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.
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David Jackson
January 7, 2015
Just one small point, Rebecca. I am profoundly deaf since birth but what I am going to say has no bearing on deafness in that movie you mention about. It is about The Theory of Everything which I saw last night. The story itself is mostly true but many parts have been distorted to make it more cinematically aesthetic. Stephen Hawking’s family were not pleased with some of the parts that, I believe, they walked out. The other thing is an able-bodied actor played Stephen Hawking. Without wishing to be labelled as whatever you may care to think, it would have been impossible for someone like Stephen Hawking to play him.
For your information, I run a Facebook group “Subtitled Movies for Deaf People” – perhaps you may like to join the group.
cadiche
January 7, 2015
Very big difference between comparing a once-in-a-lifetime individual like genius Stephen Hawking who has a motor neurone disease to a whole community of Deaf who has a lot of talented actors who could have played the role in a Deaf film.
That aside… I would like to peek at your group. Living in Finland, it sucks to try and follow films in silence with subtitles in a different language to my own :-/
Lana
January 7, 2015
My friend Bruno Moncelle from Paris, himself a very well known Deaf Comedian/Actor, said that he enjoyed and laughed so much at the film. He felt one particular part of the film was a good and honest reflection of Deaf misunderstanding on a situation.
Play By Eye
January 7, 2015
I’ve seen the film myself and I actually enjoyed it. Yes, there are some elements that have been exaggerated and not all deaf people are like that etc etc but I think because I understood the LSF (french sign language) in the movie and I know what French culture is like, I really enjoyed it. The LSF wasnt perfect, but it was laugh out loud funny. I challenge you to watch it without thinking about the deaf angle 🙂
cadiche
January 7, 2015
I was born hearing and went Deaf. I can still imagine sounds in my mind when I see something (a bird, a dog), but when I dream, it is in ASL. But this film is a giant step backward in logic. Using hearing actors in Deaf roles is no different to using white actors to play the role of a black or Chinese role. What the bloody hell are these movie makers thinking !?!? On that note, I won’t be seeing the film.
SJ
January 7, 2015
Sorry but I have to say this – I wish people would not act on our behalf when they haven’t even seen this film and is passing judgement before doing so. Calling on others to boycott too due to peer pressure is rather unfair. http://viewsfromthetreehouse.com/2014/12/27/la-famille-belier-the-belier-family/