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Thoughts on Deaf Jam

HarryT's picture

I really enjoyed Deaf Jam. I think actually seeing deaf culture instead of just reading about it made me realize how similar deaf people were to any others. I feel like deaf culture suggests a more different culture than I saw in the movie; The movie helped me better see deaf people just as people. 

I liked the way the movie tried to portray ASL poetry, putting the words next to the signs on their hands, and changing and moving the words the same way the poets move the signs. I think it really helps gives the viewer an understanding of how ASL poetry is so different from spoken poetry. During the movie, I actually forgot that I still was only getting an interpretation of ASL poetry, not the actual thing. Our view of ASL poetry, even with those visualizations, is not the same as the view of it from someone who actually knows ASL.