Post by MacReadyOrNot on Sept 17, 2020 17:31:13 GMT
Cuarón directed I Am Autism as a commission piece for the nonprofit advocacy organization Autism Speaks. The short has generated plenty of controversy since then, and for good reason. It’s one of the most vicious, hateful pieces of ableist propaganda ever committed to film.
Part One
The first half of the film consists of home video footage of autistic children in various settings. Menacing ambient sounds drone in the background as a deep, sinister voiceover—representing—autism, threatens the families of children on the spectrum.
“I work faster than pediatric AIDS, cancer, and diabetes combined,” the voice intones. “And if you’re happily married, I will make sure that your marriage fails. Your money will fall into my hands, and I will bankrupt you for my own self-gain.
“I don’t sleep, so I make sure you don’t either,” it continues. “I will make it virtually impossible for your family to easily attend a temple, birthday party, or public park without a struggle, without embarrassment, without pain.”
This film is pure hate speech. Juxtaposing images of autists with a stereotypical “scary” soundtrack and voiceover paints them as malevolent beings. The ad likens autism to an AIDS-level epidemic without a cure. This implies that there’s something inherently wrong with autistic people—that they’re broken things that must be fixed. Propagandists in Nazi Germany literally used the same rhetorical tactic to convince the public of the need for a “Final Solution.”
Part Two
As if all that wasn’t dehumanizing enough, the second half brings in the families of the various autists. We hear their voices respond to autism’s threats by promising to fight against it, to “spend every waking hour trying to weaken” it.
“I am a parent riding toward you, and you can push me off this horse time and time again,” one father swears, “but I will get up, climb back on, and ride on with the message.”
“We are coming together in all climates,” the chorus jabbers on. “We search with technology and voodoo and prayer and herbs and genetic studies and a growing awareness you never anticipated.”
Sweet, right? All those families coming together to fight off mean old autism? But look more closely and you’ll notice a sinister trend in the film’s language. When autism makes threats, they’re aimed at the families. The families clap back, boasting that autism is no match for them. Either way, the short always focuses on how autism impacts the families of autists and not the autists themselves.
Dwarfed by their families, the children fade into the background, becoming footnotes in their own stories. Cuarón and Autism Speaks don’t care about children with ASD—they care about making life more convenient for their parents. That the ad dehumanizes these marginalized children in service of its “positive” and “hopeful” marks the apex of its cruelty.
I do not deny that many autistic children struggle with serious issues, including public meltdowns, heightened sensitivities to sound, and nonverbal/antisocial behavior. And I also do not deny that these issues can cause their families grief and hardship. But to frame autism as a social menace with this sort of deliberate scaremongering doesn’t help anything. It’s cruel and unnecessary, and it only proliferates society’s negative attitudes towards the differently-abled.
Part One
The first half of the film consists of home video footage of autistic children in various settings. Menacing ambient sounds drone in the background as a deep, sinister voiceover—representing—autism, threatens the families of children on the spectrum.
“I work faster than pediatric AIDS, cancer, and diabetes combined,” the voice intones. “And if you’re happily married, I will make sure that your marriage fails. Your money will fall into my hands, and I will bankrupt you for my own self-gain.
“I don’t sleep, so I make sure you don’t either,” it continues. “I will make it virtually impossible for your family to easily attend a temple, birthday party, or public park without a struggle, without embarrassment, without pain.”
This film is pure hate speech. Juxtaposing images of autists with a stereotypical “scary” soundtrack and voiceover paints them as malevolent beings. The ad likens autism to an AIDS-level epidemic without a cure. This implies that there’s something inherently wrong with autistic people—that they’re broken things that must be fixed. Propagandists in Nazi Germany literally used the same rhetorical tactic to convince the public of the need for a “Final Solution.”
Part Two
As if all that wasn’t dehumanizing enough, the second half brings in the families of the various autists. We hear their voices respond to autism’s threats by promising to fight against it, to “spend every waking hour trying to weaken” it.
“I am a parent riding toward you, and you can push me off this horse time and time again,” one father swears, “but I will get up, climb back on, and ride on with the message.”
“We are coming together in all climates,” the chorus jabbers on. “We search with technology and voodoo and prayer and herbs and genetic studies and a growing awareness you never anticipated.”
Sweet, right? All those families coming together to fight off mean old autism? But look more closely and you’ll notice a sinister trend in the film’s language. When autism makes threats, they’re aimed at the families. The families clap back, boasting that autism is no match for them. Either way, the short always focuses on how autism impacts the families of autists and not the autists themselves.
Dwarfed by their families, the children fade into the background, becoming footnotes in their own stories. Cuarón and Autism Speaks don’t care about children with ASD—they care about making life more convenient for their parents. That the ad dehumanizes these marginalized children in service of its “positive” and “hopeful” marks the apex of its cruelty.
I do not deny that many autistic children struggle with serious issues, including public meltdowns, heightened sensitivities to sound, and nonverbal/antisocial behavior. And I also do not deny that these issues can cause their families grief and hardship. But to frame autism as a social menace with this sort of deliberate scaremongering doesn’t help anything. It’s cruel and unnecessary, and it only proliferates society’s negative attitudes towards the differently-abled.
Source: qrewcial.com/alfonso-cuaron-and-ableism-a-love-story/