To mark World Down Syndrome Day, Olivia Wilde stars in a new video created by Saatchi & Saatchi and CoorDown to raise awareness.
In the video we hear the voice of AnnaRose, a 19-year-old from New Jersey, as Olivia Wilde looks into the mirror: "This is how I see myself. I see myself as a daughter, a sister and a best friend. As a person you can rely on. I see myself meeting someone that I can share my life with... I see myself as an ordinary person with an important, meaningful, beautiful life. This is how I see myself. How do you see me?"
It's pretty powerful stuff...
My brother has Down's. How do I see him? Well, I literally see him - getting the tram to meet me at our local football ground, meeting with his friends in the pub, arranging dates with potential girlfriends, serving customers in the cafe where he works, working out in the gym, performing in drama productions, playing with his nephews - the list goes on.
Would it not have made more sense for the video to feature the actual person who people expect not to be able to do certain things, doing those exact things? Would it not make more sense for the video to include more than six seconds of footage of someone with Down's?
I am lucky enough to see inspiring people with disabilities all of the time; my brother, his housemates, college friends, dance classmates. Surely the point of an awareness day is to show those who don't have the same opportunities as me, exactly why their pre-conceptions of certain disabilities might be wrong.
That being different isn't a bad thing.
I know this video is trying to send the message that we shouldn't look at people with Down Syndrome any differently than we look at those who don't - but then why use Olivia Wilde?
Surely this just perpetuates the problem?
Surely seeing AnnaRose live her life exactly how she lives it - as a full time college student, working part-time at a physical therapy center and playing basketball and training in swimming - surely seeing that will prove more than watching Olivia Wilde acting.
There's no denying that the video isn't powerful, but perhaps the message isn't conveyed in the right way.
Emily Ladau writes for The Daily Beast: "Disabled people are almost always erased from the media, and almost never given the chance to fully represent ourselves. The 'How Do You See Me?' ad perpetuates this exact barrier by erasing the woman with Down syndrome from her own story.
"Instead, it becomes Olivia Wilde's story—a 'perfect' ideal that leaves disability unseen and eliminates images of true inclusion, which is what the world truly needs to see."
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Jess Edwards is the Editor of Cosmopolitan.com/UK, overseeing all things digital.
