Why Has Kate Hudson’s Effervescent Film Made The World Angry?

Music

Starring  Kate Hudson,Maddie Ziegler,Leslie Odom Jr,Héctor Elizondo,Mary Kay Place as Millie

Directed  by  Sia

Rating: ***

Why has  Australian singing-star Sia’s directorial debut angered   the first-world movie buffs? There  is an online petition being signed to withdraw  the two Golden Globe nominations it has fetched  itself for music and  leading  performance  by Kate  Hudson. Both richly deserved, if you ask me.

So what seems to be the  problem? The autistic character,  one of the three protagonists in this  heartwarming  if somewhat undercooked recipe for instant salvation, is  felt by many be insensitively portrayed. Significantly  Kate Hudson’s   autistic  younger sister  is  played by Maddie Ziegler  who is neuro-challenged  in  real life.

 Trust me, if Rain Man were  to be  made today Dustin Hoffman  won’t get to play Raymond.

Having gotten  the casting right , what did Music get so wrong?  To me  from where  I  see  it, this film is  not  half as awful and offensive  as  it is  being made out to  be. Agreed  it is  not as tender  as  the tale of two half-sisters  one a  drug dealer the other  autistic  getting to know one another  belatedly, ought to be.The treatment   of  the  theme  is  more psychedelic  and sentimental  and   the beast  that  this film  eventually turns  out to be is very different from  the  normal traditional  sibling-reunion  films.

Music is  essentially  a celebration of misfits, non-conformists who  can’t fit in even if they want to.Besides  the two sisters, there is Ebo  a boxer (played with feeling by Leslie  Odom Junior) who has AIDS  and a Korean boy Felix(Beti Calvillo) whose father is hellbent on making his son a “man” no matter it takes.They  all somehow  watch  over  the autistic (and artistic) Music and participate  in the  music videos that she creates in her head.

These characters  don’t really come together as much as they   suffer together, trying to find a  common ground to feel safe wanted and  protected.Music  celebrates  vulnerabilities  with lots of colour and music. Though  it’s a  film about social misfits  it is  not a downbeat  depressing  film. Somehow  Kate  Hudson and her director Sia  prod  the sunshine  awake even when gloom is  the  prevalent perfume.