at a Guinness world record for "Most Unfortunate Implications In A Self Indulgent So Called Ally Artpiece"?
Lindsey Ellis reference! But for real, the organization that needs to shut up accuses us of having no tact or empathy?
There's also that clip of a kid saying "Walker told me I have AIDS"
@@jeremyusreevu237 Haliey Joe Osmant
I'm an autistic man who has an African NDIS support worker from Liberia come to my house twice a week to go bike riding or swimming at the local pool, and he's not backward about people on the spectrum. This movie stinks in terms of representation on multiple levels.
You know what really freaking sucks. That there is so much potential for a heartfelt, interesting, and eye opening movie with an austic protagonist and someone learning about them. Hell it could even be interesting to have a movie with a sort of anthology vibe showing multiple people on the spectrum and how they go about their daily lives.
You know what have been a really good move? Have Kazoo also be on the spectrum and realize it over the course of the movie. Drug abuse and alcholism is common in autistic people because for some of us it can give a relief to the constant ahhhhhh. Also it would have shown multiple autistic perspectives (I know this movie doesn't really show Music's perspective but hear out my pitch), one from someone who had been constantly underestimated and infantilised because of her diagnosis, and the other from someone who had never gotten the support she needed because she didn't fit the autistic stereotype, and now struggles to have people believe that she needs support because she "doesn't look like her sister". Anyway no doubt Sia would have fucked it up regardless.
If Music were the Rebels clawing at the door, Diva is most definitely Darth Vader busting out the Saber at the end of the hall.
Ironic since I think George Lucas unintentionally made Darth Vader to be autistic-coded
@@KaminoKatie How is Darth Vader autistic?
Isn’t he more like a psychopath since he murdered “younglings”?
@@KaminoKatie Unrelated note, but is your profile pic Toa Vakama? Hordika?
@@DGilVids Yep, and you can watch the first three Bionicle movies for free on TH-cam
@@KaminoKatie Thanks! Already have all three movies on DVD, but good to know, thanks!
Humiliating and dehumanizing is SO ACCURATE. (I know from experience, and while I wasn't diagnosed at the time, I was in special ed, where most of the class is assumed to be ND, and basically everyone was "restrained" at least a few times)
As someone who is Autistic and trying to become a writer, this movie fails in every aspect. It wants to be like Miracle Worker or Forrest Gump, films about individuals with disabilities who inspire those around them. The difference is that those films treated the said characters as people who were not perfect and were allowed to grow and be treated like human beings. MUSIC, on the other hand, as a character, is treated as a prop, not a person with thoughts or feelings of her own. This film is an example of how not to write disabled characters; seriously, what was Sia thinking about that restraint scene and going to Autism Speaks for advice; an organization that cares only sees autism as a hindrance and uses fear to make said stereotypes worse and not better.
In conclusion, any respect I had for Sia as a singer, mainly as a person, died with this film.
Sin #4.5
In addition to the songs being pointless as they serve no other purpose, they make this film pretty much unwatchable for someone with autism.
Hell, between the flashing lights, quick camera cuts, bright colors, and loud noises, it’s almost as if this movie was trying to actively attack autistic people.
True. There are some people on the spectrum that are drawn to lights and movement, but it's more common and widely known trait to have visual or auditory sensitivities. If Sia had done any actual research, the overstimulation issue should have come up pretty much immediately. The frenetic editing and sounds would be torturous for a lot of people.
They’re like a Björk video only more gaudy and blindingly colorful and terrible.
Wow. You actually gave this movie 11 sins. I never thought I'd see the day but it is deserved. This was pretty uncomfortable to watch. I mean, I had heard of its portrayal of autism but the other aspects like the directing, editing and music videos were equally awkward. I'm on the spectrum myself and you did a good job of tackling the problems with this film. Another creator who has talked about this film that also did a good job talking about the autistic representation was Jessie Gender. Good job, Diva.
Jessie's review was so good, it made me consider checking out Please Stand By.
The only good thing this movie did was help me find autistic channels like Jessie's
*11* sins for this one...oh boy, Hell will need to create two more circles for Music's mere existence alone. 🔥
As someone on the autism spectrum, not only do I not find this film’s characterization of autism very respectful, but I feel bad for the actress who was directed to act like a caricature of us.
