{"id":132999,"date":"2015-10-06T11:33:37","date_gmt":"2015-10-06T11:33:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2015\/10\/06\/cass-in-doctor-whos-under-the-lake-deaf\/"},"modified":"2015-10-06T11:33:37","modified_gmt":"2015-10-06T11:33:37","slug":"cass-in-doctor-whos-under-the-lake-deaf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2015\/10\/06\/cass-in-doctor-whos-under-the-lake-deaf\/","title":{"rendered":"Cass in Doctor Who\u2019s\u00a0\u201cUnder the Lake\u201d: Deaf Representation?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"tumblr_blog\" href=\"http:\/\/andreashettle.tumblr.com\/post\/130497375343\" target=\"_blank\">andreashettle<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>If you hate spoilers, be warned: This post may contain some mild spoilers for the Doctor Who episode that aired last night,\u00a0\u201cUnder the Lake\u201d. \u00a0If you haven\u2019t seen it and don\u2019t want to know what to expect when you do, then you may want to skip reading this. \u00a0I don\u2019t go into detail about the plot or what happened in the episode, but I do talk about how a certain character is portrayed.<\/p>\n<p>SPOILER ZONE BEGINS HERE.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>The guest character Cass is a rarity for science fiction: a disabled character. \u00a0More specifically, a deaf character. \u00a0And unlike the usual trope for some sub-genres (I\u2019m thinking of the superhero genre in particular, though Doctor Who isn\u2019t really in that genre), her disability is not used as a convenient excuse or shorthand for being a villain\u2013because she\u2019s not the villain at all. \u00a0Since I\u2019m deaf myself, one of my followers\u2013a fellow Doctor Who fan\u2013has expressed her interest in hearing my opinion about Cass and how her deafness was handled in last night\u2019s episode.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m not going to do an in-depth, blow by blow analysis. \u00a0For that, I would usually want to watch the episode a second time and take more detailed notes because sometimes I pick up on things the second time through that I missed the first time. \u00a0But that would involve investing extra time, and then I might not get to it at all. \u00a0So all that follows is just my immediate, off-the-cuff reactions.<\/p>\n<h2><b>Things I liked<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Cass is a real person. \u00a0Not, of course, in the sense of being a non-fictional character. \u00a0I mean, in the sense of someone with a sufficiently well-created, multi-dimensional personality that you can easily believe someone like her <i>could<\/i> exist. \u00a0Not deeply complex or nuanced, because it\u2019s hard to get into nuances when a character has only been on the screen for (so far) a single episode. \u00a0But as far as you can get in the amount of screen time she has had.<\/li>\n<li>She wasn\u2019t just about being the deaf woman. \u00a0She had plenty of other traits not related to being deaf.<\/li>\n<li>Sure, in some ways, her character did fit into certain tropes. \u00a0But the tropes were not deaf-related tropes, they were tropes about leaders during crisis. \u00a0Cass is tough and is able to reach fast, but logically sound decisions during crisis\u2013like many characters of leaders during crisis. \u00a0She is also fiercely loyal to, and protective of, the group of people she commands. \u00a0Although these tropes are common to leaders during crisis in fiction, they are very much <i>not<\/i> common to characters with disabilities, for the simple reason that disabled characters are not ordinarily leaders.<\/li>\n<li>Cass is in charge! \u00a0Not that all disabled characters <i>have<\/i> to be in charge, of course. \u00a0But as rare as it is to see a disabled character on the screen at all, it is even more rare to see someone in a reasonably responsible position. \u00a0And more rare still for that responsible position to involve being a boss who makes key decisions. \u00a0Including during times of fast-moving, life-and-death crisis! \u00a0<\/li>\n<li>It is usually assumed that people with disabilities are always automatically more vulnerable during crisis and just a burden who makes it harder for the rest of the group to protect themselves as well as the poor disabled person in distress. \u00a0It is, thus, also usually assumed that disabled people need to be kept far away from situations of crisis\u2013both in real life and in fictional situations of crisis as well. \u00a0On one hand, <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/people-with-disability-should-be-included-as-equal-partners-in-disaster-planning-38718\" target=\"_blank\">disability<\/a> and the failure of others to provide <a href=\"http:\/\/preparecenter.org\/topics\/disability-inclusive-disaster-preparedness\" target=\"_blank\">reasonable accommodations for disability<\/a> in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncd.gov\/publications\/2006\/Aug072006\" target=\"_blank\">crisis planning and response<\/a> can and often does <a href=\"http:\/\/www.un.org\/disabilities\/default.asp?id=1546\" target=\"_blank\">increase our risk of harm during times of crisis<\/a>. \u00a0But on the other hand, It is never considered that some of us might\u00a0<i>also<\/i>, simultaneously, have areas of strength unrelated to our disabilities that allow us to be genuinely useful to a group during crisis as long as our needs are accommodated. \u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Cass is not only the person the charge, she is intelligent\u2013even the Doctor says that she is more intelligent than anyone else in the room when he\u2019s not in it. \u00a0Those of you who watch Doctor Who know that\u2019s pretty high praise coming from him. \u00a0She isn\u2019t quite able to keep up with the Doctor, but that\u2019s because none of us mere, less-clever humans are capable of that. \u00a0Despite her inexperience with the weird, alien-related dangerous things that keep happening around the Doctor, she is still able to feel her way to some of the questions that need to be asked and make some of the fast decisions that need to be made.