Read: Rebecca Atkinson’s Guardian article about the French film that is a ‘cinematic insult’ to the Deaf community

Posted on January 7, 2015 by



Just in case you missed this Guardian article by Deaf journalist Rebecca Atkinson, which was published shortly before Christmas, we suggest you read it without delay.

The article is about the reaction to the French film La Famille Belier, the story of a deaf family with a hearing daughter with a talent for singing.

The article labels the film a ‘cinematic insult’ to the Deaf community, because of how deafness is used as a plot device, and also because of how the deaf characters are played by hearing actors.

Here’s an extract below. Read the full article here: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/dec/19/la-familie-belier-insult-deaf-community

Hearing people’s fascination with the relationship between music and deafness just does not resonate with most deaf people. Perhaps if you’ve lost your hearing, yes, but if you were born deaf like me, it’s not something that you lose sleep over.

It’s just an overplayed stereotype that deaf people have to tolerate their whole lives. Show me a deaf person who hasn’t been asked if they are bothered that they can’t hear birdsong and I’ll show you a pig with wings. Birdsong or music might be paramount to the lives of some, but it’s myopic to think that the whole world holds the same cares as you.


Enjoying our eggs? Support The Limping Chicken:



The Limping Chicken is the world's most popular Deaf blog, and is edited by Deaf  journalist,  screenwriter and director Charlie Swinbourne.

Our posts represent the opinions of blog authors, they do not represent the site's views or those of the site's editor. Posting a blog does not imply agreement with a blog's content. Read our disclaimer here and read our privacy policy here.

Find out how to write for us by clicking here, and how to follow us by clicking here.

The site exists thanks to our supporters. Check them out below:

Posted in: read