Sorry for the radio silence recently, I\u2019ve had WordPress\/LiveWriter\u00a0password issues. But I persevered today and got it sorted.<\/p>\n
The reason? I feel the need to write quite desperately. I needed to get across why it mattered so much, that Deaf people were so upset by Radio 1 DJ\/presenter Sara Cox\u2019s tweets on Tuesday evening.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been quite upset at some of the lashings that the Deaf community have had with regards our outrage over the matter. I need to talk about it, and justify why we had to say something.<\/p>\n
For reference, it started off with the following three tweets on Twitter by @sarajcox:<\/p>\n
How daft is this? I\u2019m on a date at flickrs (with ben, obvs, or otherwise I\u2019d be more discreet)&bridesaids is gonna have English subtitles<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Followed by:<\/p>\n
I morphed momentarily into my dad & asked if we got any money off cos of the subtitles. #youcantakethegirlouttabolton<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
and:<\/p>\n
If I was wearing my specs I could\u2019ve just put a thin strip of black gaffer tape across bottom of the lenses to block out of the subtitles<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Well, the reaction was severe. Within minutes of this tweet there was an uproar from Sara\u2019s Deaf followers and in turn it was retweeted to the attention of those who don\u2019t. Within an hour there was a barrage of tweets defending the point of subtitled films storming Sara\u2019s way.<\/p>\n
So why did it provoke such a response?<\/p>\n
Before I go on, a disclaimer: It is clear that Sara\u2019s tweet wasn\u2019t malicious. It is clear that her tweet wasn\u2019t intended to offend. But unfortunately, even if the intention wasn\u2019t there, it doesn\u2019t mean that it wasn\u2019t capable of doing just that.<\/p>\n
I think the word \u201coffend\u201d is actually quite a strong word in this case, but it\u2019s hard to think of a better word. What the tweets did, was make a lot of people very cross.<\/p>\n
Deaf people have had to work very hard for years to get access to films at the cinema. Thanks to the work of the people who run the\u00a0ruddy marvellous website www.yourlocalcinema.com<\/a>, we are very slowly, starting to gain speed on access to see the\u00a0latest\u00a0movies on the big screen\u00a0and This.Is.Big. It’s a start, a glimmer of hope that access in ANYTHING can happen one day soon.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s only the cinema, you may think. Just get the DVD! The cinema isn\u2019t that<\/em> big a deal surely?<\/p>\n
Well why shouldn\u2019t it be? It is! Why shouldn\u2019t Deaf people enjoy going to the cinema as much as the next person? We are entitled to the same of life\u2019s little pleasures as everybody else. Going to the cinema is an activity that many people take for granted. A hearing person with normal eyesight can decide at the spur of the moment to pop to the cinema to grab a flick, partake in some popcorn consumption, make an evening of it without a second thought. What film would you like to see? The new Harry Potter? Absolutely, shall we go tonight? It\u2019s on at our local screen.<\/p>\n
For a Deaf person, or someone with a sight disability, it\u2019s not that simple. Being able to go to the cinema depends on many factors. These include not only whether the film is subtitled (or Audio Described for the Blind), but where and when\u00a0it is subtitled. If it\u2019s not at your local cinema, you have to try the other cinemas within an x\u00a0mile raidus. I\u2019ve been known to travel for an hour, just for a subtitled film I really wanted to see,\u00a0that was on at a time that I could attend. On top of subtitled films being so rare anyway,\u00a0too many of those\u00a0that are shown are on in the middle of\u00a0a weekday, or late on a Sunday night. Not ideal in the slightest, for full time workers\u00a0\u2013 and believe me, far more Deaf people work than don\u2019t.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Subtitled films\u00a0can\u2019t be an inconvenience to the cinema after all\u00a0\u2013 they survive on the swarms of Hearing people that attend and fill their screens, to make their\u00a0money. It\u2019s a catch 22, after all there aren’t as many deaf people in my home town than hearing people so what can they do?\u00a0Show a film that\u00a0deaf people can watch\u00a0at a reasonable hour, lose a potential full cinema’s\u00a0ticket sales;\u00a0so they go with what they trust will bring in the spending. As a result, Deaf people get\u00a0little chance to see films at the cinema.\u00a0They are so few and far between and those that are shown, are hard to fit around normal day to day life.<\/p>\n
Which is why, when a hearing person complains of the \u201cinconvenience\u201d of having subtitles at their showing, when they could go to ANY other showing, on ANY other day of ANY other film, it\u2019s insulting. It\u2019s an inconvenience to you on this one occasion\u00a0\u2013 it\u2019s an inconvenience to Deaf people Every Single Time.<\/p>\n