And, holy fuck, the representation of other minorities…
I have Asperger's Syndrome. I tend to use this phrasing rather than autism, because I do not like it when people confuse it with non-verbal autism (although there are people with non-verbal autism in my family). I have been mistreated due to my disability and I wasn't even able to understand. Trust me when I say that the following story only includes the most important details.
During the worst period of my life I went to live in assisted living for disabled people. I was ignored by the staff, who didn't even come in to see if I was awake yet. I once spent an entire day alone in my room, in my pyjamas, without ANYONE coming to see if I was even still alive. They had the capability to drive me to the pizza takeaway or the cinema or to the supermarket, but chose not to, causing a journey that would normally take 5-10 minutes up to an hour. Sometimes this was in the rain, or even in the dark. If I complained, they told me to get an Uber. I could afford one, but I didn't see why I had to when the staff there had both vehicles and the permission to drive us. I was a 5'3 woman, by the way.
When the freezer broke down, people lost a lot of food. When we asked for the staff to reimburse us, they refused and said that we had to buy the food ourselves. Again, I could afford to, but most of the other disabled residents couldn't.
The oven kept breaking down, the cupboards didn't have any locks (nor did the freezer, which meant that the same person kept stealing my expensive food, even after I went to the police), the washing machine was so useless that I once ended up washing my clothes in the bathtub and they went through staff members like underwear, which meant that sometimes I didn't even get to say goodbye.
One of the other residents kept breaking into my room - and other people's rooms - and stealing small items. He was severely mentally disabled and didn't understand what he was doing was wrong, but the staff let him keep on doing it.
The resident whom I got on with the most had gerbils, which he allowed to run all over the floor. Even in the kitchen and when we had guests.
But the worst two incidents came from the same staff member. He came all the way from Mauritius (I only mention this so that you can properly visualise him) along with another man who was at worst a bit dopey. But this staff member did two horrendous things.
The first was that when I was late for my writing course (I had to take two buses to get there and even had to leave the classes ten minutes early so that my journey back would take an hour less than it would otherwise) he offered to drive me there. Several hours after I got back, he knocked on my door and told me that I owed him for the petrol, saying that I owed him £4.50. I think he got his maths wrong and it was closer to £2, but the point still stands. This was the first time that I stood up to a staff member, telling him, "Absolutely not!" I believed that this had been a favour. If he had mentioned paying for petrol BEFORE we had set off, I might have considered it. But I point blank refused to give him any of my money. The experience made me very stingy with my money, even when it concerns my family's presents.
The second incident took place on my birthday. This man promised me that he would make me a birthday cake.I came back at 10pm when my parents dropped me off, slightly drunk. The man had not made me my cake. He told me to go out and get the cake mix myself. I did so, going to the supermarket at the dead of night, drunk and miserable. When I made the cake, they only had one cake tin at the house so I had to bake the layers one at a time. It was at that point that I realised that none of the staff members (save for a couple long term ones) did not care about me in the slightest.
The reason I put up with this for as long as I did was because I knew that it would be difficult for my parents to look after me on their own. The only good thing in the long term about the pandemic was that I went back to live with my parents, who then selected somewhere else for me to live, where I am much happier.
So to summarise, abuse against the disabled is far more common than you would imagine. It is not spoken about because the disabled either cannot understand that they are being abused or are non-verbal. And for someone to create a film that greatly misrepresents autism is a travesty.
Thank you, Diva, for this review.
I do not mean to sound rude at all, just genuinely confused; I don't see how Asperger's Syndrome, an outdated term, can be used to not be confused with non-verbal, which is a symptom and not a level/type of autism per se?
I'm autistic, originally diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome and have selective mutism so I go non-vocal or non-verbal at times, I find levels (1, 2, 3) much easier to use when talking about my experience
Edit: Again, not trying to attack you in any way!! And thank you for sharing your experience and discussing the movie!
@@nxcrorat When some people hear the word 'autism', they think of those who are unable to speak. By saying Asperger's Syndrome, I educate others.
@@MinimalistTheatre333 Forgive me but I still don't understand... People who originally were diagnosed with Asperger's (which *is* autism, and is today only labeled as ASD medically) can be non-vocal/non-verbal/have selective mutism as a symptom, so that's no way to tell them apart from other autistic people :/
What I also, especially don't get is why people prefer using a term associated with n4z1s (Asperger's) rather than be associated with level 3 autistic people, it feels incredibly wrong...
