autistic people within the media are often either missrepresentated or underrepresented, with very little in between. A known movie that is a missrepresentation of autistic people is Sia's 'Music'. Music is an american musical drama released in 2021, that follows the story of a pair of siblings, the younger of whom, 'music' is autistic and nonverbal. the movie grossly underperformed in the box office, earning a scant $645,949 compared to the $16 million budget that it had to work with.
The movie was highly criticised, mostly for its poor representation of autistic people and how we interact with the world on a daily basis. Music has a rating of 7% on rotten tomatoes, a rating that is in my opinion well deserved. This movie is highly offensive in its representations of autism, even from the very begining when casting a neurotypical actress as an autistic main character, which is known as 'cripping up' and is generally something that is less acceptable within todays progress on neurodivergent representation within the media. Sia eventually had to release an apology on twitter in Februrary when it was discovered that the movie contained a scene of an autistic character being physically constrained during a meltdown, something that has killed many autistic people before. When an autistic person is having a meltdown, the main thing NOT to do is to physically restrain them, wether it be with restraints or with their body. Sia's apology was considered 'too little too late' by the autistic community, with various self-advocates commenting against Sia on Twitter.
Heartbreak High on the other hand, is an example of great autistic representation, with the character "quinn 'quinni' Gallagher-jones" being introduced in the first episode with her brightly coloured outfits and makeup. Quinni is also a lesbian, and despite autistic people being more likely to be queer then non autistic people, this is an intersectionality that is rarely (if ever) explored within the media. Most autistic characters are either straight (like Atypical Sam's) or the topic of sexuality is never mentioned due to infantilisiation that autistic people face in society, where we are seen as helpless, naive individuals who should never be exposed to sex or gore or violence or anything that could shake our 'delicate' sensibilities.' Heartbreak High also does a fantastic job of representing a relationship between an autistic and an allistic (non autistic) person, and how the communication barriers can challenge the relationship and the individuals place in it, and how autism can affect relationships, both positively and negatively. Quinni is also played by an autistic actor, Chloe Hayden, who is also a self-advocate on tiktok, having ammassed a large following for her deconstruction of autistic stereotypes and beliefs, such as that ' girls cant have autism'
The contrast between the representation of autistic people in these media products is startling, with the positive representation highlighting just how negative and stereotypical 'Music' really is, and just how much damage this type of representation can have on the autistic community and those who inhabit it
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