Loop is a 9-minute animated short film produced by Pixar Animation Studios. It was directed and written by Erica Wilson, who also wrote for Inside Out. Loop was released on January 10, 2020, featuring a nonverbal autistic character, Renée who was voiced by Madison Bandy, a nonverbal autistic teen. To read more about inside the making and the inspiration, click here. The plot is comprised of a nonverbal teen, Renée, and a verbal teen, Marcus being put in one canoe and learning how to communicate.
Now, I myself am not autistic and don't have much experience around those who are. So I won't critique the movie. Instead, I will say that it did a wonderful job of humanizing minorities. Renée was a young, autistic, girl of color--not often found in the media. And the short did a great job of putting you in both her head and Marcus' head. It showed Renée's sensory overload and why she had a meltdown and it showed Marcus' struggles and him gradually giving her the space and comfort she needed.
It was a nice change of pace compared to the current climate. Here, I'm referring to the lack of awareness about autism and how many people still refuse to learn. For example, Music. Going off of the trailers and teasers I've seen, it featured a dangerous hold to use during an autistic meltdown. Autistic children have quite literally died from it and it is still promoted in various areas globally. Autism is severely misunderstood and children growing up with it are misjudged and even abused. More info on it here. Basic human rights aren't being met for too many autistic people and as a people, we need to change our hearts and make room for every human.
This is exactly what Loop does. It's an aesthetically pleasing way of opening up people's minds to something new. Only 1% of the world is autistic, so it's possible that ignorance is coming from a lack of experience. Positive media representation like this needs to be boosted so that autistic people can be accommodated and welcomed into all spaces.
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