Children of a Lesser God is a 1986 romantic drama film that tells the story of a speech teacher at a school for deaf students who falls in love with a deaf woman who also works there. It stars William Hurt, Marlee Matlin, Piper Laurie, and Philip Bosco.
Children of a Lesser God was directed by Randa Haines, was adapted by Mark Medoff, Hesper Anderson and James Carrington from Medoff's Tony award-winning play of the same name, which ran on Broadway from 1980–1982.
In her debut role as Sarah Norman, Matlin won the 1986 Academy Award for Best Actress. Aged 21 at the time, she is the youngest actress to have received an Oscar for Best Actress. Almost completely deaf in real life since the early age of 18 months, she has since gone on to become an established film and television star and remains active in charities for the deaf and hearing impaired around the world. The film also garnered Academy Award nominations for Best Actor for William Hurt, Best Supporting Actress for Piper Laurie, Best Picture, and Best Writing for an Adapted Screenplay.
Plot:
Sarah Norman (Marlee Matlin) is a troubled young deaf woman working as a cleaner at a school for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in New England. An energetic new teacher, James Leeds (William Hurt), arrives at the school and encourages her to set aside her insular life by learning how to talk.
As she already uses sign language, Sarah resists James's attempts to get her to talk. Romantic interest develops between James and Sarah and they are soon living together, though their differences and mutual stubbornness eventually strains their relationship to breaking point, as he continues to want her to talk, and she feels somewhat stifled in his presence.
Sarah leaves James and goes to live with her estranged mother (Piper Laurie) in a nearby city, reconciling with her in the process. However, she and James later find a way to resolve their differences or do they?
My questions for you:
~This is a powerful title. Wow, lesser god. Really? Based on what you have learned in class and what you have seen so far in the film (give examples from class and the movie) why you think this title was chosen? Is it appropriate? Why or why not? Is it deceiving? Is it helpful to the audience to allow them to understand from a Deaf perspective? Why or why not? Where do you think it comes from (do some history) research and see what you find)?
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
~Select a presentation topic and begin developing your presentation. Each student will present for 10 minutes. Members of the Deaf community will be invited to attend so be sure to do your best work. Directions will be posted on the blog next week.
We have covered several areas of Deaf culture but there is so much more to learn and explore. We are only at the very tip of the iceberg.
You may wish to expand on a topic that we have addressed, or find one of your own. I know that Amanda had discussed wanting to know more about CODA, perhaps she would like to take this further. Sarah had mentioned wanting to learn more about oppression, she can elaborate on that. There are so many topics that you could select from. I would like you to decide on your topic by next Monday, March 28th. Pick something that interests you. You will be working on this for awhile so you want it to be something that inspires you.
Here are some topic ideas, they would need to be elaborated on:
~National Theatre of The Deaf
~Martha's Vineyard
~Gallaudet University
~Laurnet Clerc
~Deaf Performers
~Deaf portrayal in the media
~Laws to protect Deaf people
~Deaf President Now
Graded how?
