Monday, April 15, 2019

Netflix Film uses ASL incorrectly

Prominent members of the Deaf community are criticizing a new Netflix horror film called The Silence. Deaf model Nyle DiMarco, among others, say some of the sign languages in the film is gibberish and a deaf person should have been cast in the role of the deaf person in the film. That comment comes after the director claimed in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter that the teen who signs in the film, Kiernan Shipka, is "flawless" and, even though she is not deaf, Shipka has an "innate sense of what it’s like being a deaf person." DiMarco tweeted that the ASL "is not grammatically correct" in the film and that sometimes characters seem to understand sign language without looking at the person signing.