As promised, I am starting with a reflection on the Netflix movie “Audible” (shoutout to Alex for the recommendation). Wow, this was an incredibly powerful film. From dealing with feelings of isolation in non-deaf society to processing trauma, this movie pulled at my heartstrings. It is all about the students at Maryland School for the Deaf and their experience in high-school losing a friend to suicide after he was incessantly bullied in the public school for being deaf. I highly recommend this film because it truly highlights the struggle in living as a deaf person in a hearing community. One of the scenes that struck me most was when the main character, Amaree, was sitting at the table with his whole family who were all chatting and laughing (but nobody was signing, although it should be mentioned that his mother knows some ASL). Amaree gets up and leaves the table and goes back to his room, where he signs how lonely it feels sometimes, being the only deaf person in the family. I can’t imagine what that would feel like.
Another takeaway I had from the movie was just seeing how tight-knit the school community and football team were. In the movie, they talk about how a lot of hearing teams don’t want to play their team because they don’t like losing to a deaf team (Maryland School for the Deaf has an incredible football team). This reminds me about earlier posts where one of the Ted Talk speakers spoke about the harmful misconception of deaf people being less capable than hearing people. Finally, my last takeaway was hearing about Amaree’s nerves for graduating high school and moving out into the hearing community. Even the football coach signed about how difficult he feared it would be for his players. I think it just further reinforced my reflecting and thinking about how in many ways, our world is not inclusive of the deaf, and how that needs to change.
So where is Amaree now? The last I could find online, Amaree graduated from Maryland School for the Deaf in 2020 and lives in Indiana, attending the Community College of Baltimore County. Another interview I found with Amaree quotes him saying, “I want to say something to Black people. I want you to be yourself and find your own identity. Donāt follow other peopleā¦ Iām trying not to say āthe white system,ā but donāt try so hard to fit in. Stay with your upbringing, where you came from, your environment, your hood, whether it is with the white community or the Black community, anything, just be yourself”.
Well, it’s a bit of a shorter post for me this week, but it is, unfortunately, the capacity I had! I truly loved this movie and did a lot of thinking about it. I also found out that it was an Oscar nominee for the best short documentary film! Go check it out on Netflix!
Thank you for stopping by! Please feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear your thoughts!
Ms. J
An amazing story. Thank-you for sharing!