Like Frank in the movie, Beacom and Holcomb have kids who love to sing. To find out what their children were like, the two said they simply asked hearing people to describe it. And despite the fact that many deaf people love music, the idea that they can’t enjoy it is a trope seen over and over again in Hollywood. It’s based on the idea that deaf people are missing out, even though most aren’t too focused on their inability to hear music, said Lennard Davis, a CODA and author of numerous books on disability. and deafness. He calls it a “false problem” in the film.
Davis said he instead wanted the film to focus on the issues true CODAs face, such as the inability to easily call their parents in a crisis or interpret in upsetting or emotionally charged moments for them.
One scene that particularly upset him was the one that was supposed to be funny. Frank, suffering from jock itch, and Jackie are at the doctor’s, with Ruby translating for them. After Frank shares comedic details about his genitals, the doctor rules out sex for two weeks. But Ruby tells her parents that they must avoid sex forever. For Davis, deaf parents became the butt of the joke, and the scene shed light on what CODAs go through when interpreting in a pinch.
“I had to tell my mom that her dad passed away,” Davis said. “It’s more the tragedy of how hard it is to be a CODA, not this kind of ha-ha rions about parents and this situation,” he added.
Adrian Bailey, 39, a CODA from Bristol, England, also said the scene was heartbreaking. A few years ago, her father was admitted to the emergency room and Bailey had to translate, telling her father that he almost died.
Bailey acknowledged that while some children find themselves in funny or awkward acting situations, he said “as a community we can laugh about it together, but exposing it to a hearing world that doesn’t understand these things, it’s not OK I think it crossed a line.