Sure, if you don\u2019t need subtitles, perhaps it\u2019s irritating to have them, but the moral of this story is\u00a0don\u2019t shout out about it. Deaf people struggle enough to get the same rights and access as Hearing people, to hear about inconveniences that quite frankly appear minor to us\u00a0\u2013 at least you can still hear the film whether it\u2019s subtitled or not after all.<\/p>\n
What angered me most, was not the first tweet as such, but the fact she had asked for money off the film, due to it having subtitles and then the trivialising of the issue with the glasses and gaffer tape comment. It was the implication that the subtitles, which subsequently\u00a0are an absolute\u00a0LIFELINE for Deaf people (and not just in the cinema), something that we cannot\u00a0cope without;\u00a0were such\u00a0an inconvenience, that she felt she deserved money off as a result. And then onto making a joke, to\u00a0\u201ccope\u201d with such inconvenience; can you see why we were so upset about it?<\/p>\n
To add insult to injury, what didn\u2019t help Sara, were her follow up tweets once she came out:<\/p>\n
For all you gobshites we checked online & it didn\u2019t mention it, the guy said it was a last minute thing from head office. Night.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
10 or so\u00a0minutes later:<\/p>\n
Crikey come out of cinema to lots of severe tellings off from very cross people. Sorry my random musings might sometimes not be thought thru<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
By the time I was back on Twitter, the whole lot had been deleted. This caused more grief, as all Deaf people wanted now, was some sort of acknowledgement that the original tweets had been a bit insensitive.<\/p>\n
I said myself on twitter that\u00a0there was no need to delete the last tweet. I may have seen the screen-grabs, but it would have been nice to see it actually\u00a0on Sara\u2019s page. The fact it was gone, meant the apology didn\u2019t exist anymore.<\/p>\n
Although the \u201cGobshites\u201d term was probably very silly, I am also level headed enough to understand that she wasn\u2019t calling Deaf People in general Gobshites, just those who had put her in this rather overwhelming position. I imagine it was a knee-jerk reaction, but lets be honest, it\u00a0put her in a less favourable light with the Deaf community. Added to this, the subtitled film would NOT have been a last minute decision by the Head Office\u00a0\u2013 whether she was ill informed, or made that up to defend her position, we don\u2019t know but\u00a0films are\u00a0not subtitled last minute\u00a0\u2013 how on earth would Deaf people know of\u00a0this\u00a0so to\u00a0attend?\u00a0What would be the point in making the decision just before the film was shown?<\/p>\n
Subsequently, I then through various networking mediums discovered some kind of apology via the press. It\u2019s something I suppose but I feel the apology should have been made in the same way that\u00a0started the\u00a0issue\u00a0\u2013 she should have tweeted it. It feels like it\u2019s been shirted, that it didn\u2019t come from Sara herself. How was using the press, initially one smaller scale paper, going to get the attention of the hundreds of Deaf people using Twitter? Ultimately, it was relied upon that one person with the link, would get retweeted, henceforth using the domino effect to reach everyone else. Hardly taking responsibility.<\/p>\n
I think that Sara would have recouped a lot more respect from the Deaf community had she responded in a more calm,\u00a0immediate\u00a0way, with a dignified \u201cOK, I got it wrong, I didn\u2019t understand. I\u2019m\u00a0sorry\u201d or similar. I agree that she shouldn\u2019t be crucified for her words which were, as she apparently put it, careless, but it would be polite to acknowledge what\u2019s happened yes? As a\u00a0high profile\u00a0figure with celebrity status,\u00a0she automatically carries a burden that everything she says could potentially have influence and consequence. This should have been acknowledged.<\/p>\n
What saddened me on top of all this, was the response\u00a0of a\u00a0few\u00a0Hearing people. Either via comments on articles eventually in newspapers, or towards Sara\u2019s twitter account herself. It seems that the Deaf community have taken quite a battering as well. It proved to me that there is such a huge lack of understanding of why this had such an effect on the Deaf community. Most\u00a0comments I had about this saga from\u00a0Hearing people, other than those who did indeed \u201cget it\u201d,\u00a0have been kind and well meaning if still not quite getting the point, however it was very hard to read comments saying we were being insensitive, and to \u201clighten up\u201d. For example, amongst some I read were:<\/p>\n