Also Diva, I’m surprised you didn’t mention the box office numbers, like seriously this movie no joke made only a few thousand dollars.
The friggin Oggieloves made more money.
As an autistic person who has been restrained, the restraining scenes are really unsettling and uncomfortable to watch. I know how it feels to be restrained and by god it’s like hell.
Musicals are one of my biggest special interests, which makes the lack of neurodiverse representation especially hard for me. Until people finally wake up and decide to actually talk to people like me, I’m left settling for headcanons. My current (and most popular) go-to is Orpheus from Hadestown.
I'm also a big fan of the Orpheus headcannon.
@@mirandatilley2486 Honestly, the fact that he’s such a positive example of neurodiverse representation despite not being canonically confirmed to be neurodiverse should be a hint for future writers.
@@avalasialove I sure hope so
Autism head canons? I got my own. Watch Legally Blonde under the lens of Elle Woods as autistic makes the movie so much better
One thing I think you could do is increase adaptations of stories about neurodivergent people. One of my ideas is an adaptation of “The Odyssey” where Odysseus is explicitly ADHD. See also: “IT” by Stephen King, wherein one of the main characters is all but stated to have ADHD and two others are heavily implied to be autistic. Or if you want something PoC + Sapphic as well as neurodivergent, we could always do “The Owl House” by Dana Terrace.
As an autistic person I legit feel attacked when watching this crap.
I remember seeing other reviews on this and there was one line by Ebo that felt completely wrong. He said that "Music CAN'T change" while I think the message should be "she doesn't have to change". Music is treated like a burden and we basically see no bonding between her and Zu which makes her change of mind believable.
I'm not surprised and very disappointed that out of all organizations Sia choose autism speaks to consult on this movie. An organization which dehumanizes autistic people and portray them as monsters and a burden to their loved ones.
Also seeing the music sequences I can see why an autistic actress might not be comfortable with those especially due to oversaturation in them. Why don't instead change the style to make the environment more friendly to neurodivergent actors? Isn't that what the movie tries to preach for? Sia wanted the poor Maddie from the start to be the actual lead.
Edit: also I see that there is a reply, but when I try to open it there is nothing. Whats it?
There are conspiracy theories that Sia was lying about the autistic actress to make herself look better (Not that it helped)
I remember a review for Music that was like “it’s bad when you could replace Music with like, a dog, and nothing would really change in terms of the story”, and it’s true. Music is the title character, but she’s just sort of there in the background while we follow Zu and Ebo around. And I do think that Zu and Ebo, if written properly, could be interesting characters and Kate Hudson and Leslie Odom Jr are clearly trying
There was no way Sia was gonna cast any young girl except maddie Zeigler to play music. Maddie seems to be Sia's doll, her obsession... yikes. Hollywood is so full of creeps grooming children.
@@erikdaniels0n it's just sad that we barely saw a bonding between Zu and Music. Not to mention Music suddenly saying something instead of being non verbal was what convinced Zu to stay. Would she have left if Music didn't perform a medical wonder ?
As to the missing reply, that's been happening a lot lately. I think it might be a) a bot that's been blocked, or b) a glitch in YT's comments section format.
As an autistic myself, this film was one of the biggest middle finger to the community in most recent years.
The more I saw of this movie, the more disgusted and insulted I felt.
I would never advise anyone to see this, not even my worst enemies!
Diva, I applaud you and your bravery to endure this absolute misery!
As someone with Asperguer-ish traits... I'm baffled. I'm so, so, SO baffled at this. And the worst part is... it was doomed from the start. This movie not only has no redeeming qualities, but it didn't have any potential to be something more informative or something that cares about their characters and target audience... if any. Sia... is a nice singer. A nice musician. But... this is just... a 180° of her talents. Goes to prove that not every artist is qualified to direct...
I think you mean 180°, not 360°. I realize this is petty, but...it kinda reverses the intended meaning of the statement? I mean, being 360 degrees off her talents would mean that it's actually spot-on, it just might not look that way at first.