Introduction to Deaf Culture Presentations
Spring 2010
Speakers(s):___________________________________________________________________
Topic:________________________________________________________________________
5 = Excellent 4 = Good 3 = Average 2=Fair 1 = Poor 0 = Missing
INTRODUCTION
Gained attention and interest 5 4 3 2 1 0 Comments:
Introduced topic early 5 4 3 2 1 0
Previewed body of speech 5 4 3 2 1 0
Related to audience 5 4 3 2 1 0
BODY
Main points clear 5 4 3 2 1 0 Comments:
Main points fully supported 5 4 3 2 1 0
Organization well planned 5 4 3 2 1 0
Clearly cited support materials
(2+sources) 5 4 3 2 1 0
Language clear, concise, appropriate 5 4 3 2 1 0
Effective transition 5 4 3 2 1 0
CONCLUSION
Reviewed main points 5 4 3 2 1 0 Comments:
Reinforced central idea 5 4 3 2 1 0
Strong closing 5 4 3 2 1 0
DELIVERY
Maintained eye contact 5 4 3 2 1 0 Comments:
Used voice effectively 5 4 3 2 1 0
Presented 1 visual aid 5 4 3 2 1 0
Used nonverbal communication effectively5 4 3 2 1 0
Posture/ stance 5 4 3 2 1 0
Vocalized pauses 5 4 3 2 1 0
OVERALL EVALUATION
Speech was engaging/conveyed topic 5 4 3 2 1 0
Speech clearly stated goal 5 4 3 2 1 0
Speech completed in time limit (20min) 5 4 3 2 1 0 Time: ______:______
Comments / Grade:___________
**You have been graded so far on:
~weekly blog assignments
~article summaries
~midterm
~class participation
Please bring to class on Monday, March 28, 2011:
~How many articles you have completed___/2
~How many weekly blogs you have completed___/8
~Midterm grade___/100
~Participation and attendance___/A, B, C, D, F
What grade do you think you have earned? ____/A-F
I think the title was chosen because a majority of the time those who are deaf are viewed as the lesser person. Having the title “Children of a Lesser God” just reinforces this idea that deaf and hard-of-hearing people aren’t as good as hearing people. The title suits the idea of the movie, it shows how hearing people belittle the deaf. One big example is when Sara went to play poker. All the hearing people were telling James how great of a job he had done with her, almost like she was his pet. Also, I feel Matson would have said something or would have expresses her concerns about the title if she felt it was inappropriate.
ReplyDeletePersonally I don’t know how well this movie shows the deaf perspective. A majority of the movie is showing a deaf woman being stubborn, granted I understand why she was being stubborn. I feel like they could go more indepth as to why she doesn’t want to speak. This may be coming up in the part we haven’t seen yet, we will see hopefully. Also, it has a great deal of focus on the deaf students who are embracing speech.
Where do you think it comes from (do some history) research and see what you find)? Not sure I quite understand this question. Any ideas?
Hello Amanda,
ReplyDeleteWhy do you think that God is in the title? What is the significance of this? Research about Deaf culture, people and ASL and its connection to religion. Hope this helps.
Monica
I think that the title was chosen because there is such a barrier between Deaf and hearing people and the ideas about them. In response to why "God" is in the title, this is probably to show the relation of religious beliefs between Deaf and hearing people. A lot of hearing people look down upon Deaf people and think that they are "lesser" than them and that they can't do the same things as hearing people can. This is something that I've learned in this course. There is a negative, Pathological View of Deaf people. This can be related in regards to religion.
ReplyDeleteThere may be hearingpeople that think that Deaf people possibly can't worship "their God" so it's possible that hearing people think of the God that Deaf people worship is a "lesser God". Which makes sense due to the societal outlooks on Deaf people and the Deaf community.
I did some research on Deaf culture in relation to religion, and I actually stumbled upon some articles that are in regards to being Deaf as its own religion. There were different blogs about this, and quite a few Deaf Christians were outraged by this notion. This obviously proves that it doesn't matter if you're Deaf...you can have the exact same religious views as hearing people..which seems silly to say, but I'm sure there are some hearing people that really think so low of Deaf people that they think that they shouldn't worship the same God.
This movie was very good at getting a Deaf person's perspective. At schools for the Deaf, a lot of focus is on "the oral approach", getting Deaf people to lip-read and use their voices for communication. In the movie, Sarah does such an excellent job at being the voice and representation of Deaf people and their anger towards hearing people doing this to them. Hearing people, teachers namely, don't have the right to take away their culture and identity as a Deaf person. I don't disagree that lip-reading and voicing may be helpful in some encounters, but it shouldn't be taught at such a great level and it shouldn't be such a focus. Sarah really shows us hearing people watching the movie the frustration and the need to be independent. Deaf people DON'T need a hearing person to watch over them. They can be free to be independent and embrace themselves and their culture.
