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Deaf community responds to 'CODA': What the movie gets right and misses

When Troy Kotsur accepted his Academy Award for best supporting actor for his performance in "CODA" he became only the second deaf actor to win an Oscar — the first was his "CODA" co-star Marlee Matlin who won in 1986 for "Children of a Lesser God." In his speech he thanked deaf theater for helping him perfect his skills, screenwriter Siân Heder — and even joked he wanted to teach President Joe Biden dirty sign language. Then his speech turned personal.

“My dad he was the best signer in our family. But he was in a car accident and he became paralyzed from the neck down. And he no longer was able to sign. Dad, I learned so much from you. I’ll always love you," he said. "You are my hero."

After that touching moment he shared his historic win with those who helped him succeed.

“This is dedicated to the deaf community, the CODA community and the disabled community," he said. This is our moment.”

" CODA ," released on on Apple TV+ last year, has certainly sparked conversations in the deaf community. The film focuses on Ruby, a child of deaf adults, and her relationship with her parents and brother, all of whom are deaf. The movie also won Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay for Heder's work. Audiences also loved the movie and many appreciate that deaf actors play all the deaf characters, something that doesn’t occur as much as hearing people might believe.

“It’s absolutely fantastic that three main deaf roles are played by deaf actors. Marlee Matlin made that happen — when told that Frank and Leo (the husband and son) were going to be played by hearing actors, she insisted on deaf actors or she’d walk — and she deserves so much credit for that,” Jenna Fischtrom Beacom, 50, a deaf activist and writer in Columbus, Ohio, told TODAY via email. “Much of the interaction between the deaf actors is right on. I loved when Jackie (Marlee Matlin’s character) gets the attention of her husband and son at the concert by whapping them on the shoulder — that whole thing read as authentic and familiar to me in a way.”

Having deaf actors makes some of the communication seem more natural, too.

“All three deaf characters are played by three actually deaf people,” Rikki Poynter, a 30-year-old YouTuber, writer and accessibility expert, told TODAY via email. “And when you get that right, the ASL is right.”

The deaf actors also used their own experiences in their roles, which added richness in some scenes.

“There were many incidental, probably unscripted moments that were authentic because the deaf roles were all filled with deaf characters, and the actors also provided feedback re: their own experiences,” Fischtrom Beacom said.

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One scene that felt accurate to Poynter involves the family listening to “loud bass music, showing that one of the ways we enjoy music is through vibrations.” And, she appreciates how the movie tackles sex and disability in a way that most movies and TV shows don’t.

“Sex is such a taboo topic in general, but seems to be especially more so when it comes to disabled people,” she said. “I’m glad they did away with that ‘disabled people can’t be sexual or desirable’ nonsense.”

While the movie did some things well, there were moments that didn’t feel as realistic. Fischtrom Beacom thought that the main character Ruby used sign language like a “beginner” and some of the signing even among the deaf characters felt off.

“It was very clear that the dialogue was written by a hearing person. ASL and English are very different languages, with not only distinct syntax, grammar, etc., but also their own idioms,” she said. “There is overlap, and anything can be interpreted from one language to another but many phrases just don’t ‘work’ well when they’re supposed to be coming from culturally deaf-ASL users.”

And, the movie focuses on a plot point that might feel overdone to some.

“The ‘deaf people can’t enjoy music,’ stereotype that most music-and-losing hearing movies do,” Poynter said. “It’s so tiring.”

Poynter reviewed " CODA " for her YouTube channel, where she often reviews movies and discusses disability and accessibility, including her efforts to improve closed captioning. Even though the movie feels like inspiration porn, she believes it’s worth seeing.

“It’s not a perfect movie (is any movie though?) but I love Daniel (Durant) and Troy (Kotsur) especially and I grew up watching Marlee in things,” she said.

“CODA” has highlighted the need for better representation of deaf people and their stories and Fischtrom Beacom hopes that there’s room for more deaf writers, producers, actors and show runners.

“While actors are a huge part of improving deaf representation, they are far from the only part,” Fischtrom Beacom. “The writing in some ways is the most important thing; the decisions about what story is told and how to tell it.”

Being able to tell accurate stories about deaf people allows hearing people to develop a better understanding of deaf culture. Fischtrom Beacom shared an example: Most hearing people believe that all deaf people can lip-read and can do it from far away, in bad lighting or during a fast conversation, which is “utterly unrealistic.”

“There is a central conundrum that any deaf show or movie needs to appeal to hearing people to find real success, but hearing people generally know so little about deafness that what appeals is often sensationalistic or outside the deaf experience,” Fischtrom Beacom said. “I see some evidence that each success leads to something a little better.”

More accurate stories about deaf people can also have a positive impact on deaf people, hoping for narratives that reflect their experience. Fischtrom Beacom recently finished a young adult novel about a “newly deaf girl figuring out her deaf identity” with a magical and adventurous backdrop based a little on her own experience becoming newly deaf as a teen. And Poynter continues sharing on YouTube and streaming on Twitch.

“I grew up knowing next to nothing about deaf people, growing up alone and being the only deaf person I knew,” Poynter said. “Not being able to see people like me really had me feeling isolated. That’s why I made a YouTube channel 10+ years ago so mainstreamed deaf kids like me have someone they could see and relate to in some way,” she said. “It isn’t fun feeling like you’re some kind of ‘other’ when nobody else around you is like you.” Related:

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Despite its Oscar win, CODA is still a film that depicts deafness as a burden

PhD student, Media Studies, Western University

Disclosure statement

Billie Anderson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Western University provides funding as a member of The Conversation CA-FR.