@sarajcox<\/a> don’t worry about it hen, some people go out of their way to be offended.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
and<\/p>\n
@sarajcox<\/a> just ignore! Some people not happy unless they’re on their high horse #superioritycomplex<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
It sometimes feels that we can\u2019t win, damned if we complain and get a bad reputation as a result or damned if we don\u2019t and see the failure to improve or even decline of services that mean so much to us.\u00a0All we want to defend is our right to have the same access to everything everyone else has. And going to the cinema is just as important. It\u2019s not everybody\u2019s cuppa, some people can take it or leave it as far as going to the Cinema is concerned but the principle is there\u00a0\u2013 it\u2019s hard work in progress, getting these subtitled films. PLEASE DO NOT\u00a0DISS IT.<\/p>\n
So I\u2019m asking,\u00a0please don\u2019t defend Sara Cox\u2019s\u00a0tweets by telling me you don\u2019t think she meant to offend\u00a0\u2013 I worked that out for myself.\u00a0Perhaps you felt uncomfortable with the battering she was getting\u00a0\u2013\u00a0to a small extent, so was I when I saw\u00a0a tiny minority of tweets heading in her direction had crossed the line\u00a0\u2013 there\u2019s always going to be one or two\u00a0– I do understand that, but I hope I\u2019ve explained a little bit why it touched such a huge nerve with Deaf people\u00a0\u2013 and why its a valid nerve to have been hit.<\/p>\n
From our point of view\u00a0\u2013 what\u2019s just a distraction for you (when you have plenty of other options and we don\u2019t),\u00a0is the difference between us getting it at all\u00a0\u2013 or not.<\/p>\n
So forgive us for being less forgiving of\u00a0Sara’s complaints\u00a0\u2013\u00a0if you do need to talk about it; be at the same time, sensitive to the fact it\u2019s so important to us these subtitles exist somewhere and somehow. SUBTITLES ARE PRECIOUS. A hint of anyone who\u2019s words can influence,\u00a0dissing them, is going to get a heavy defensive response.<\/p>\n
There is an EXCELLENT blog post<\/a> by iannoon which upon reading, I wonder why on earth I didn\u2019t just post a link to in the first place in stead of write possibly one of the waffly and\u00a0unconstructed\u00a0posts I\u2019ve ever written for The Deaf One. But it has been hugely cathartic getting it all out as it\u2019s been bubbling a little in me all week. And my regular readers will know well, how I like to talk. I don\u2019t know if I\u2019ve made sense, I hope I have to some extent. I haven’t directed this post at anyone in particular by the way, so if you’ve commented to me over the last few days about this,\u00a0 I didn’t have anyone in mind whilst writing. I have many lovely friends who do get it but\u00a0sometimes I have to explain\u00a0formally, why\u00a0there’s more to it than mass hysteria over something that may seem trivial.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll leave you now\u00a0with the wise words of @Deaf on Twitter which I do think rings true of this whole affair and the readers of some daily newspapers could do with repeating:<\/p>\n
\u201cDeaf people need to be judge of whether [its] hurtful or not, it\u2019s their struggle\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
So trust us, we were annoyed. And we had reason to be xx<\/p>\n
More links here:<\/p>\n
How the story unfolded on Twitter in quotes<\/a>\u00a0by Pesky People<\/a><\/p>\n
Where cinemas are letting Deaf people down<\/a>\u00a0From the Guardian\u00a0by Deaf\u00a0journalist\u00a0Charlie Swinbourne<\/p>\n
Sara Cox’s statement<\/a> provided by @paulbharrison<\/p>\n
Articles that reported the story\u00a0in no particular order:<\/p>\n
The Mirror<\/a>
\nThe Sun<\/a>
\nThe Express & Star<\/a>
\nThe Telegraph<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sorry for the radio silence recently, I\u2019ve had WordPress\/LiveWriter\u00a0password issues. But I persevered today and got it sorted. The reason? I feel the need to write quite desperately. I needed to get across why it mattered so much, that Deaf people were so upset by Radio 1 DJ\/presenter Sara Cox\u2019s tweets on Tuesday evening. I\u2019ve […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedeafone.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedeafone.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedeafone.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedeafone.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedeafone.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedeafone.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":129,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedeafone.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127\/revisions\/129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedeafone.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedeafone.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedeafone.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}