Introduction
In Love is Never Silent play, set during the Great Depression, entails a young lady who battles her longing for freedom and her responsibility to take care of her deaf parents. A friend tells her that she must seek happiness on her while in turmoil (“Love Is Never Silent”). However, the remorse she feels for abandoning her parents and the resentment they feel towards her begin to limit the early joy she feels in marriage. I watched Love Is Never Silent film for my introduction to deaf culture class recently, and it made me feel like dying from crying. It was so good, except that Margaret and William appeared to be ten years older than they were (“Love Is Never Silent”). However, Margaret’s decision to converse while signing with her parents surprised me. It stunned me as much that one could not see their signing but could constantly hear her voice.
There was a Deaf Gain moment in this film when the main character, Margaret, realized that she could still communicate with her deaf parents even though they could not hear her. She used sign language to communicate with them, and they understood her (“Love Is Never Silent”). The scene that hit home for me is when the mother tries to converse with her daughter, and she gets frustrated because she cannot understand herself. This scene reverberated because I experienced similar frustrations when communicating with the deaf.
Watching the entire film provided a fresh perspective on Deaf culture that I had not examined in class. Many aspects of the Deaf culture that I have learned about have to do with what it was like to be a Deaf student or the origins of Deaf education. As a result, without actually being deaf, this film helped me understand what it was like to experience the effects of Deafness.
Film: Sweet Nothing in My Ear (2008)
In Sweet Nothing in My Ear film, Dan Miller, a hearing, loving family man, is overjoyed when a groundbreaking medical team’s cochlear implant experiment allows his deaf son to hear. Laura, Dan’s deaf wife, heads a ‘deaf pride’ movement that is not happy with handicapped facilities and actively promotes a ‘deaf culture (“Sweet Nothing in My Ear”). Therefore, Dan and Laura Miller must reconcile their opposing points of view to solve the issue, “What is the best decision for our son?”
I am not generally a fan of Hallmark movies, but I opted to watch this one regardless and fell in love right away. This film was masterfully written to cover all points of view, and it addressed sensitive issues flawlessly (“Sweet Nothing in My Ear”). The film depicts the challenge of a deaf mum and a hearing father deciding if a cochlear implant is right for their child, and while the mother is against it, the father is in favor.
Concerned that this film would upset some viewers with personal experiences similar to those depicted, I was surprised to see how they incorporated these issues into the plot. While it may make some people uncomfortable, it truly puts everything on the table and forces the audience to consider all points of view. Sweet Nothing in My Ear was a Deaf Gain moment for the film’s audience. The film’s audience learned about the beauty and wisdom of American Sign Language (ASL) and Deaf culture. To me, it hit the target exactly, as, having had an implant and still speaking ASL as my initial and primary language, I felt at ease pulling for both parties. Furthermore, the movie impacted me in several ways. First, it showed me the importance of communication in relationships. Second, it showed me the essence of patience and understanding when conversing with someone with a hearing impairment.
Film: Deaf out Loud (YouTube)
The Deaf out Loud documentary special, which is executive produced by Academy Award®, follows three primarily deaf families as they bring up their children in a hearing society. These families strive to carve out their futures and fight the daily societal stigmas many deaf people experience in light of the various viewpoints about how deaf kids should be reared (Specialchronicles). Deaf Out Loud’s premiere episode was fascinating and enlightening to watch. Each of the highlighted families had situations that put the challenges faced by the deaf population in perspective.
In particular, the Posner family was fascinating, and one thing that surprised me most was that the parents of that family had a hard time integrating into the deaf world. Therefore, they were shut out because they sent their children to hearing institutions and were letting their son consider cochlear implants (Specialchronicles). Moreover, there are several Deaf Gain moments in the movie Deaf out Loud. One moment is when some of the characters begin to learn American Sign Language (ASL) and starts to communicate with other Deaf people. That is a gain because they can connect with other Deaf people and learn about their culture.
Several moments hit home for me in this film. The first was when they were discussing how they had to learn to lip-read and speak simultaneously. That is something that I have struggled with my entire life. I also found it interesting when they were discussing how they had to learn to sign and use their voice simultaneously. Additionally, I found this movie very inspiring as it showed me that deaf people can do anything they set their minds to and that they should never let anyone tell them what they can and cannot do.
Work Cited
“Love Is Never Silent.” IMDb, IMDb. 1985. Web.
“Sweet Nothing in My Ear.” IMDb. 2008. Web.
Specialchronicles. “Deaf out Loud.” YouTube. 2018. Web.