This documentary is about three generations of a Family with hearing loss through marriage. It talks about all the choices with hearing loss. Together they confront a technological device that can help the deaf to hear but threaten the deaf culture. Sound and Fury speaks volume about the choices we make and the battle we fight in order to be heard. I really like this documentary it was a Academy Award nominated. I suggest it to anyone that wants to get it and watch it for themselves. I got it from my library. Let me know your feedback on it. I watched it last night for the first time and I was crying at times. I know there is a second one anyone know the title of it? Let me know if you know what it is called?
6 comments:
I don't know if there is a film update, but there is an article about the families in that documentary here:
http://www.handsandvoices.org/articles/misc/V8-4_soundfury.htm
IIRC, the follow up is "Sound & Fury - Six Years Later". It is available on DVD. If you get it, be sure to watch the extra interviews. The grandfather's comments are *real* red flags for an abuser! Made me wonder about the two son's life as children.
David
I liked the movie, but I thought it showed the two most extreme viewpoints. I felt like no one was in the middle ground. I hated that they kept throwing around the word "abuse" and "not accepting". And the hearing grandmother just drove me crazy. She was pushing so hard, and just attacking all the time. I felt like she really believed that a child can not succeed with out a CI. I don't believe that. I believe that a CI gives a child more opportunities, but it is not necessary.
My mother was on the other side. She thought the grandmother had really good points. She thought that the parents were not thinking about their children's future. She thought that they were not implanting out of fear, and that they moved to Maryland to get away from the whole issue. I thought that the school was wonderful, it reminded me of Miss Kat's school. My mother and I have always argued about the idea of "birth defect" versus "culture". I explained that I hate the idea of people believing that a CI is a cure, and so many people in the movie viewed it that way, especially the hearing parents.
I also didn't like that the parents said that their child is now hearing, that simply wasn't true. I argued with my mother about that. She said that not everyone views it the same way as we do. She said that they found out their child had a handicap and corrected it. She compared it to a club foot. She said they found it, had surgery to correct it, and then gave their child therapy to help them learn to walk appropriately. But, I pointed out that the child doesn't continue to have to wear the device, and that when they take it off they don't still have the "issue". I compared it to an amputee. You can give your child prosthetics, but then you don't tell them "You are able-bodied now, just like everyone else." It just isn't true.
I also had a epiphany about the whole "ASL is a crutch for deaf children". I think that if my child had a limp, I would give them a crutch! I wouldn't force them to hobble around in pain. Maybe that makes me a bad mother...oh well!
I heartily recommend watching the "Six Years Later" DVD. The little girl eventually got an implant as did her siblings and mother. Everyone has mellowed and the two sides of the family are together again. The little girls family moved back to be near their family. The mother had some regrets about the first documentary, or at least the polarizing of the family's views that occurred. I didn't want to pay $26.00 to buy a copy on the internet, so I borrowed a copy from a friend. Check the libraries and etc. to see if you can find a copy to watch. The families are no longer so extreme. The little girl is in the mainstream with lots of hearing friends now.
Hey Heather,
I'm LDS too. It's strange to me to see how many folks I keep seeing pop up LDS or in Utah (which are not synonymous). I lived there for 8 years and I think our journey would have been very different if we had been in the Utah Valley when our son was diagnosed. I see all these folks and think, wow, I probably would have known you in person. Anyway. Good luck.
I am so proud of you Heather. You are doing so many new things and making a difference in not only Gavin's life but in so many others lives as well. I miss you so much and grateful to have such a good friend!
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