Liam O’Dell: Drive-in cinemas leave subtitles out of their plans for screenings as lockdown eases

The issue of a lack of subtitled cinema has been a topic long discussed on The Limping Chicken, even before the current coronavirus pandemic presented itself.

Now, the way in which we consume entertainment has been adapted to meet social distancing rules, most notably through the rise of the ‘drive-in’ experience for films and theatrical performances.

On Monday it was revealed that the acclaimed West End musical SIX would be hitting the road in August, with fans turning up in their cars to view the show in outdoor spaces while adhering to social distancing guidelines.

But anyone hoping that some of these screenings might be subtitled – so that deaf viewers can follow the dialogue – might be disappointed (though not surprised). The Limping Chicken has been told that three companies – The Luna Drive-In Cinema, Celestial and Drive and Dine – are not planning to offer subtitles at their screenings.

One parent of a deaf son writes in to The Limping Chicken: “With so many people having been isolated due to the restrictions, this is yet another example of how deaf people are being ignored.

“I believe that for these outdoor cinema experiences that very few people would be put off by the inclusion of subtitles. They seem to sell out fairly quickly so I think subtitles would have minimal impact on that.”

Of course, drive-in cinemas are different to your local ODEON or Cineworld – as Algirdas Ramaška, CEO of the Vilnius International Film Festival in Lithuania, explained in an interview with the Independent Cinema Office in May.

“If the film is subtitled or captioned it is particularly important that you have good sightlines to the bottom of the screen,” he says. “You should adapt subtitles to the size of your screen and these should be bigger than they would normally be in a cinema. For black and white films, the subtitles should be yellow.”

The blog goes on to detail several other logistical issues for drive-in cinemas to consider, to ensure that everyone can access the screening. After all, in the time of coronavirus, there’s no denying that there’s an even bigger focus on planning and procedure.

What’s inexcusable, however, is when accessibility isn’t even acknowledged as part of this process. It, once again, remains an afterthought.

It’s particularly baffling because it’s not like hearing and non-disabled people weren’t made aware of the needs of deaf and disabled people already – whether that be pre-pandemic, or during the lockdown period, when people had to adapt to a more digital approach to communication.

Requests for reasonable adjustments which were previously refused – such as video meetings on Zoom – were quickly accepted by the hearing and non-disabled majority, and I like to think more people were made aware of the benefits of captions, too.

In an ideal scenario, as conversations continue over what the ‘new normal’ will be in the long-term, we’ll see greater deaf awareness when new services are introduced. Companies will learn from the accessibility barriers of lockdown and work to tackle them from the outset.

Unfortunately, as restrictions are being eased – rightly or wrongly – we’re seeing providers like drive-in cinemas fail to adopt the lessons of the past.

If that’s the ‘new normal’ for deaf and disabled people, then there’s nothing ‘new’ about it at all.

By Liam O’Dell. Liam is a mildly deaf freelance journalist and blogger from Bedfordshire. He wears bilateral hearing aids and can be found talking about disability, theatre, politics and more on Twitter and on his website.