I believe the title was chosen because hearing people view deaf people as less of human beings. They view deafness as a disability. So they think that the God who makes deaf people must be lesser than the God who makes us due to the fact we don't have the "disability" of being deaf. Or maybe Children of a Lesser God because God didn't do his best to make the deaf people because he didn't make them hearing, so he was lesser of a God when he made them. I definitely don't believe this title is appropriate if either of my reasonings are remotely correct, but if they were just naming it because of things in the movie then I guess it is okay. Because I feel like in the movie James has these points of view, he thinks that deaf people need to speak, they need to be fixed. He looked down upon the fact that Sarah didn't want to talk, that she used Sign Language rather than words and reading lips.
ReplyDeleteWhether or not the title is "appropriate" I believe it is extremely deceiving. People who watch the film who don't know anything about Deaf Culture probably will believe just that, that people who are deaf are children of a lesser God. I believe it is helpful to the audience to allow them to understand the Deaf perspective. People need to realize that Sarah isn't just being selfish, that she has reasoning for not wanting to speak and read lips. It is her culture and her language, she doesn't want to change herself for others, she wants to speak American Sign Language, something that makes her feel like herself. Although I wish that they would have given more of a Deaf perspective in the video, Sarah is left out to still be somewhat stubborn for not wanting to read lips and speak. They don't really allow her to explain her side of the story, why she feels the way she does. They should explain more about the culture, maybe have another character in the film that she could sign to in the film about why she doesn't want to change, that Sign Language makes her her, that for once she doesn't want to revolve around the hearing culture.
I also think that God is in the title because so many people believe that we are made by God and like I said earlier that some may believe that deafness is a disability so they were made by a lesser God than the God who made people without disabilities. When I searched Deaf Culture on the internet the definition was the following "Deaf culture describes the social beliefs, behaviors, art, literary traditions, history, values and shared institutions of communities that are affected by deafness and which use sign languages as the main means of communication. Members of the Deaf community tend to view deafness as a difference in human experience rather than a disability.[1] The community may include family members of deaf people and sign-language interpreters who identify with Deaf culture and does not automatically include all people who are deaf or hard of hearing.[2] According to Anna Mindess, "it is not the extent of hearing loss that defines a member of the Deaf community but the individual's own sense of identity and resultant actions."[3] As with all social groups that a person chooses to belong to, a person is a member of the Deaf community if he or she "identifies him/herself as a member of the Deaf community, and other members accept that person as a part of the community." (Wikipedia is where I got the definition) I have taken ASL 1,2 and 3 as well as this Deaf Culture class so I know what Deaf culture is. I find it extremely hard NOW that people can be sooo discriminative towards Deaf people, but at the same time, seeing videos like Children of a Lesser God, if I didn't have the knowledge that I do now I know for a fact the title would have an affect on me. I came into the class with pity for deaf people, I thought that they all wanted to be hearing. These classes have changed me soooo much, I wish everyone would take the time to learn the culture and stop being to judgmental and discriminative.
ReplyDelete-Natalie Krynski
Jordan- I agree with your statement of Sarah doing a great job of voicing her views. Although, like I said in my earlier post, that I wish there was a point in the movie where Sarah got a chance to explain why she was acting the way she was. That she got a chance to explain why she refuses to be vocal and why she didn't want to lip read. they do a great job of showing she is unwilling to do so, but people who don't have the background of the culture may just think she is stubborn, from my point of view the film really is lifted from James side of view, showing and telling all the reasons why it is successful to be vocal and read lips. But I definitely agree when Jordan said "Deaf people DON'T need a hearing person to watch over them. They can be free to be independent and embrace themselves and their culture." They did well in showing that Sarah doesn't look at deafness being a disability at all.
ReplyDeleteJordan-
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing some information on the deaf and religion!