@@timothymclean Oh, yeah. That. Sorry. English is not my first language, you see, so thanks for the aclaration
When I heard that Odom's character was "from Ghana," I cringed. Not at all an expert on African countries, but I do know that Ghana is one of the safest, politically stable, most toured, and HDI-listed developed countries in the continent, especially in the Western region. Accra is a vibrant, cosmopolitan city, and while no doubt "villages" exist, it just seems like the creative team was trying to exoticize a country that, along with nearby Cote d'Ivoire, is actually quite modern internationally well-known.
They should've done Nigeria or Togo. Or honestly gone with South Africa if tgey wanted to do an HIV storyline.
Sin number 5 is ESPECIALLY atrocious because we KNOW that does not help. Even in the late 2010s we KNEW it was abuse. I think that scene alone is worth at least 2 sins.
I think we knew it was abuse by the 90s.
This is Diva's first case with 11 sins... just thought I'd say that
And it's so deserved...
This is the worst case in musical hell history.
It actually broke her mind. I think that there could have been even more sins than what we had gotten and it was impossible for this abomination to get less than ten sins if Diva was feeling extra generous and forgiving that day. Every other movie that reached ten sins had at least one sin that could be argued that was unearned because either Diva missed the point or didn’t understand what had happened or because it comes down to one’s personal opinion about the sin and if it really counts as one or not.
I never thought there could be a movie that is more condescending with it portral of social issues then Rent, but here we are.
It's worth noting that Sia's claim that she tried casting a non-speaking autistic girl in the role of Music may actually have been a lie.
Back in 2015, in an interview with an Australian radio station, she claimed that she had "written the movie with Maddie in mind".
th-cam.com/video/5hJMCsSAVZg/w-d-xo.html
The nonchalant, almost casual way he says his brother is dead now makes me suspicious that he's the one who killed him from a restraint gone wrong...
he even smiles when he says his brother died! I'd back away slowly.
Actually, that might be a better plot… Ebo gives his terrible advice and Zu falls for it. Music is obviously uncomfortable with this, distrusts Ebo, and tries to tell Zu about it, but Zu doesn’t understand or thinks Music is just being whiny. Eventually, Music is injured in a restraint gone wrong. Obviously Zu is horrified at accidentally hurting her sister and confronts Ebo, who acts like it’s not a big deal. This callousness infuriates Zu and leads her to do a bit of research into Ebo’s background, and she finds out that he killed his brother and is on the run from the law. Ebo gets arrested and Zu acknowledges that Music was right about him. The sisters reconcile and talk to an actual professional who helps them find healthier ways to help Music through meltdowns. The end.
11 sins in one video. Considering how your previous "worst of the worst" reviews went up to 10 sins, that really is a new record.
And your review of Music was just excellent, and you really did a great job explaining why the film ended up getting the terrible reputation it rightfully deserves. Happy 10 years of Musical Hell, and keep going strong!! Your show is just wonderful!
The definition of a career killer. This is on a level with The Clash's Cut the Crap album, Showgirls, St. Anger, Gigli, Milli Vanilli lip-synching, etc. Sia should be embarrassed and she deserves her fall from grace because of this movie.
Hey, at least Metallica RECOVERED from St. Anger.
I've heard the ending song, "Together," lots of times at work, merely tolerating it at best, but I've developed a newfound detestation now that I know its origin. Poor show, Sia. Poor show.
I knew from the first 2 minutes of this video that you did more research for this 30 minute trial than Sia did for the entire movie. Well done, and a good way to speak out for Autism Acceptance Month.
"Oh Jesus" are the words I kept repeating to myself every time I saw something wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong with this movie. I cannot imagine what it was like actually sitting through the whole thing. My sincere condolences and gratitude for suffering through this crap to warn others away from it.
The fact that Maddy had a meltdown because she thought she was offending autistic people makes this even worse. She may be a teen but she’s a minor and she literally had doubts that this was wrong, but the adults didn’t listen and now this happened.
Thank you for tackling this. As a person on the spectrum, this is something that we need to hear.
Some random Musical Hell Trivia:
For also having similarly bad editing, much like Music, Diva punished the editors of Glitter to having the thought interruption devices from Harrison Bergeron.
That’s some good continuity
Less than eleven minutes in and we already have five whole sins.
And #5 is bad enough that it feels like it should count as at least 150% of a sin.
Yep, that goes to show just how horrible this entire film is!
