In late March of 2019, there were a spate of articles claiming that Emily Blunt was either “in talks to” or was definitely playing deaf and blind writer Rebecca Alexander in a movie adaptation of her memoir, “Not Fade Away.” Rebecca Alexander, left, and Emily Blunt, right. The first-wave, more-credible sources used “in talks” to…
Cute Kids and Inclusion
A new ad from Hormel featuring sign language and a deaf character has problems but gets a lot right. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0AkxEex6Rw We love the representation, we love the cute kids, and we love that even in this short of a time the ad gets across both that learning ASL takes time and practice, and that learning enough ASL…
On Being an Ally
On Wednesday, April 24th, Mark Medoff died. In 1979, he wrote “Children of a Lesser God,” the seminal play that features a strong deaf female lead character, Sarah, who he insisted be played by a deaf actress. The play went to Broadway and won a slew of awards including a Tony Award for Best Play,…
“The Silence” Movie Review
We did it! We watched The Silence at 3 AM, so you wouldn’t have to. And between the gimmicky use of deafness, the truly strange pacing, and gaping plot holes, it’s a mess. “A Quiet Place” Redux? While the most basic plot points are exactly the same, this movie is very different from A Quiet…
“Who Gets To Speak, and When”
“Cripping up” is in the news again; one new TV show definitely features a sighted actor playing a blind character, and it looks like Emily Blunt may be playing a deaf-blind character. And of course there’s The Silence, soon to be available on Netflix, with a deaf main character played by Kiernan Shipka. A recent…
Chasing “The Silence”
What’s already happened? In May 2017, an announcement was made at Cannes that The Silence was being produced, with horror director John R. Leonetti (Annabelle) leading the creative team with Kiernan Shipka as the first cast member to sign on[1]. Here’s the synopsis: The Silence tells the terrifying tale of Ally, a deaf teenager, and…
TROPES Twitter Chat Summary
A couple of weeks ago we hosted our first Twitter chat! It was about tropes, which Merriam-Webster defines as, “a common or overused theme or device : CLICHÉ.” We focused on those themes or devices related to Deaf people that we see in the media again and again. One trope kept coming up: The Magical Lipreader….
Building Our Stage
Interview with Alex Abenchuchan from the Daily Moth. Thanks so much, Alex!
Ten Tips Media Toolkit
We’ve put something together for media creators, across a wide swath of media. This brief guide covers some of the biggest issues that we see in the media on a regular basis. Not everything here will apply to everything, but there’s much that will apply to journalists and filmmakers and fiction writers and YouTubers. And…
“Deaf Mute” Spotted In The Wild
“Hearing Impaired” is problematic. “Deaf mute,” though… that’s next-level. And both terms are featured in this well-meaning but mistake-laden article from the Seymour Tribune, a newspaper from Seymour, Indiana. So what’s wrong with “deaf mute”? Partly it’s just the history – it’s one of those words/ terms that has gathered a lot of negative connotation…