Rebecca A Withey: Review of The Circle (USA) with deaf contestant Raven Sutton (BSL)

The Circle is a game based around social media, with the concept that “anyone can be anyone in The Circle.” Contestants play the game anonymously behind screens where they “flirt, befriend and catfish their way toward $100,000.” The winner is the player with the highest popularity ranking.

A friend of mine – who is obsessed with the series – told me that I should watch it, if only just to see the very first deaf contestant on the show.

Raven Sutton went on the show with the intention of showing viewers that deaf people are more than just their deafness. Whilst most contestants play the game alone, Raven was accompanied by her interpreter Paris McTizic, who is also a close friend of hers.

Paris made an immediate impression on The Circle becoming the highest ranking player and therefore getting promoted to “influencer status” twice in a row.

After watching a glimpse of the show with Raven and Paris, I’m not ashamed to say I was hooked. The rapport between Raven and Paris was fantastic, with Paris providing consistent voiceover throughout as Raven signed in American Sign Language.

The rest of the players were aware of Raven’s deafness through her own explanations and they showed nothing but love and acceptance towards her, chatting about all sorts of topics!

Those in The Circle loved Raven’s personality and the fun she brought to the show, not to mention the dramatic love triangle she ended up in with Marvin and catfish Tasia.

It was wonderful to see Raven participating easily and fully in the game and for the players to enjoy her personality without obsessing about her deafness.

The friendship between Raven and Paris was also clear, with Paris briefly stepping out of ‘professional interpreter’ mode to comfort Raven when things got hard in the show.

It was a lovely partnership to watch and the fun and laughter we see them have together truly showed the vibrant side of deaf culture that hearing people don’t always get to see.

There was one particularly comical moment for me where the players are told that an influencer would be paying one of them a visit to block them out of the show. Not knowing who that person will be, we see Raven and Paris panicking hysterically in the bedroom, hiding on the floor in the hope that nobody would be knocking at their door.

The bond between them was evidence of the friendships that often form between deaf people and sign language allies, regardless of whether they may be hearing or deaf.

The presenter of the show, Michelle Buteau, was also intrigued by this and during the finale of the show – where all finalists come together for an interview – she asked Paris what the experience was like for him.

Paris explained that although he remained within his professional interpreting role, he was also Raven’s close friend and therefore felt very involved in what was happening on the show.

Buteau went on to question Paris on his views regarding certain aspects of the show and it was great to see him sharing his opinion, as interpreters are so often kept to the sidelines.

I’ve always felt that by seeing examples of accessibility on mainstream television, this goes a long way to normalise access and it also educates people on what they can do to be more inclusive.

The Circle (USA) did a fantastic job by bringing in Raven for their fifth series. I am pleased they not only hired Paris as Raven’s personal interpreter but they also brought in additional interpreters for the final group discussion which takes place in person.

The ease in which the contestants adapted to having three interpreters in the room, providing ASL interpretation for all of them, is something mainstream society should strive for.

Instead of always hiding our interpreters away in a corner, we should be encouraged to educate others on the working relationship deaf people have with them and – like Raven – allow hearing audiences to see that deaf people sure know how to have fun!

You can see Series 5 of the The Circle (USA) on Netflix now. 

Rebecca A Withey is a writer and creative artist based in the Midlands. She fronts the all deaf sign performance group Unify and is the Assistant Editor for The Limping Chicken. Rebecca is a Deaf, bilingual BSL user passionate about music and telling stories. Find out more at www.rawithey.com