The release of Marvel’s Eternals on November 5th marked a huge milestone for d/Deaf representation. It features Lauren Ridloff, a d/Deaf actress born to hearing parents, best known for her role as Connie on The Walking Dead, appearing as the first d/Deaf superhero in a feature length film. Makkari, her character, uses American Sign Language to communicate throughout.
Not only is this a groundbreaking first, but the exposure to American Sign Language and the d/Deaf community has meant that, since Ridloff’s role was revealed, there has been a 250% increase in the internet search “learn sign language for beginners”. Also, since the beginning of November, searches for Ridloff have increased by a whopping 550%.
Speaking to The New York Times, Ridloff talks about how much this role means to her and her family: “It means my two boys, who are also deaf, will grow up in a world where there are superheroes who are deaf. It means they’ll be able to dream a bit more wildly.” Her husband, Douglas Ridloff, is an American Sign Language coach who worked on A Quiet Place and teamed up with his wife to help teach the cast of Eternals ASL. The pair also chose unique signs, such as the superhero names, to use for the film.
Ridloff has received an influx of messages from d/Deaf and hard of hearing people who are thrilled to see their language being represented on the big screen. She hopes that this is another push to normalise subtitles, something that is crucial for the media to become accessible. However, crowdfunders have had to be set up to raise money for theatres to include open-captioned viewing options, so it is clear that these accessibility options still need to become widely available in order for the d/Deaf community to be able to enjoy such a groundbreaking moment.
"We're an afterthought in movie theaters, and that needs to change. You have to use a special closed-captioning device to watch subtitling in a theater, and it's a headache, because most of the time the devices don't work. Then you have to go back to the front desk and find somebody to help, and by the time they figure it out that it's not working — that it's not going to be subtitled at all — the movie's halfway done." [Ridloff on the lack of accessibility options in theatres]
Ridloff also talks about the term Deaf Gain, and how important it is to introduce it into everyday conversation. Rather than being seen as a disadvantage, her deafness was helpful when shooting scenes where her character uses a ‘sonic boom’ because the other crew members needed to wear earplugs to protect their eardrums and were uncomfortable by the loudness of the sound, but this didn’t faze Ridloff at all. This is very similar to the ways in which Rose Ayling-Ellis’ deafness becomes an advantage on Strictly Come Dancing, as she has a hyper-awareness of body language and increased muscle memory - if you haven’t checked out that post written by El last week, do check it out! Ridloff also uses a laser pointer to signal when ‘action’ is called during scenes if she is not facing the camera.
"the idea [that] there's something that she is capable of doing and experiencing with the world that I don't have a chance to experience. And that's something so beautiful." [Director Chloé Zhao on Deaf Gain]
Although Eternals has received some mixed reviews from audiences, it’s clear that Lauren Ridloff stands out as providing crucial representation for the d/Deaf culture and community. This will hopefully lead to more d/Deaf actors being cast in film and television, and inspire more people to begin learning sign language. As well as this, it should highlight the need for greater accessibility in cinemas and film.
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