Sound and Fury

Analysis of the movie 

Brice Alden 2001

The movie SOUND AND FURY purports to be a balanced look at the cochlear implant controversy. It is definitely NOT balanced. It is very biased against Deaf Culture. In this article I present statistics and information about some of the biases in the movie.

The more subtle propaganda is, the more effective it is. The most effective propaganda is that which isn't even recognized as propaganda. Given that SOUND AND FURY is biased against Deaf Culture, but is viewed by most people as balanced, it is among the most effective of propaganda. Each bias I point out in this article may seem insignificant by itself. But, when added all together, they have an extremely powerful impact. That is the nature of well produced propaganda.

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[The words "spoken by Deaf people" mean the words voiced by interpreters.]

Number of cochlear implant experts (physicians): ..........................................2

Number of Deaf Culture experts (Deaf Studies M.A or Ph.D): ..................0

Number of words spoken by cochlear implant experts: ........................938

Number of words spoken by Deaf Culture experts: ..........................................0

Number of parents (with children present) who wanted to get, or got, a cochlear implant for their child: .........................8

Number of parents (with children present) who didn't want, or didn't get, a cochlear implant for their child: ...............2

Number of words spoken by implanted students in classroom settings: .........................................................98

Number of words spoken by Deaf students in classroom settings: .......................................................................30

Number of words spoken by hearing people working in the field of education: ...........................................................313

Number of words spoken by Deaf people working in the field of education: ...........................................................148

Number of words about how bad Deaf schools are: ..................................285

Number of words explaining that hearing people are responsible for the bad state of Deaf schools because they have dominated Deaf education for well over 100 years: ............0

Number of times hearing parents are shown crying and feeling devastated because they recently gave birth to a Deaf baby: ...............................................1

Number of times Deaf parents are shown being overjoyed because they recently gave birth to a Deaf baby: .................................................................................0

Number of words spoken about the devastation felt by hearing parents who have a Deaf baby: ..................................................91

Number of words spoken about how good it feels for a Deaf person to have a Deaf baby: .......................................................51

Number of times these words are used to describe the behavior of parents who choose NOT to implant their child: abusive .......................................................................................................................................................4

criminal .....................................................................................................................................................1

hurting that child .............................................................................................................................2

Number of times these words are used to describe the behavior of parents who choose to implant their child: abusive ........................................................................................................................................................1

criminal ....................................................................................................................................................0

hurting that child .............................................................................................................................0

Number of words from children who have or are considering getting a cochlear implant: ............................................614

Number of words from Deaf children who don't have and aren't considering getting a cochlear implant: .......................24

Number of words used to discuss or predict the destruction of hearing culture: .........................................................15

Number of words used to discuss or predict the destruction of Deaf Culture: .............................................................132

Number of words about the immorality of destroying a culture: ......0

Number of words about the illegality of destroying a culture: ............0

Number of times a Deaf child is shown speaking indistinctly into a telephone: ........................................................................1

Number of times a Deaf child is shown typing on a TTY: ...........................0

Number of words that sound like a T.V. commercial for cochlear implants: ................ .........................................1,802

Number of words that might sound like a T.V. commercial for Deaf Culture (Depending on how you count them.): .......640 to 783

Number of words hearing people use to express the thought that they don't care what Deaf people think about implanting children: .....................................63

Number of words Deaf people use to express the thought that they don't care what hearing people think about not implanting children: ....................10

Number of times a Deaf child is made to look pathetic because she speaks indistinctly: ................................................31

Number of times a hearing child is made to look pathetic because she signs indistinctly: .......................................................0

Number of songs sung: .................................................................................................................4

Number of words sung: ....................................................................... .....................................96

Number of ASL poems performed: ....................................................................................0

Number of ASL signs in ASL poems: ...............................................................................0

Number of words spoken when a Deaf woman is considering getting a cochlear implant for herself: ................................372

Number of words spoken concerning a Deaf woman refusing to consider getting a cochlear implant for herself: ................0

Number of references to "beautiful, useful, or interesting sounds" you can't hear if you are Deaf: >.....................................38

Number of references to the beauty of ASL: ...........................................................1

Number of positive references to ASL: .......................................................................8

Number of times it is subtly implied that English is a language and ASL isn't a language: ..................................................5

Number of words about how bad Deaf peoples' lives were in the past: .....................................................................457

Number of words about the improvements in Deaf peoples' lives with the discovery that ASL is a language; the discovery that Deaf people have their own culture they can be proud of; the increasing numbers of schools which offer ASL classes; etc.: .........................................0

Number of times the words "hearing aid" are used: ......................................4

Number of times it is explained that hearing aids are worn BY a Deaf person AS a Deaf person and that cochlear implants are an attempt to change a person's cultural identity: .......0

Number of times a Deaf person says, "Keep an open Mind." about getting a cochlear implant: ..............................1

Number of times a hearing person says, "Keep an open Mind." about NOT getting a cochlear implant: .................0

Length of the movie in minutes: ......................... ............................................................78

