The movie, Sweet Nothing in my Ear, hasn't even been shown yet. And on the web, the discussions have heated up about cochlear implants:
Political Correctness on TV Sometimes Goes Too Far: Is It Really Better to Be Deaf?
In his post, Michael Russnow shared his thoughts about the movie:
I was at a Hallmark Hall of Fame reception the other night, where they
presented Sweet Nothing in My Ear starring Jeff Daniels and Marlee
Matlin. The story concerned the trials of a "mixed" marriage -- Daniels could
hear and Matlin could not -- in which the main conflict was whether their deaf
child should receive a cochlear implant.
I was baffled by the struggle, which struck me as a no-brainer. True, I can
hear, but I don't feel I am prejudiced when I say that it is not better
to be deaf as some of the characters in this film appear to say. I can
understand where there might be fear as to whether the implant will build up the
boy's hope or whether he will easily adapt to the hearing world with speech
patterns that might not appear up to par without loads of practice.
"It is not better to be deaf."
That's the sentence that riled me up. To me, that's a judgmental statement that indicates that the quality of a person's life is measured by the amount of hearing they have.
Mr. Russnow also shares his view about "fixing" a deaf child's life:
That said, and although there was an attempt to balance the two sides, I
cannot for the life of me see how any reasoned person would not want to improve,
dare I say fix, a young boy's life. As science has greatly improved the surgical
techniques, which are apparently not available to all deaf candidates, when a
subject is determined to benefit greatly from such an implant there is no way
that anyone will convince me that the absence of sound will better that person's
life.
This makes the assumption that a cochlear implant produces the same effect for everyone who obtains one, essentially "fixing" the person. It also makes the assumption that there are no issues or problems associated with cochlear implants. One only has to look at the article, Twists and Turns, Journeys with Implants to know that the "fix" doesn't come easily or miraculously to everyone who pursues it.
It all comes down to attitude-- whether or not one chooses to see the whole person rather than defining them by which side of the controversy they participate on. For me, my life has been incredibly richer by the various deaf and hard of hearing friends I've met over the years and it doesn't matter to me how they communicate or what they sport on their ears. The world could use more of that attitude.
