Visual Instincts

As I wrote in The Tree Of Knowledge, with reference to the writer David Lodge, Deafness is a personal experience and the journey towards acceptance/ acclimatising to one’s Deafness is a personal one.

For some writers, painters, sculptors, photographers, dancers, actors, and multimedia artists, it is a source of inspiration for their work. How they depict their Deafness/deafness can be fraught with triteness, ignorance, misrepresentation, and treasonous and rebellious thoughts. For Hearing audiences, they are a curiosity. For their Deaf audiences, it can be tantamount to a violation of allegiance towards the Deafhood, should that depiction fail to meet with their expectations.

These points were driven home by the recent controversy surrounding Matt Hamill’s decision to cast the hearing actor, Eben Kostbar, to play him in a biopic of his life. Having read through a selection of the responses [links below], I understand what the whole ballyhoo surrounding Matt was about. Views were polarised, and a few were quite childish, but the debate contributed nothing to the advancement of Deaf art and Culture. Inspite of this polarisation, as a Deaf person, I do understand the criticisms.

When I realised what the controversy about Matt Hamill’s biopic was about, my first thought was, “Oh frigging hell. Here we go again. Another hearie mining us for their own gratification!” With an “Artistic or otherwise” justification tossed in as an afterthought.

The cynicism in me, and in Deaf audiences, is understandable. We have such a dearth of positive images and portrayals of Deaf people in the arts and the media. We are often

• an aberration,
• issue of the month,
• a metaphor for loneliness and abject misery,
• marvels of nature who can speak with their hands,
• a short lived example of how liberal hearing people are,
• an act of redemption via the miracle of technology, or
• an opportunity to aim for the Oscars.

Nevertheless, the question must be answered. “Whose story is it anyway?”

You can’t even begin to do justice to this debate, until this simple question is answered. It can be answered from a view different viewpoints. The subject, the creator, the writer, the producer, the actor, the painter, the photographer, et al, and the audience. However, in the final reckoning, this story belongs to Matt. It is a biopic of Matt Hamill’s life.

Though, credit must be given to the production team for sharing information about their intentions regarding this film. This openness is rather unusual in the Deaf world, well known for playing their cards close to their chest and not divulging much, if anything.

I’m not overly convinced by Eben Kostbar’s exhortations in the Actor’s Statement to the Deaf Community. My cynicism remains. For the simple reason, that most Deaf related projects are one off events. Which stands in stark relief to Deaf artists to whom Deafness is an intrinsic value, and who cannot make hearing related projects one off events. Eben’s integrity will be tested by his continuation of, or discontinuation as the case may be, of Deaf related projects.

Though I do admit some admiration for what Matt and the production team are trying to do. Reading the Producer’s Statement to the Deaf Community, reflects much of what I hope to do with my own writings and other media. Though, once again, the integrity of the production team will be tested by their continuation of, or discontinuation as the case may be, of Deaf related projects. Assuming the same team work together on other projects.

As someone who has grown up in a Hearing world, prior discovering my own sense of Deafness and Deaf culture, this melding of Deaf and Hearing, is an exciting prospect. I appreciate the potential of this project. Not so much the subject, as for the production team open to the idea of a workspace that attempts to fuse Deaf and Hearing artists and producers, into a mutual beneficial and creatively enhancing experience.

Further Reading:

Deafies In The Movies – Who’s Story? Mine Or Yours?
The Tree Of Knowledge
The Idol-Maker: David Lodge – Deaf Sentence
David Lodge: Deaf Sentence
Matt Hamill
Matt Hamill: The Movie
Controversy Surrounds Casting for “Hamill”
Who Says Who Plays Whose Life?
Statements of Matt Hamill and Eben Kostbar
NEWS FLASH! NTID/RIT cancels HAMILL (movie) auditions!
HAMILL – The Movie: Producers’ Statement
Lighting A Candle in the Deaf Darkness
Dis and data…Deaf issues on my mind
“Introducing the Hamill Movie” Website
It is about the long history not Matt Hamill
Amy Cohen Efron Vs. Matt Hamill
Matt Hammil Vs Amy Cohen Efron Part 2
Support Hamill? Yes and No
Go, Matt Hamill. Go!
21: Double Jeers to Matt Hamill & Eben Kostbar
Open Letter to Matt Hamill

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