Liam O’Dell: Cultural Appropriation 2.0? Deaf actors on hearing performers learning BSL

Following a semi-viral Twitter thread on hearing people learning sign language, Liam O’Dell speaks to actors Alim Jayda and Emily Howlett about whether hearing performers learning BSL in order to secure more roles is the latest development in the cultural appropriation debate.

“In a time where we are starting to see more diversity on our stages and screens, as slow as it may be going, I have noticed a growing trend of some hearing actors only learning sign language with the sole purpose of up skilling and adding it to their CV,” Hard of Hearing actor Alim Jayda tells me over e-mail. Our conversation follows his Twitter thread from New Year’s Day – which received over 300 retweets – explaining why Deaf people are protective over the use of sign language.

“I’ve come to realise that not many people understand why Deaf people & those who speak Sign Language get so passionate and sometimes defensive about their language,” it reads. “Like many minorities, Deaf people and [sign language] have been oppressed for years.”

https://twitter.com/AlimJayda/status/1345124449813671936?s=20

It followed an earlier tweet from Alim in which he called on individuals to “learn sign language because you genuinely care about the community […] and want a fairer society, NOT because you want more acting roles”. It is imperative, he explains, that studying sign language also comes with understanding, respecting and engaging with the community to which it belongs.

“After my initial tweet in regard to this and a few conversations I had,” Alim continues, “I started to realise a huge gap in knowledge about the history and that not many people really realise that it is and has been historically, an oppressed language.

“I think that’s partly because it is not taught, but also because the language itself has traditionally never been given the respect or space it deserves, so sadly has fallen by the wayside.”

The actor and presenter goes on to explain that one of the ways this can be improved is through better representation of the language on our stages and screens.

Last month, he was one of over 70 Deaf and Hard of Hearing actors to add their name to an open letter joining Deaf Americans in rejecting the casting of a hearing actor in a Deaf role.

Henry Zaga stars as Nick Andros in a TV adaptation of author Stephen King’s The Stand – something which prompted criticism from the Deaf community using the hashtag, #StandAgainstTheStand.

“Sadly, this is also a problem in the United Kingdom and whilst there have been some positive examples, we feel very passionately that it is now time for the landscape to change, for good,” the letter reads.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CI-9M7HAbuj/

 

Alim continues: “If the industry continues casting people with low standards of BSL, or casts people to just ‘teach them a bit in rehearsals’, it only creates poor representation,” he says. “It also diminishes any of the hard work many of our community have done in fighting for recognition.”

Deaf actress Emily Howlett tells me that it’s currently not a level playing field. “Until deaf and disabled actors are being seen regularly for non-deaf/disabled roles, they are limited to the (tiny) amount of deaf/disabled roles out there.

“For those to be taken by hearing actors, who have infinitely more options, is unfair and unprofessional,” she adds. “If the hearing actor is also not fluent in [British Sign Language] and taking a BSL role, it becomes more than disrespectful, and that’s when we start talking about cultural appropriation.”

This, of course, is not unfamiliar. The term ‘cripping up’ has been used more and more to describe non-disabled actors playing disabled roles. The most recent example being singer-songwriter Sia casting a non-disabled actress to play a non-speaking, autistic girl in her directorial debut, Music.

Meanwhile, on social media, teenage, hearing TikTok users perform sign song versions of their favourite tracks in the hope of going viral. Most of the time, however, it is in fact Sign Supported English, and their success overshadows a far more accurate rendition from a Deaf creator. It is one of the more prominent examples of the cultural appropriation of sign language, and one of the most criticised.

I ask Alim if this form of appropriation – hearing actors learning sign language to take deaf roles – is on the rise. “It is a form of cultural appropriation,” he confirms, “but I very quickly realised that it was very difficult to make that statement when many don’t understand the culture that comes with sign language.”

Emily adds that it isn’t a clear-cut issue though. “Directors and casting directors have to have some autonomy over who they choose,” she explains, “and if they feel a hearing actor is the right choice then we need to ask why they are making that choice, whether or not it’s truly informed and if the people involved (including the hearing actors) are aware of the situation.

“Everyone is under a lot of pressure, particularly this year,” she concludes.

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