March 29, 2022 - 10:47
It was such a treat to watch CODA and I'm really glad that I watched it. I really enjoyed the story itself; the romance, coming of age, growth of characters, and growth of relationships. I thought it is an interesting choice to have Ruby kind of be the main character--the one whose story lines we seemed to follow the most--when she was the only hearing person in the family. It allowed us to see the unique experience and issues that Ruby has to face as a child/young adult acting as a translator for her family. Her role was more than a translater, though. Ruby took on a lot of responsibility for her family's well-being by stepping into this role mediating between her family and the business community. It was interesting to see how the family grew when they considered life without Ruby. Her brother, in particular, pointed out that Roby has been helping them blend into the community and function with proximity to normalcy, but that that burden can also be extended to the community-- let them figure out how to talk to us, rather than us always catering to them! I would love a version of this movie where we follow the brother Leo's experiences and life; he grew as a character in experessing how he felt about his familial role, hanging out with the hearing fishermen, the romance, and encouraging Ruby to follow her singing dreams.