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Things I didn\u2019t like<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>I hated, hated, hated, the way that the role of the sign language interpreter was portrayed. \u00a0Listen: sign language interpreters are not supposed to say,\u00a0\u201cshe said this, she said that.\u201d \u00a0They\u2019re only supposed to interpret what the person actually says. \u00a0The only time they should use the phrase,\u00a0\u201cShe said this,\u201d in interpreting is if someone actually uses that phrase.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Completely made up example:<\/p>\n<p><b>Andrea (in ASL):<\/b>\u00a0 I think I saw a ghost<\/p>\n<p><b>Interpreter (interpreting from ASL to English): <\/b>I think I saw a ghost.<\/p>\n<p><b>Somebody Else (in English, while looking at Andrea because they completely understand that Andrea is the person who was actually speaking):<\/b>\u00a0 When you saw the ghost, did you scream?<\/p>\n<p><b>Interpreter (interpreting from English to ASL): <\/b>When you saw the ghost, did you scream?<\/p>\n<p><b>Andrea (in ASL, while looking at Somebody Else because Andrea completely understands that it was Somebody Else speaking, not the interpreter): <\/b>\u00a0Gosh, no. \u00a0I was too busy quaking in fear to scream because I\u2019m not an awesome badass like Cass. \u00a0I\u2019m just glad that this is a completely made up conversation and that I didn\u2019t actually see a ghost. \u00a0I think Cass saw the ghost too, but I\u2019m guessing probably she said,\u00a0\u201cHeck no, I don\u2019t scare that easily.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><b>Interpreter (interprets everything from ASL to English, saying\u00a0\u201cI\u201d when Andrea said\u00a0\u201cI\u201d, saying\u00a0\u201cshe said\u201d when Andrea said\u00a0\u201cshe said\u201d and so on).<\/b><\/p>\n<p>An interpreter\u2019s job is to interpret. \u00a0When a professional interpreter is serving in the role of an interpreter, they are ethically obligated not to participate in the conversation on their own behalf\u00a0<i>precisely<\/i> to help avoid any confusion about who is actually saying\u00a0\u201cI think I saw a ghost\u201d or whatever the statement is. \u00a0This is an important principle that is heavily drilled into interpreters during interpreter training programs and is also spelled out in the interpreter professional code of ethics for many languages in many countries. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>I realize that many hearing people are new to using an interpreter and this is why many hearing people are easily confused about who is doing the actual speaking. \u00a0Or at least they are the first time they use an interpreter. \u00a0But once they gain some experience in this, they get used to it and don\u2019t find it so hard to keep remembering that them hearing the interpreter\u2019s voice means that the deaf person is speaking in sign language. \u00a0I\u2019ve seen hearing people go through this learning curve a zillion times, so I know it can be done and isn\u2019t actually as confusing as some people seem to think\u2013when they\u2019re still new to it.<\/p>\n<p>But it doesn\u2019t help inexperienced hearing people get pass this learning curve when television and other popular media keep showing fictional interpreters doing it all wrong. \u00a0This is a great example of why TV (and film) producers really should be consulting with deaf people when they want to show deaf characters\u2013and sign language interpreters\u2013on the screen.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Another thing I hated: \u00a0I really hated how the camera kept disrespecting Cass\u2019s language just because it was expressed via the hands instead of the voice. \u00a0I didn\u2019t understand most of her signs\u2013because I use American Sign Language (ASL), not British Sign Language (BSL), which, yes, is a completely different language with very little shared vocabulary because neither ASL nor BSL is based on English at all. \u00a0But it still would have been nice to see the camera <i>respecting the language<\/i> by clearly showing all of Cass\u2019s lines on the screen, and not just some of them in haphazard in-and-out fashion. \u00a0Sometimes we saw her face but her hands were cut off so we still couldn\u2019t see the signs. \u00a0Sometimes she wasn\u2019t on the screen at all.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This is, sadly, a common problem on the few occasions that any fictional character in any genre is a signing deaf person. \u00a0Even for television shows where you would think that the camera people and producers should have learned better by now, like <a href=\"http:\/\/abcfamily.go.com\/shows\/switched-at-birth\" target=\"_blank\">Switched at Birth<\/a>. