"Sound and Fury," a documentary by Josh Aronson, is a compelling story of a struggle between two cultures; the hearing community and the deaf community, grounded in a conflict between members of one family, split over the perceptions and beliefs of what it means to be"normal." It is a film about identity and culture, belonging and being an outsider, misconceptions and a desire to be understood. It is a film about the struggles of a cultural minority to find its place and acceptance in the larger world. Sound and fury is a tale of a family whose members are both; hearing as well as hearing impaired. The main character in the movie is a six years old Heather Artinian, born deaf to parents who are both hearing impaired. Heather 's father,
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While the hearing world viewed the non- hearing persons defective, the hearing impaired disagreed. The Deaf community viewed children born without the ability to hear to be the gift from God. They viewed their deafness, not a deterrent, nor required to lead a full, happy life. Many, like Peter, believed that the inability to hear allowed them to be peaceful. They felt deafness protected them from the loudness and the constant chatter of the world. They did not define themselves Deaf, they did not mourn their inability to hear, they did not feel sorry for themselves. They viewed themselves to be as normal, successful and happy as anybody with the ability to hear. They rejected the pity and the stigma perpetuated in the hearing world. Hearing lied outside of what they perceived "a norm." It was not required to be a whole, valuable person. They disagreed with the accepted by the majority understanding of" normal" which as the Miriam-Webster Dictionary ( 2015) defines is a way of conforming to a principle, type, standard or a regular pattern. "Normal" is an idea created by others, existing outside of ourselves, forcing us to confirm or reject belonging to a specific group. It changes, depending on the tastes, views, current trends as well as people who decide what is normal and what is …show more content…
This view alone stands as discrimination and is understood by the deaf community as such. Further, it leads to other discriminatory practices, such as rejection by the potential employer based on the assumption that communication would be difficult and for it a deaf person cannot be as productive as the hearing person. These views, perpetuating in the hearing world are hurtful to the Deaf minority as they push them to be the outsiders. There is a growing number of hearing-impaired individuals who regard themselves as a cultural minority. As such, they demand to be treated as one would treat any ethnic or religious minority. It includes the respect of their rights, one of which is the right to remain deaf if they choose so. Deafness, they argue, is not a disability but an alternative way of
While the hearing world viewed the non- hearing persons defective, the hearing impaired disagreed. The Deaf community viewed children born without the ability to hear to be the gift from God. They viewed their deafness, not a deterrent, nor required to lead a full, happy life. Many, like Peter, believed that the inability to hear allowed them to be peaceful. They felt deafness protected them from the loudness and the constant chatter of the world. They did not define themselves Deaf, they did not mourn their inability to hear, they did not feel sorry for themselves. They viewed themselves to be as normal, successful and happy as anybody with the ability to hear. They rejected the pity and the stigma perpetuated in the hearing world. Hearing lied outside of what they perceived "a norm." It was not required to be a whole, valuable person. They disagreed with the accepted by the majority understanding of" normal" which as the Miriam-Webster Dictionary ( 2015) defines is a way of conforming to a principle, type, standard or a regular pattern. "Normal" is an idea created by others, existing outside of ourselves, forcing us to confirm or reject belonging to a specific group. It changes, depending on the tastes, views, current trends as well as people who decide what is normal and what is …show more content…
This view alone stands as discrimination and is understood by the deaf community as such. Further, it leads to other discriminatory practices, such as rejection by the potential employer based on the assumption that communication would be difficult and for it a deaf person cannot be as productive as the hearing person. These views, perpetuating in the hearing world are hurtful to the Deaf minority as they push them to be the outsiders. There is a growing number of hearing-impaired individuals who regard themselves as a cultural minority. As such, they demand to be treated as one would treat any ethnic or religious minority. It includes the respect of their rights, one of which is the right to remain deaf if they choose so. Deafness, they argue, is not a disability but an alternative way of