Western University provides funding as a member of The Conversation CA.

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Thirty-five years ago, the film Children of a Lesser God was released. The disability representation was flawed , showing a hearing audience that being deaf was tragic, but could be overcome through the charity of a hearing person. The film received strong reviews and won a number of awards .

Despite the glaring flaws in the film, it opened the doors for more disability representation. Perhaps more important than that, it showed filmmakers that the academy loves a story about disability .

This year is no different. With CODA’s win for best picture , the academy continues to make no secret of its affinity for movies about disability.

CODA , like any film about disability, has the potential to advance how our society talks about and frames disability through humanizing disabled characters and helping the audience understand the nature and experience of disability.

Unfortunately, the film focuses on the feelings and actions of the non-disabled protagonist, cementing itself as a movie for hearing audiences.

The academy and disability

Films focused on disabled characters , despite their infrequency, consistently earn best picture nominations .

In the past 20 years alone, we’ve seen best picture awards go to The Shape of Water in 2018, The King’s Speech in 2011 and Million Dollar Baby in 2005.

However, it would seem that for the academy to accept a disabled story, the disabled people must either be:

a real, successful figure ( The Theory of Everything );

inspirational for the non-disabled audience ( My Left Foot );

or explicitly portrayed as a burden for society or their family to righteously overcome ( Me Before You ).

Three 2019 films, The Peanut Butter Falcon , Motherless Brooklyn and Give Me Liberty , all highlight issues of disability without falling into the stereotypical representations the academy loves to reward. None of these films received Oscar nominations, despite being recognized with other awards .

Deaf community critiques

While film critics and audiences alike have shouted their praise for this year’s best picture win, CODA , they seem to be ignoring the voices of the Deaf community.

Some deaf viewers , like American deaf activist and writer Jenna Fischtrom Beacom, say that, at its core, the film is yet another instance of praising non-disabled creators for their contribution to telling stories about disability.

Despite its strides for real deaf representation — three of the leads are deaf actors — CODA still perpetuates the idea that for a story about disability to be noteworthy, it must put the needs and feelings of a non-disabled person at the centre.

Coming of age

Written and directed by Sian Heder, CODA focuses on Ruby (Emilia Jones), a 17-year-old high-school senior whose parents, Jackie (Marlee Matlin) and Frank (Troy Kotsur), are deaf, as is her older brother, Leo (Daniel Durant).

Ruby is a hearing person but fluent in American Sign Language, and her life revolves around the family business. She goes out on the boat each morning with Leo and their father, and, back on shore, negotiates the sale of their catch to a wholesaler who, they’re convinced, takes advantage of them as deaf people (and of Ruby as a child).

This family drama and comedy covers Ruby’s coming-of-age. She learns to navigate life on her terms and seek out experiences that speak to her own soul, even as she recognizes that her independent activities and her extended absence may threaten her family’s livelihood.

Deaf representation

CODA is not without success. It’s refreshing to see disabled roles being filled by disabled actors. Matlin deserves praise for standing her ground and insisting on deaf co-stars .

Their performances are wonderful, and Kotsur more than deserved his best supporting actor win. It’s fantastic to finally have more deaf representation, and for it to get so much attention from the academy.

Yet while this film is a massive improvement on the harm perpetuated by Children of a Lesser God , the ways deafness is presented as a burden to the hearing community perpetuates harmful assumptions about disability.

The family’s inability to understand Ruby’s desires is characterized as a natural result of their deafness. The film naturalizes false stereotypes: that being deaf means that you can’t enjoy music or understand anyone else’s enjoyment.

The film reinforces ableism further to try and explain the family dynamic in a scene where Ruby is asked by her mother, after removing her headphones at the family dinner table: “If I was blind, would you want to paint?” The film relies on known stereotypes of disability to create a hostile family environment that Ruby will understandably want to escape.

The focus on hearing perspectives, for a movie that is about deafness, takes away from the touching story the film is trying to tell.

Deaf adult competency

When Ruby’s departure is imminent, we see the family finally learn to engage with the hearing community. Given that Ruby is 17 in the movie — even if she’s been interpreting since she was able to speak and sign — she could not have been her family’s interpreter for longer than 12 years. Frank has been in this town, with this job, his whole life, so what did he do before Ruby could interpret for him?

The dependence on their hearing daughter is not only unbelievable, but it’s impossible. Even within the movie they are shown as being able to function without her when forced to do so. Repeatedly, deaf competence is minimized for plot purposes.

The Americans with Disabilities Act was introduced in 1990 . Among other implications for deaf people, it meant that hospitals or courts had to ensure people who are deaf have access to interpreters. While it’s true that this act only provides bare minimum requirements for compliance and often fails the disabled community , the fact that the film seems to simply forego this requirement depoliticizes this issue for hearing audiences.

Making sense of the world

People make sense of the world through film . It’s tempting to say it’s just fiction, it’s just one family, what does it matter?

But all representation matters, because “ hearing people are so much more likely to encounter fictional deaf people than real ones .” What we see on screen and what we read on the page create an entire picture through which we make meaning. The more successful representation is, the more it will contribute to a hearing person’s conception of deafness and the Deaf community.

CODA ’s win has the potential to open doors for even more talented disabled writers, directors, actors, editors and cinematographers to tell their own stories, in their own ways, to an even wider audience. If the academy truly cares about representation, this won’t be the last time we see a disabled story win the Oscar for best picture.