James Dayrit
3/27/2008
Not too long ago a friend of mine told me about a fictional t.v.
show on Showtime that he was currently watching called Weeds. The
show sounded familiar, although I had not yet seen it, I imagined it
was some show about a landscaper and his exploits in the gardening
industry so I stayed away from it. I eventually ended up watching a
couple of episodes of the show at his house. Apparently the show
wasn't about a landscaper but rather a suburban housewife whose
husband, and sole provider of the house, dies of a sudden heart
attack. She then resorts to selling marijuana (hence the title of
the show) to support herself and her children. The show itself is a
bit over the top but it has its moments and is definitely worth a
watch if for anything a few laughs.
More importantly, a couple of episodes into season one I noticed
there was a character played by a deaf actress named Shoshanna
Stern. At the time, I was taking my first semester of ASL and I
immediately thought about how refreshing it was to see a deaf person
on t.v. that wasn't playing the typical stereotype of a "disabled
deaf person". Upon further research I found out that she grew up in
Fremont, California, where she attended the California School for
the Deaf. She later went on to attend Gallaudet University in
Washington, D.C., where she studied theater. Shoshanna also landed a
role on the t.v. show Jericho during her stretch on Weeds and became
the first deaf actor to have a regular role on two prime time shows
at the same time (www.shoshannah-stern.com/about.html).
I thought Shoshanna's character was interesting not because I
thought that it was extraordinary for a deaf person to be such a
good actress, but because her character on the show wasn't simply
there to be "the deaf person" serving the purpose of a prop to move
the plot along in some contrived direction; but rather a character
existing in a world, and that she just happened to be deaf (although
it would have been nice to see a greater glimpse into deaf culture
in the show). It's quite disappointing to notice the
underrepresentation of deaf people and culture in mainstream media
although as much as 14% of Americans have some sort of hearing loss
(http://gri.gallaudet.edu/Demographics/deaf-US.php).
An article on the BBC website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/ouch/features/charlie_deaftv.shtml)
served some more promising news on the visibility of deaf people in
television where they report an increase in shows featuring deaf
actors and actresses. British shows like Switch, and Rush have
prominently featured signing deaf actors and actresses. Other shows
in the U.S. like The West Wing which features the more well known
Marlee Matlin as a signing political advisor, as well as shows like
Survivor, and Dancing With the Stars all feature talented deaf
actresses that will hopefully help to increase the profile of the
deaf community in television and film.
Sources:
Swinbourne, Charlie. (2006, March 29). A deaf T.V. takeover?.
bbc.co.uk. Retrieved March 26, 2008. http://www.bbc.co.uk/ouch/features/charlie_deaftv.shtml
Klusza, Maureen. (2004)Shoshanna Stern Official Website. About
Shoshanna. Retrieved March 26, 2008. http://www.shoshannah-stern.com/about.html
Mitchell, E. Ross. (2005, February 15). Gallaudett Research
Institute Website. Retrieved March 26, 2008. http://gri.gallaudet.edu/Demographics/deaf-US.php