Brunswick High School’s Dual Enrollment English 101 course was given an assignment to write a persuasive essay about a topic of their choosing. The Garnet & Gold Gazette staff chose their top 10 editorials to publish on our site. Staff used elements of news such as proximity, reader impact, human interest, and prominence within our community to publish relevant and enticing information on our site. 

The essays chosen did an amazing job informing readers on the content and creating persuasive arguments on the chosen topics.

“Silent Films”

Imagine that you were forced to wear an enormous, headache-inducing pair of glasses every time you wanted to enjoy a new movie in theaters. Or carry around a lanky mini-screen, distracting your eyes from the plot, just so you could understand the dialogue. These devices are what most movie theaters in the United States consider “accessible” and “equal” for the deaf and hard-of-hearing communities; however, modern captioning devices are anything but. Luckily, there is one simple step that theaters could take to ensure that their screenings are unrestricted to everyone: open captioning. Open captions should be on every movie screening at theaters because they are the most accessible option for all. 

As a Child of Deaf Adults, or CODA (as we like to say), I have seen my parents struggle time and time again when wanting to watch an enticing movie at the theater. It seems as though there is always an issue with the devices: broken, not connected to the internet, not synced with the right movie or the right timing—you get the idea. Even worse, there have been countless times where the theater doesn’t have enough devices for the amount of people who need them or the devices aren’t even offered for the movie we want to watch. My parents recently had to miss out on a family viewing of Top Gun: Maverick because of that last reason. Even if we were able to score a working captioning device, there are still many issues that arise. The screen-type captioning devices require my parents to divert their eyes (a.k.a. Their source of hearing) to the device just to understand the dialogue. This produces many unintentional plot holes in their mind as their eyes dart from screen to screen. If my parents use the captioning glasses, they might be able to follow the plot easier, but the equipment’s bulkiness and uncomfortability produce a less-than-desirable viewing experience. At this point, it feels like we are trying to drive a car without a steering wheel. The vast majority of people in the deaf and hard-of-hearing communities feel the same way as me and my family – why even try going to movies if they will just be unenjoyable?

The only solution to this accessibility issue is one that is fairly simple: open captioning all movies. Open captioning entails having the dialogue of the movie typed in a small, readable font at the bottom of the screen (similar to how it would look if you pressed the closed captioning button at the bottom of a YouTube video). Some people may argue that having open captions on the movie screen would be distracting from the movie itself; however, many studies have proven otherwise. Take an example from The Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, where it states, “…students treated captions as a core delivery method…” (Morris et al. 231). In this study, hearing students experienced the information withholding benefit of captioning. Captions have been proven time and time again to improve understanding and comprehension of the plot, as well as inform the moviegoer of any missed dialogue. 

I am tired of “accessibility” being used as a buzzword for the countless theaters that utilize captioning devices over open captions. True accessibility for the deaf and hard of hearing communities at movie theaters does not come from uncomfortable and bothersome handouts. True accessibility in movie theaters is open captioning, allowing these communities to have the same movie experience as everyone else. Until that is achieved, my family will enjoy watching new films at home. 

Works Cited:

Morris et al. “Closed Captioning Matters: Examining the Value of Closed Captioning for All Students.” 

          Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability. Association on Higher Education and Disability. 2016.