For whatever reason, I really felt like this was going to have a low sin count, in a "how can you pinpoint individual sins when the whole damned thing is an utter mess?" kind of way, but alas, I was wrong.
@@Eviltwin531 “Sin Number One: Everything! See you next time, Mortals!”
"He's dead now :)"
Gonna take a wild guess and say it had something to do with the whole "crush [him] with my love" thing.
TL;DR: Ebo is a serial killer.
Insert Steve Carell meme from The Office 😖.
That is terrifying.
I feel like this would make the movie better, actually. Ebo steps in with his creepy restraint shit, and Zu is so out of her depth that she buys into it. Music, however, is uncomfortable around Ebo because his methods hurt her, but since she can’t speak and Zu has the awareness of a brick, she can’t tell Zu about the problem. Zu remains clueless even as Ebo grows more and more threatening and abusive toward Music. Eventually, Music gets ahold of a computer or smartphone and does some research into this creepy guy, leading her to discover that Ebo is on the run from the law in Ghana for murdering his brother. She tries once again to tell Zu, but Zu is still clueless and doesn’t understand what Music is trying to tell her, so Music runs away, leaving only a printout of the article detailing Ebo’s crimes. Faced with proof, Zu is now in a desperate race to find Music before Ebo does.
Kinda feels like Sia just watched Tropic Thunder and didn’t realise the Simple Jack movie was supposed to be a bad idea.
It’s a good thing reviewers exist. Otherwise, I might have done something crazy like actually watching this movie out of curiosity
Oh, I've been waiting for this since the first trailer. Forget "Cats" THIS is the musical disaster this channel was made for.
At least Cats is a so bad it's good movie in the Rocky Horror Picture Show/Showgirls vein compared to this.
@@aussieman3021 nah, cats is too f*cking terrifying to even watch unlike this head ache of a movie.
@@aussieman3021 Eh. I'll say it had a decent foundation to work with that they simply chose to SQUANDER!
Cats had some decent acting and several of the musical numbers weren’t so awful that you want to shove sharp objects into your ears to not hear them anymore and the choreography was good. Music is insulting on so many loves and I am extremely disappointed with Kate Hudson given her mom is Goldie Hawn and she had a nearly flawless career in that some of her movies flopped but no one had anything bad to say about her still but Music is way beneath Kate. And it’s not like Kate is having trouble getting parts in movies either.
Can’t wait for the day when Diva reviews the atrocity that is Dear Evan Hansen 2021
As an autistic person, thank you so much for donating to groups that actually help autistic individuals that isn't "Autism Speaks".
Autism Speaks is the PETA of the autistic people
Sia coercing Maddie into this role is something I find extremely disturbing, because my mother did the same thing to me pretty much for my entire life, albeit not for a film
If I didn’t act or think exactly like a verbal version of Music (the character) then I’d be on the receiving end of any form of abuse you could think of
I was forced to lie to everyone around me for 20 years just so she could live out her sick little munchausen by proxy fantasy
She even went so far as to harass doctors into falsely diagnosing me with Aspergers (which I don’t have, although I do have mild dyspraxia)
This film doesn’t just disgust me, it traumatises me and shakes me to my very core because I know this shit happens in real life
There’s undoubtedly many other children who are being pressured like this and it not only hurts them, but increases stigma around neurodivergent individuals in a thoroughly insidious way
This world is full of evil people
And there’s no other word to describe this piece of shit that calls itself a film
It’s genuinely evil
I hope someone rescues that girl and that Sia is never allowed near her ever again
I hate that Sia has probably been able to get away with what is essentially child grooming. I dunno why she's been able to get away with it, but clearly it's sus.
Quite ironic that the final line of the movie is "I am happy," since literally no one who watches it will share that sentiment afterwards.
As a person with high functioning autism, I find this movie offensive and cringe worthy. We have hearts and souls, as well as brains too. I’m an enlightened, intellectual, and imaginative person.
Jesus, I feel bad for that person Sia met at Rehab. It's bad enough that this insults the whole autistic community, but being the inspiration for his insulting shit? I'd want to get some payback.
As someone who is on the spectrum, the fact that a film like this was made in the past few years, instead of back in the dark days of the 80s to early 2000s when characters on the spectrum were overwhelmingly depicted (usually as the butt of jokes) as being oversized children who couldn’t be capable of doing anything on their own, is utterly depressing and infuriating.