CODA, garnering three Academy Awards nominations and a historic Best Picture win. CODA is a coming-of-age story about Ruby (Emilia Jones,) a girl who wants to sing. Ruby is the odd one out in her family as she can hear and her parents and brother are deaf. CODA is notable as it employs actors from the deaf community to portray deaf characters. CODA would be an excellent choice for a public outdoor screening or library screening to celebrate Deaf History Month.
Despite many talented actors with disabilities working in the industry, major films do not always cast them to portray characters with disabilities on-screen.
According to a Nielsen study on the depiction of disabilities on screen, most depictions of disabilities on film are not portrayed by actors with those disabilities. This is problematic as it takes away opportunities for talented actors who could bring their real-life experience with disabilities to a role.
The talent of deaf actors is on full display in CODA. Troy Kotsur, who plays Ruby’s father in the film, won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. It is the first time in the history of The Academy a deaf male actor has been nominated and won an award. Kotsur shares the screen with Marlee Matlin, as his on-screen wife—the first deaf actor nominee and winner of an Academy Award in 1986 for her role in Child of a Lesser God. Kotsur elevates the comedic moments in the film with improvised sign-language humor. He also shows just how necessary it is for people with disabilities to portray those disabilities.
The most moving moment in the film is after Ruby’s first choir performance. Although Ruby’s deaf family members attended her concert, CODA emphasizes the disconnect Ruby’s family had from the singing. After the family arrives back home, Kotsur asks Ruby to sing her solo while they rest on the bed of his truck. No hearing actor could bring the unique joy to this scene as Kotsur did. He held his hand on Ruby’s throat as she sang, feeling the vibrations from her voice. A lot of the sensitive scenes in CODA can feel like a run-of-the-mill dramedy film. But Kotsur elevates the emotion in this scene from cheesy to tear-jerking as we see a father feel his talented daughter sing for the first time.
Although this film is centralized around deaf characters, the film was made with a hearing audience in mind. Most of the film’s scenes are centered around music and singing. Although CODA is led by a deaf cast, the director and filmmakers are not from the deaf community. That is not a bad thing, as it exposes hearing audiences to stories surrounding particular disabilities. Statistically, most audiences have probably never watched a film or television show with a real deaf actor portraying the disability they live with on screen. It is even less likely that general audiences have encountered deaf cinema.
Deaf cinema is a movement focused on making movies with deaf and hard-of-hearing audiences in mind. Their stories are told completely visually but still may contain music, sound, and dialogue. The cast and crew are led by, if not completely composed of, people from the deaf community. Because of the audience’s range, the performances of Kotsur, Matlin, and Leo Rossi, who plays Ruby’s brother, are just that more significant.
To read more about how deafness has been covered in movies, order Hollywood Speaks: Deafness and the Film Entertainment Industry here.
To learn more about deaf culture within film and how they can be applied to courses, order Deaf Culture in Film: Activities for ASL Classes here.