Updated February 20th, 2021 at 18:19 IST

Sia's 'Music's' Golden Globe nominations on stake as thousands sign petition to cancel it

Songwriter Sia's movie 'Music' has been facing a major backlash as a petition has been signed by thousand of people to cancel its Golden Globe nominations.

Reported by: Aditi Sharma
| Image:self
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Singing sensation Sia donned the director's hat for her movie Music. However, the movie has been receiving major online backlash over its narrative and approach towards autism. Music has been nominated in two categories in the Golden Globes nomination list namely Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy) and Best Actress in a Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy) for Kate Hudson. A petition has been launched to revoke the nominations.

Music's Golden Globe Nomination faces backlash

The petition against Sia’s Music is gaining major attention online as it has been signed by over 67,000 people. People called Sia's Music ‘severely ableist'. The petition says that apart from the Golden Globes Awards taking back the nominations, it also seeks that the entertainment industry should promise to work towards inclusion and improve the representation of disabilities in films. 

Sia's movie released in January 2021 and since its release, Music has been criticised for its cinematic approach towards autism. It was also criticised for its casting as the lead role in the movie is played by Maddie Ziegler who is shown as an autistic person even though she is not autistic in real life and that has been a reason for criticism. Another major reason stated in the petition is the light, colour, sound, and quick camera movements in the movie that makes it difficult for autistic people to watch. 

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This online petition has been started by Nina Skov Jensen who calls herself an autism activist. She mentioned that she was diagnosed with autism in her childhood and since then she is fighting for the rights of autistic people. Before the petition was launched, Sia apologised for the depiction of autism in the film as the movie received major backlash during its release for the same. She claimed that she would remove certain restraint scenes from the movie, however, Sia later deleted the tweet.

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Sia's Music movie trailer

Earlier, during the making of Sia's movie Music, she faced major flak on social media as autistic people asked her to cast them instead of a normal lead. Sia tried to defend herself by hiring various people with disabilities and some from the LGBTQ community. However, when people tried to doubt her casting approach, Sia replied to one of the users who is autistic that she did not cast her as she is a bad actor. 

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Published February 20th, 2021 at 18:19 IST