Check it out! From what I understand, it's coming soon- and it looks damn good!!
Louder Than Words is a documentary following hearing impaired families and the struggles inside, facing the decision of surgery, giving life to one of the 5 human senses by implementation of the Cochlear device.
By Karen MeyerMay 17, 2009 (CHICAGO) (WLS) --
Cochlear implant is an amazing technology that enables children and adults who have severe to profound hearing loss to hear. But, at the same time, it is controversial for many people in the deaf community, especially deaf parents with deaf children.
Every parent wants the best for their children, even if it means giving them the opportunity to hear. A Chicago-area family is profiled in an upcoming documentary that shows their life as they struggle with cochlear implants.
"Louder than Words" is a feature documentary that explores the real life drama of the Stark family. Parents Michael and Jill were born deaf. Their two children were also born deaf. Jeffrey, who is almost 3, and 7-month-old Melissa.
"We decided to have both kids implanted. We wanted them to use the phone," said Jill.
8 comments:
Without captioning, it is difficult to tell how neutrally the material is presented, especially since the shown parents are said to be Deaf professionals getting implants for their two deaf children.
What makes me uncomfortable are the titles shown toward the end: "empowerment" and "what love sounds like"
At this time it appears that the producers are saying that one is empowered and knows what love sounds like only through implants. That is not necessary, believe me.
I just can't wait!!! It looks great! And I hope we get to meet this summer!
Hello Dianrez :) !
There's no voiceover or spoken component of the video -- it's just got signing and an instrumental accompaniment. I'm not following all of the signing, so may be misinterpreting, but my take away is that the titles indicate that for this ASL-using couple, these elements -- what love sounds like, empowerment -- are there, precede, surpass, etc. the decision to get an implant ... or not.
Hi all!
I'm gonna have to agree with this one:
What makes me uncomfortable are the titles shown toward the end: "empowerment" and "what love sounds like"
The "What Love Sounds Like" comment made me do a double-take- maybe they meant the word "love" itself- that's the only thing that might make sense to me...
In any case, it looks really interesting- hope it comes out when I'm in town.
I'll be in Baltimore from July 3rd to Aug. 2nd, hoping to pull off the BW Ci Circle reunion. We'll make it work, now that Heather's agreed to transport the merchandise-US!!!
Hugs to all
The signing in the preview is not enough to understand the discussion. It was cut off too soon in those spots.
I'm holding off further comment till it comes out in its entirety. Hopefully it will be neutral and not offensive to the Deaf people who do well without implants today.
I can't wait to see the documentary! It looks like it'll be a great one.
The phrase "what love sounds like" can be opened to many interpretations. First of all, it could not necessarily mean "how do we HEAR love." It could mean "what does love SEEMS like." So, it could mean the depiction of the love that exists in the relationship of the family itself and how they are showing loving support for each other.
It could also mean how we hear love, and I will say that as a cochlear implant user, hearing love is different from seeing love. For instance, listening to various music such as Nat King Cole's and Edith Piaf's love songs sure do give me the feeling of love and also romance. When I watch movies that show romantic scenes, the music depicting love can make the scenes even more powerful as they add to the dimension of the feelings of love. For instance, the beginning of The Parent Trap when the parents are getting married on the cruise, hearing the song L.O.V.E. made the scene an even stronger depiction of love. So, this phrase, "what love sounds like" could also mean that the film wants to show what hearing people should take for granted in hearing the sounds of love.
I also noticed that Jodi didn't include the link to the written summary of the film that was featured in this article - http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/disability_issues&id=6815556
I think it's important to include it.
Thanks Rachel- I'll add it- missed it...good to know you've got my back *smile*
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