Sound and Fury
Jennifer Marquez
Thesis
The documentary Sound and Fury shows how a family is separated by the deaf and the hearing world because of the choice of whether or not to implant their deaf children with cochlear implants.
Purpose
The purpose of this film is to show how a family is torn into sides which are either for or against the deaf kids in the family to get cochlear implants. Two brothers Peter and Chris, their parents, their wives, their wives' parents, their friends all constantly argue over the fact that Peter refuses to get any of his three deaf children implanted even when his daughter Heather asks for it, while his brother Chris is going to implant his almost two year old son so that he can hear. It shows how both brothers hate each other's decisions but also why each one decided on what they wanted for their children.
Achieving purpose
Example 1: Chris deciding to get his son Peter implanted
After hearing this Chris's brother Peter as well as his wife were offended and angry with this decision because they felt as though Chris was ashamed of his son being deaf. To them being deaf is their whole life. They feel like Chris is pushing his son into the hearing world to quickly and not giving him a chance to thrive in the deaf world.
Example 2: Peter's daughter Heather asks for the cochlear implant
This is the biggest thing that splits the family because Heather's parents are totally against her getting implanted. This of course causes Chris, his wife and both Chris and Peter's parents to be angry with them. They all believe that Peter not letting Heather have a chance at hearing is abuse and just downright wrong. They can not understand why they would not want to give Heather the opportunity so that she can do the best in life without worrying about not being able to hear.
Example 3: Meeting kids with cochlear implants
Both Peter and Chris went with their wives separately to visit two different children with cochlear implants. Chris and his wife were amazed to meet and see how well a little girl with the implant did in school and around others who could hear. Meeting with her and her parents definitely helped them finalize their decision to implant their son Peter. However that was not the case with Peter and his wife as they ended up sticking with their decision to not implant Heather because the little girl they meet just made them worry about Heather losing her deaf culture even more since the little girl only talked and did not sign or even know what sign language was.
Conclusion
This film changed the way I thought about those who are deaf. I thought they would all care about not being able to hear but I learned that that's not the case for many deaf people. They are proud of who they are and they do not see that them being deaf is a disability. They love their deaf culture and I do not believe that deaf culture will die like Peter said in the end. People will remember even if one day everyone can hear.