Photo by Samantha Gades on Unsplash
Historically, the Deaf Community began to see widespread representation during the silent film era. Making the media normalize ASL and other ways to communicate outside of vocalization. And giving equal opportunities to Deaf actors because silent films were not focused on sound.
The silent film era saw filmmakers focus on visual storytelling. Advancements in technology, during the film boom, led to the so-called “Talkies.” While the Deaf had previously thrived in the film industry with their natural talent for exuberant facial expressions and telling body language, the Deaf Community was now excluded completely from film as sound was introduced.” (Hamilton & Egbert, 2024, p. 2)
Introducing sound has created a comparison between audio and visuals. Bad audio is worse for consumers than bad video. John Buday explains,
“I’ve learned the ultimate sin you can commit is recording bad audio. The audio component of any video is the most important factor in maintaining immersion. Bad audio will inevitably prompt the viewer to see the video in a negative light, often viewing the product as amateur or unprofessional.”
The ‘ultimate sin’ is a topic of forums and YouTube videos. Content creators are the authors of online discourse. As the media has shifted away from traditional film and television in favor of personal brands, this shift has created problems with performing authenticity and inviting parasocial relationships with viewers.
In traditional media, “shows individuals with HL and D/deaf people being engaged, often alongside others, in an activity (e.g., dancing, celebrating, cooking, acting) or in the act of communicating through signing, having an interpreter, or interacting with hearing individuals. Thus, whether engaging with viewers through a direct gaze (e.g., Fig 1) or engaging with other people or in actions (e.g., Fig 2), individuals with HL are depicted as agentive and socially involved individuals.” (Fawcett-Jones, 2026, p. 7)
Photo by JC Gellidon on Unsplash
With a direct gaze, “There are also clear interactions between gaze and other social cues. Attractive faces paired with direct gaze engage brain systems linked to reward [44], but participants judged smiling faces with direct gaze or neutral faces with averted gaze as more attractive than smiling/averted or neutral/direct faces [45].” (Hamilton, 2016)
This concept applies to the media, even though it was studied from individuals interacting physically with others; the media reaches more people simultaneously. “A single exposure to a mediated stereotype can create a cognitive link between a social group and a stereotypical trait (Dixon, 2007; Gilliam, Iyengar, Simon, & Wright, 1996; Peffley, Shields,& Williams, 1996). When triggered by media, this link may immediately influence cognitive, attitudinal, or behavioral decisions (Dixon 2002, p. 248).
In the pursuit of representation, NAD CEO Howard Rosenblum said, “Integrating American Sign Language into the performance of the National Anthem during the pregame not only raises awareness of ASL, but it also helps to ensure that this iconic event is inclusive for all Americans.” (Ford, 2014)
“The National Anthem at the 2014 Super Bowl Amber Zion, a Deaf performer, gracefully showcased her rendition of the anthem; she was a “prisoner of the bubble” on screen (131). Hearing people thought she was merely interpreting the lyrics to our national anthem, when in reality, she was presenting it in her own language as a visual poem.”
The misreading of the situation is an example of language barriers, with ASL having a different syntax from English. And “the decision to trap her in a small section of the screen as if she were nothing but a glorified captioning system, stating this action.” (Hamilton & Egbert, 2024, p. 2) Being “glorified” can make someone a token or a mark of progress in inclusion, while erasing differences within that culture to fit the mold of a token identity.
“And yet modernist notions of identity remain important, in which structural constraints limit the range of identity claims one can make, and the ability to have these legitimized by others remains important. For these young people, both ‘race’ and being deaf may pose important structural barriers to be faced in acquiring sufficient cultural capital to have identity claims respected; conversely, they may be the predominant symbols of identification.” (Hamilton 2016)
References
Bunday, J. (2023, May 19). Bad audio ruins great video – My first lesson on recording video. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/bad-audio-ruins-great-video-my-first-lesson-recording-john-buday/
Dixon, T. L. (2002). Media stereotypes: content, effects, and theory. In M. B. Oliver, A. Raney, & J. Bryant (Eds.), Media Effects: Advances in theory and research (4th ed., pp. 243-251). Routledge.
Fawcett-Jones,, S., Putland, E., Calvert, Broome, S., Henshaw, H., Dening, T., Burgon, C., & Hefferman, E. (2026). Smashing through barriers”? A multimodal critical discourse analysis of media representations of hearing loss and D/deafness. Public Library of Science ONE, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0342462
Ford, S., & The National Association of the Deaf. (2014, January 27). Actress Amber Zion selected to bring the beauty of American Sign Language to Super Bowl Sunday. America’s Charities. https://www.charities.org/news/actress-amber-zion-selected-bring-beauty-american-sign-language-super-bowl-sunday/
Hamilton, K. M., & Egbert, L. (2024). The misrepresentation of American sign language and Deaf culture in mainstream film media: A call for inclusive representation. Global Insight, 4, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.32855/globalinsight.2024.001