Deaf Pagan Crossroads

This is the second of my posts focusing on the February 3rd airing of the CSI episode on “The Two Mrs. Grissoms” featuring several Deaf actors and actresses.

I put up a post on my Facebook wall asking others what they thought about the February 3rd airing of the CSI crime drama episode which featured several Deaf actresses/actors.

Among the comments I received, “Deaf Dude” had this to say:

Osh.. It was entertaining. However there are few things I wished it didn’t have. Casting Marlee as sex starved cougar. Oh well (seems that the script writers see her or deaf folks sex obessed). One line made me cringe was “society throws money at deaf.” That not true. Secondly I was fascinated how Grassroot Deaf Community’s take on the ending “sexpot”. I know Gil was giving meaning how older civilization usually write their sexual conquests in jars. (Greeks, Romans etc) His humor and play of words “sexpot” nuance is totally misinterpreted by grassroots – they thought “oh sex and weed” – (their take on that). Sexpot is 1950 slang of sexy lady etc. I could see that how it “missed the point” when I reviewed grassroots postings on FB. Frelich and Matlin should have put more consultation to scriptwriters to bring it more “accurate cultural tones”. Oh well hope the hearing viewers see it as pure entertainment…not actual reflection of us.

The comment about Deaf people being portrayed as “sex-obsessed” is an interesting one. It reminds me of the scene in Children of a Lesser God where Sarah talks about her relationships with hearing boys and how sex was the one thing she could do as well – or even better – than hearing girls. Are Deaf people sex-obsessed? I don’t think we are…any more than society itself is. But this does make you think… do people tend to view Deaf individuals – as well as other individuals with disabilities – as being somehow asexual and thus living totally sexless lives? And then when they find out that Deafies enjoy making whoopee as much as the next person, they are so surprised by such a revelation that the pendulum swings in the opposite direction, and we get labeled as sexual deviants?

I too noticed the comment about how “society throws money at the Deaf,” and I also cringed. Of course, the character was saying this in anger to justify his actions, but it still leaves a mark. Is this in fact how society views us? That we do in fact just get money thrown at us – in the form of disability checks or Medicare; free telecommunications equipment and relay services; in the cost of providing sign language interpreters and other needed accommodations? Whether or not this statement is true, we have to consider whether or not this is the perception held of us by others.

As much as I hate to say it, I have a sickening feeling that this is in fact how certain members of society do view us.

I’m reminded of a Letter to the Editor that I wrote which was published in our local newspaper. One of the comments to it stated

Get a grip, this is Evansville Indiana. Not Chicago, Los Angeles, New York or some other major sewer system. This is a real city with real people. Enjoy your disability check, lower your expectations and be careful about putting in applications… you may end up with a job.

“Enjoy my disability check.” Is this an example of assuming that I’m getting money thrown at me? It’s the wrong assumption – I’m not living on disability. And even if I was, it wouldn’t be “free money”…but benefits that I have earned from being gainfully employed over the past thirty years.

As for the misunderstandings by the Grassroots Deaf Community thinking “sex pot” referred to the combination of copulation and cannibis, I cannot say anything in regards to this, as I have not seen such comments myself. Of course, it does highlight the struggles that some Deaf people have with English and especially with English idioms.

As for whether or not the audience will recognize this program for what it is… I would like to hope that the American public is smart enough to know better than to rely on a TV show to teach them all the facts about deafness. Let’s face it – television isn’t known for realistic portrayals of many characters, let alone members of the Deaf Community. Even those so called “reality shows” tend to be more fiction than fact.

“The Two Mrs. Grissoms” episode of CSI was indeed entertainment. Enjoyable, yes. And certainly there were aspects of it that were educational. But it could have been done better.