I just reviewed one of my favorite movies... Children of a
Lesser God.
Maybe I don't remember it all that well but now with an
altered perspective this movie feels different to me. Now, I see beyond the love story and into the
hearing man (and world) trying their best to impose their world view on the
Deaf protagonist. She is just fine as she is. Yet repeated attempts (in bed even!) to make
hear use oral language are thrown at her.
It seems to be "not OK" that she chooses to remain in the Deaf
world. This might have been something I
saw the first time, but today it stands out in spades. Luckily, she proves them all wrong in the
end.
Growing up hearing and then losing most of my hearing at age
22, due to a genetic defect, I can understand wanting to remain in a familiar world. Over the years I had several CI like surgeries (middle ear implant) to try and
compensate for my missing hearing (to no avail). What I can't understand is to try and drag
(kicking and screaming) someone into another world. The Deaf world seems just fine, I would like
to someday belong as a hh person. The
Hearing world is fine too... if you fit. It seems to
me it depends where you fit. Crossing
into another world will be hard and it has to be by choice. No one should try and inflict it on another (however it's done).
Seeing this movie now in 2012 brings a whole new
perspective. Is it still a favorite? Yes. Did I get more out of it now? Yes, for sure.
No comments:
Post a Comment