Number of minutes into the movie before the words "cochlear implant" are used: ............................................................1:09

Number of minutes into the movie before the words "Deaf Culture" are used: ..................................................12:42

Number of times the words "cochlear (implant)" are used before the words "Deaf Culture" are used: ..................................13

Number of times the Gift of Deafness is said to be "diagnosed" like a disease: ....................................................................1

Number of times the Gift of Deafness is compared to blindness: .........................................................................................................1

Number of times the Gift of Deafness is said to be "curable" like a disease: ..........................................................................1

Number of times the Gift of Deafness is described as "hearing loss": ...........................................................................................2

Number of times the Gift of Deafness is described as a handicap: .....................................................................................................4

Number of times the Gift of Deafness is compared to being crippled: ..............................................................................

..............4

Number of times it is said that the Gift of Deafness ISN'T a handicap: ...................................................................................1

Number of times the words "cochlear implant", "implant", or "cochlear" [implant] are used: .....................................................55

Number of times the words "Deaf Culture" or [Deaf] "Culture" are used: ......................................................17

Number of times the words "speak", "speech", "talk" (meaning "speak"), and "spoke" are used: ...........................................61

Number of times the words "Sign Language" or "sign" are used: ...........................................................................40

Number of times the words "American Sign Language" or "ASL" are used: ....................................................0

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Even if the content of SOUND AND FURY were unbiased, the movie would still be biased against Deaf Culture for the following reason:

If a bigger, stronger person is perpetrating unprovoked attacks against a smaller, weaker person, we do the fair and balanced thing - we protect the victim. We could make a movie which analyzes the effectiveness of the attacks and analyzes whether it is better to be the aggressor or the victim. But this movie would be biased against the victim because it would do nothing more than distract us from the fact that the attacks are unfair and unprovoked.

Hearing culture is composed of far more people and has far more political power than Deaf Culture. Cochlear implants are unprovoked attacks against Deaf Culture by hearing culture. SOUND AND FURY is biased against Deaf Culture because it analyzes the effectiveness of cochlear implants and analyzes whether it is better to be Deaf or hearing. SOUND AND FURY is biased against Deaf Culture because it does nothing more than distract us >from the fact that the attacks against Deaf Culture are unfair and unprovoked.

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In the movie there is a Deaf family, Peter and Nita Artinian and their three children. Peter and Nita have hearing relatives. The hearing relatives are intolerant of Deaf Culture and want Peter and Nita to force a cochlear implant on their daughter, Heather. The hearing members of the family insult, abuse, and harass Peter and Nita until they finally move to another town.

The first scene of the movie is an adult hearing person propagandizing a Deaf child. She is telling the child all about different sounds and about cochlear implants. There is no mention of the beauty of ASL or the importance of Deaf Culture.

Approximately 32 minutes into the movie, Nita tells Heather that Heather won't be getting an implant. Then the movie cuts to a scene of Heather alone in her room playing with a doll. Sad music begins to play as Heather sits alone and isolated, signing to her doll. The subtle but powerful message here is that if you don't get an implant you will be alone and isolated. Statements that Deaf people are alone and isolated occur repeatedly in the movie.

Approximately one hour and two minutes into the movie the camera zooms out to show us two city street signs which are seen next to each other. One says, "DEAF CHILD AREA". The other sign says, "DEAD END". Propaganda is all about subtlety.

In the movie there is a Deaf couple who got an implant for their daughter; a Deaf couple who seriously considers getting an implant for their daughter; a couple (the wife is a CODA and the husband has a Deaf brother) who get an implant for their son; and a hearing couple who get a cochlear implant for their daughter. In the world portrayed in this movie, half of the Deaf parents force an implant on their child; half of the Deaf parents seriously consider forcing an implant on their child; all of the CODA's force an implant on their child; and all of the hearing parents force an implant on their child. People who don't know anything about Deaf Culture may generalize this "movie world" and believe that the real world is the same.

Another way that Deaf people are portrayed in a negative way is in the sounds of their voices. Hearing people are quick to judge the esthetic quality of sound, and the voices of the Deaf people in the movie definitely do not sound like hearing peoples' voices.

The movie is called "SOUND" AND FURY and the movie's openings graphics are sound waves. The movie's opening graphics are not related to Sign Language. Propaganda is all about subtlety.

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This year PBS will show SOUND AND FURY on television. Here are two addresses if you would like to send letters of protest to PBS:

viewer@pbs.org

Public Broadcasting Service 1320 Braddock Place Alexandria, VA 22314

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If you would like to send comments to the movie's distributor (Artistic License Films), you can contact them at:

E-mail: info@artlic.com Fax: (212) 262-9299 Voice: (212) 265-9119

If you ask, the movie's distributor may forward your comments to the movie's director/executive producer, Josh Aronson.

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Please send your comments to the N.A.D. because they advertise this movie and they take a pro-cochlear implant position. Their e-mail address is: nadnews@nad.org.

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© Copyright 2001 by Brice Alden