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Yes, I realize that it is common in television and film for cameras to switch between focusing on the person who is speaking and the person or people who are listening to them to capture their reactions. \u00a0But, spoken languages allow for that because the spoken lines can still be heard even when the camera isn\u2019t on the speaker, and the speaker\u2019s tone of voice and emotions can also still be heard. \u00a0Signed languages just don\u2019t work that way. \u00a0To follow a signed conversation, the eyes need to stay on the person who is speaking. \u00a0When filming a person who is signing, the same rules should still apply: the camera should stay on the person signing. \u00a0The camera should only cut away from them for the reaction shots during natural pauses in the signer\u2019s lines. \u00a0It\u2019s an insult to the language to make it so impossible for deaf viewers who know the language to follow along.<\/p>\n<p>Reporters and photo journalists learn certain rules of etiquette in photography: one of them is that, when you take a picture of an athlete, you need to show the full body in the shot\u2013head shots are usually avoided, especially if you are showing them in uniform or during athletic activities. \u00a0Athletes are about keeping their bodies fit, frequently muscular, and in shape, and you\u2019re supposed to show the whole person from head to toes in the shot so people can see how good they are at keeping their bodies in good athletic condition. \u00a0Well, there should also be a certain etiquette in photography and filming when showing a signing person on the screen: Never, ever, ever allow their hands to be cut off. \u00a0Always, always, <i>always<\/i> keep their hands inside the frame of the shot. \u00a0Usually the best way to do this is to ensure that the camera always includes the person\u2019s full signing space inside the frame. \u00a0Most signs are executed within a certain space around the body running from about one foot (30 centimeters) above the head down to about the belly button area, and from about one foot (30 cm) outwards to the side from each shoulder. \u00a0Only a few signs are likely to involve the hands going further outside this typical signing space, and then usually only if the person signing is emotionally agitated in some way because signing people who are angry or excited or upset or whatever sometimes make their signs a lot bigger in the same way that many speaking people talk louder when they are angry or excited. \u00a0For a scripted show, it should be easy enough to avoid the problem either by instructing the actor to stay within signing space, or\u2013if it is determined that the character is <i>supposed<\/i> to be agitated and making really large signs in a particular scene\u2013by instructing the camera people to be prepared for a wider than usual shot to accommodate this.<\/p>\n<p>There are deaf film makers out there (google names like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/JuliaDameron\/videos\" target=\"_blank\">Jules Dameron<\/a> <a class=\"tumblelog\" href=\"http:\/\/tmblr.co\/mS1H4amvxD_U5ZeL-7wAEog\" target=\"_blank\">@julesdameron<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/VelmaSabina\/videos\" target=\"_blank\">Sabina England<\/a> as just two examples, trying exploring the #DeafTalent tag in Twitter and elsewhere to find more). \u00a0There have even been deaf produced talk shows or news shows (google for Deaf Mosaic, as one example of something I used to watch back in the 1980s and 1990s, but there are more). \u00a0If you ever have the opportunity to watch something produced by a deaf film maker, pay attention to how deaf people\u2019s bodies and their language are treated by the camera, and compare to examples of how hearing camera people and producers treat deaf people\u2019s bodies and language when producing for mainstream television or film. \u00a0The way most hearing people do it\u2013including in last night\u2019s episode of Doctor Who\u2013is often disrespectful to us and our language and, personally, I found it offensive. \u00a0Unfortunately, as I noted further above, it\u2019s a common offense.<\/p>\n<h2><b>Summary:<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>Although there were aspects I didn\u2019t like (explained above), it was still refreshing to see a deaf character who fell outside of the usual tropes for most other deaf or disabled characters in television. \u00a0Since last night\u2019s episode was apparently the first in a two-part story arc, I will be interested in seeing further developments next week Saturday when the second part airs in the United States.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>andreashettle: If you hate spoilers, be warned: This post may contain some mild spoilers for the Doctor Who episode that aired last night,\u00a0\u201cUnder the Lake\u201d. \u00a0If you haven\u2019t seen it and don\u2019t want to know what to expect when you do, then you may want to skip reading this. \u00a0I don\u2019t go into detail about &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2015\/10\/06\/cass-in-doctor-whos-under-the-lake-deaf\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Cass in Doctor Who\u2019s\u00a0\u201cUnder the Lake\u201d: Deaf Representation?&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[9562,15528,13,10639,4],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132999"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132999"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132999\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}