Bridging the Gap Between the Hearing & Deaf Worlds
I have recently watched ‘CODA’ (which stands for ‘child/children of deaf adult), the latest movie only on Apple TV+, around a CODA who is struggling with the dilemma of helping her deaf family’s struggling fishing business whilst pursuiing her love of singing.
But with the moral obligations of helping her family, plus the pressure that comes with being a CODA, this movie follows the story of this journey and how complex it is for those in the real world too.
This post is a “deaf review” of ‘Sound of Metal’; meaning that I have reviewed the film from a deaf perspective and how deafness was portrayed throughout the film.
I go through the various aspects of the film; what I thought about Riz Ahmed’s performance, how accurate (or inaccurate) were certain scenes, is it relatable…so many things that mainly focuses from my deaf perspective.
After several years hiatus, I have gone back to the cinema to watch the new Star Wars movie, which also happens to be the first time ever I watched a movie with captions.
This post is not a review of the movie nor will there be any spoilers. It’s just a personal story of how it went for me and what could be done to make the cinema experience even more accessible for more people.
Click here to learn more about my first captioned cinema experience here
One thing for sure about The Silent Child; it managed to deliver a strong message at the end of the short 20-minute clip, right before the credits, with several different sobering facts.
The whole essence of the film is to highlight the importance of sign language to allow d/Deaf children to have the same experience and opportunities in life that other children would also have.
Not only managed to do that well in just 20 minutes, but they also bagged themselves an Oscar for it too
In episode 4 of the podcast, it’s a solo show with yours truly and I talk about the furore around an upcoming movie featuring a deaf character by played a hearing actress
The director has claimed that she signed perfectly and “seems to have an almost innate sense of what it’s like being a deaf person”.
Read or listen to the story about this director’s comment here
