Introduction Media, including books, films, news, and music, contains messages. In some cases, the messaging of a media piece is apparent; in others, it might require prolonged discussion and consideration. Meanings can be placed both intentionally and unintentionally, being an inherent part of the author’s understanding of the world. Popular media, and pop culture, as its extension, similarly translates certain meanings to its audience. Widely-known films, books, and songs work as primary mediums for forming a common understanding of the world, its principles, and its people. However, the conception of the world provided by media is not always accurate to its real state or representative of more complicated aspects of the human condition. There is a palpable difficulty in making pop culture media that is both socially or intellectually apt and accessible to a large audience. For this reason, it is vital to examine and critically discuss the messaging inherent to popular culture. In some cases, pop culture can perpetuate wrongful assumptions of its creators or contribute to existing societal stereotypes. In the present discussion, a specific piece of media will be examined as an example of harmful pop culture. In particular, I would like to examine a recently produced film called Music . Released in January 2021, the film severely underperformed and saw generally negative reviews. There are a number of reasons behind this development, most of which will be discussed. Furthermore, the work will touch on the effects of harmful stereotypes in media and attempt to re-design and improve Music . Overview of Music and its Perpetuated Biases Music is a drama/musical, produced by a popular singer and songwriter, Sia. It features a core cast of two sisters – Zu and Music, trying to reconnect and learn to live as a family. The latter of the two is a young girl on an autism spectrum, with the former being her legal guardian. Both women face their own unique problems, having to come together in order to lead more happy and fulfilling lives. The movie often changes the perspective from a mundane portrayal of life to musical scenes. The colorful, loud, and active portions of the film are meant to simulate Music’s perception of the world. As mentioned, the film was not received well upon its release, with low revenues and scores. The COVID-19 pandemic can partially explain the lack of attendance. However, the severe audience backlash stems from a completely different issue. The portrayal of autism and autistic people in the movie is incorrect and harmful to real individuals with autism. As described by many detractors, stimming and movements portrayed by Music’s neurotypical actress were severely exaggerated (Kellogg, 2021). Both the behaviors and physical actions of Music play into common stereotypes about autistic people and do not represent their real experiences. The restraining methods utilized in some films are recognized by the community and medical organizations as unnecessary and harmful (Kellogg, 2021). Furthermore, there were also many technical problems with the film that invoked criticism from the neurodivergent community. The musical scenes used many flashing lights, strobe effects, and loud noises, all of which can be difficult to process by autistic individuals. The person starting a petition about the film noted that the experience of watching it overwhelmed them (Albert, 202