Autistic people are used to being underestimated and infantilised – but for Clem Bastow it was still a shock to see it on the big screen
When my girlfriend and I sat down to watch
music, the directorial debut of
Australian pop superstar Sia, we were well aware of the tide of outrage that had preceded it.
In casting her regular collaborator, Maddie Ziegler, as the film’s eponymous Autistic character – and then doubling down when criticised for doing so – Sia invoked the warranted ire of Autistic advocates and neurodiversity activists worldwide.