Bridging the Gap Between the Hearing & Deaf Worlds
It’s not often that I watch an advert for a movie and TV series that grabs my attention and makes me want to watch it…especially when that main reason is how they have done their captioning in their advert.
But that’s what the French-based Netflix series, Lupin, did. And I was hooked. Whilst watching it, I was also particularly impressed with a specific way they have done their translated subtitles in English in a specific scene.
Learn why I was impressed with ‘Lupin’ and their subtitles here
If you have access to Netflix, there is a new and somewhat groundbreaking new series called ‘Deaf U’ where the cast are entirely led by alums of Gallaudet University, the world’s first and only university specifically catered for deaf and hard of hearing students, based in Washington D.C.
This is an opportunity to show the world how diverse, expressive, beautiful but also complex, deep and perhaps intensive deaf community can be.
But has the series managed to portray that in a positive way that can make a positive and lasting impact, or did it focus too much on being a typical reality TV show, albeit more deaf-focused?
I have just finished watching an episode Casualty, a popular hospital soap drama based in the UK, where it is entirely focused on a deaf character. It also has a deep deaf representation behind-the-scenes to ensure accuracy to portrayed.
The character this episode is based is a deaf nurse called Jade, who is keen to confront her past by meeting her mother for first time.
The TV and film industries rarely display deaf characters.
Which is why it’s quite exciting to see that a popular soap programme in the UK, Eastenders, on the BBC has dedicated an entire episode from the perspective of a character who has lost his hearing.
And with the help of the right people in the background, they have managed to pull-off a very good episode that perfectly demonstrates the challenges and barriers that most, if not all, d/Deaf and hard of hearing people face.
Learn about my reactions to this unique Eastenders episode here
