Do Television Shows and Movies Have Deaf Representation?
There are many people who are deaf and hard-of-hearing in our world, including the United States. Yet, spaces like the entertainment industry try to hide them from the general public (specifically the hearing world). The industry simply refuses to cast deaf individuals and give them any sort of representation in the media. And in the off chance that they are portrayed in the media, it is seldom correct and they are often portrayed by actors who aren't even deaf. As a media enthusiast, I’ve seen many shows and movies in my lifetime and just a few of them had deaf characters in them. I wondered why I rarely saw them in the media and world of entertainment. Then I wondered if it was simply the shows I watched that often lacked their portrayal, but after researching and hearing from actual deaf individuals, I realized that my wonderings were correct—the deaf community is ostracized from the hearing world as a whole and the entertainment industry is no exception.
"It’s a pendulum. The pendulum swings one way, and we get a lot of good representation, like with CODA. Then the pendulum swings back to the other side, and we have to wait another three-to-five years before we’re on screen again, especially accurately" - Kurs [a deaf individual], through Variety Magazine
Harmful deaf stereotypes and portrayals such as the token victims reliant on cochlear implants and hearing aids, and that they are all proficient lip-readers so hearing individuals don’t need to accommodate. These are just a few of the things that lead to deaf individuals having a strong disconnect from the media.
Comments