Liam O’Dell: ‘Boy Kills World’ is the latest hearing-led Deaf film making the same mistakes (BSL)

Hollywood’s ongoing obsession with Deaf culture continues into 2023 with the current filming of Boy Kills World, which hopes to set itself apart from the likes of CODA and Sound of Metal with a more action-packed plot. Yet with hearing actor Bill Skarsgård playing a Deaf role, the film simply reinvents the wheel when it comes to Deaf representation.

With the film still in development, there’s few details available about the movie, but what’s out there isn’t reassuring. It’s reportedly set in a dystopian reality where a “deaf mute” boy escapes into the jungle following the murder of his parents. There, he meets a mysterious shaman who teaches him to become an “instrument of death”.

Why, again, must Deaf stories always be tied to tragedy? In CODA it was a hearing child deprived of her musical dreams, in Sound of Metal it was a drummer dealt with the trauma of losing his hearing, and now, for no reason other than – I assume – ‘trauma porn’, we’ve got dead parents to contend with. If the film fails to make viewers pity a character who can’t hear, then a Deaf boy forced to navigate the hearing world without the support of his parents should do the trick.

Bill Skarsgård, who many will know for his performance as murderous clown Pennywise in the most recent adaptation of Stephen King’s IT, stars as the boy. It’s not been officially confirmed, but I can only assume the film will see the hearing actor use sign language or non-verbal communication to interact with other characters.

There is a potentially offensive upcoming film called "Boy Kills World" that is about a "…a deaf mute with a vibrant imagination…" The actor of the deaf character is Bill Skarsgård, who isn't deaf. Produced by Sam Raimi and Roy Lee.

— The Daily Moth (@thedailymoth) January 13, 2023

At least with Riz Ahmed in Sound of Metal, it could be argued that the actor learning sign language for the role is somewhat replicated in his character – Reuben – going through a similar journey. In this case, I’m inclined to think a hearing actor was either cast to get around the logistics of having interpreters and other access arrangements on set, or they felt as though they needed a “bigger hearing name” to get bums on seats…

That’s speculation, of course, and I suspect we’ll have to do a lot of that with this film in the coming months. The mainstream media consistently fails to ask the question of why hearing actors are cast in Deaf roles with movies like this, despite it being legitimate, journalistic scrutiny. Whatever reasoning – if any – the production team offers as to why a hearing actor was cast would be insufficient when there are countless Deaf actors out there who could nail the role.

Heck, look no further than Troy Kotsur of CODA. I won’t talk about the film itself being problematic and hearing-centred here, but instead refer to his acceptance speech at the BAFTAs last year, when he became the first Deaf male actor to win one in its history. He spoke about potentially being the first Deaf James Bond, and while I don’t mean to humble such a fine actor, why couldn’t he take on the role of an assassin in Boy Kills World, albeit with some small changes to the script, of course.

This isn’t the only painful issue which emerges as a result of Skarsgård’s casting. There’s every chance that, in a tale of a shaman turning a Deaf orphan into a killing machine, they deploy some harmful empowerment narrative, with the shaman painted as some kind of hearing ‘saviour’. I’d be more open to such a story about Deaf empowerment if a Deaf actor was cast in the role, but that isn’t the case here. It’s partly why I felt as though Sound of Metal’s message about a newly deafened person accepting their Deaf identity lands a little flat, too.

Whenever a hearing actor takes a Deaf role away from Deaf people, there is the indirect implication that we lack the independence and ability to apply for these opportunities ourselves. This is untrue, of course, as rarely are Deaf and disabled people even invited to audition.

Ironically, a film which will no doubt seek to use a hearing actor to tell a story of Deaf empowerment will have real life consequences which could well do the opposite, and discourage Deaf actors from telling the stories they are far more qualified than Skarsgård to tell.

Photo: Ollie Cole.

By Liam O’Dell. Liam is an award-winning Deaf freelance journalist and campaigner from Bedfordshire. He can be found talking about disability, theatre, politics and more on Twitter and on his website.