Chapter 63

        It was great to learn about how movies affect deaf people.  I had never thought about how great silent movies would have been for deaf people but after reading this chapter, "moviegoers enjoyed quality...and when it came to following the plot and dialogue, deaf people were at no disadvantage" (pg 371).  Also, I did not realize that Deaf people worked with the silent movies, working as the technical crew and as performers.  When silent movies were replaced by the "talkies", Deaf people had to look for alternatives in order to keep up with the mainstream films.

        One way for films to be accessible for deaf audiences was through subtitles and captions.  Before reading this chapter, I had used these terms interchangeably, not really understanding the differences between them.  However, I now understand that subtitles are used to translate dialogue into different languages, while captions are used to explain sound effects and who is talking.  

        In addition, the six alternatives for watching mainstream movies were very interesting.  They included action movies, read the book first, subtitled foreign films, wait until the captioned DVD is released, TRIPOD, and silent films.  These all show that there are many great ways for deaf people to be included in the film world.  However, I think it is a little disappointing that in most scenarios, deaf people have to use alternatives to watch the movie instead of being able to just go see a mainstream movie without any issues.