Thanks for your input Natalie! Yeah I really do have to agree with your view that there isn't much said as to WHY she was acting the way she did. Like I said, she did focus a lot on not wanting to have to rely on him and that Deaf people, like her, need to be independent, but now that I think about it...there truly wasn't much information on why she refused to speak. It possibly could have been clarified in the part of the movie that we didn't see. Having that insight would have been helpful for the hearing people watching the film!
ReplyDeleteThe film was about a deaf woman and her struggles to fit in and be accepted by the rest of the world. Like anyone with a disability or challenge, the world in general treats you like a second class citizen if they even acknowledge you at all. I think it is funny when my boyfriend and I used to go out to eat that the waiter/waitress almost always asked me what he wanted to eat. I tell them the paralysis is from his chest down, and his brain is above that, ask him yourself. So it's a saying that reflects the feeling disabled, disfigured, or challenged people have that they are created by a lesser god because they are treated like lesser humans.
ReplyDeleteWho has the true definition of 'normal' anyways?
Kara
I agree with Natalie in, I also wish that Sarah would have explained why she did not want to be vocal nor lip read. I also agree that the film, without knowledge of the Deaf culture, leaned more towards James’ side of view.
ReplyDeleteI think this movie was very beneficial to watch & am very glad we did. It opened up many discussions that I enjoyed.
Kara
I feel that this title was chosen not to mean something literal. I think that this title could of been used to one draw attention to the idea of someone who is not considered worthy in people's eyes. I don't know if this title is appropriate for this movie. I say this because how can we really define the words lesser? Everyone is different but that doesn't mean they are less of a person then someone else. I think that this title is deceiving, when I read Children of a Lesser God, I immediately think of religion. Where this movie has nothing to do with religion at all.
ReplyDeleteI think that this movie only shows a little glimpse of perspective and understanding of a Deaf person. But I'm not even really sure, it showed that. It was more focused on a Deaf woman who was very stubborn and showed a few of her personal struggles as an individual not as a collective whole of Deaf community or culture. Although I do feel that having a Deaf actress did open some more doors for the other Deaf people, so in that light it did show that being Deaf isn't an impairment, it demonstrates that being Deaf you can do anything you want they only difference is that you can't hear.
I think after doing a little research that this title come from a hearing perspective of why would God give people the ability to be Deaf? Why would he have someone struggle so much and have so many problems?
"Children of a Lesser God" is a very bold title for someone to choose. I believe it was chosen more to make a statement and prove a point, rather than be offensive. In our society, it is often more effective to use bold and shocking statements to grab peoples' attention, rather than sugar-coating everything. I think the title was chosen to show the oppression that the Deaf community faces from the hearing community and to make the point that some hearing people think of Deaf people as inferior or flawed. When you use words as bold as these, it really grabs peoples' attention and gives people the chance to be exposed to the real issue of oppression in the Deaf community. When I read the title to my friend, her immediate reaction was shock. Even without knowing what the title was for, she could tell that the title was pertaining to some heavy subject matter.
ReplyDeleteBefore I knew the actual reason behind the title, I initially thought the title meant what it said; which was, these deaf children have a God that inferior to hearing peoples God. Furthermore, there is the line that was draw way back then, and still exists today between deaf and hearing people. I am curious if the idea that deaf people are going to go to hell because they cannot hear the word of God still exists today? I am sure it does, but I wonder if it something that is openly said, or if it is hush hush?
ReplyDeleteI actually did not know the name of the movie until we talked about it in class. I really did not like the name of the title regardless of its meaning. Its offending to me because I am religious, and the idea of a "lesser God" is not flattering.
-Porsche
~Kara
ReplyDeleteI have always liked Monica's definition of normal "Normal is just a setting on a washing machine." I don't remember if she has said that in our class or not, but if she has it's always worth repeating.
I think it means people who are in a situation where they are not treated as well as others. They are set apart.
ReplyDelete