Sound and Fury

Moving, emotionally and morally complex documentary about a family made of a mix of both hearing and deaf members, focusing on two sets of parents. Both have a deaf child, but one set of parents can hear, the other are deaf themselves. The hearing parents want a cochlearimplant for their deaf baby. This angers and alienates the deaf relatives who see the operation as a threat to deaf culture, and a rejection of them as damaged goods.The even more complex story is that of the 5 year old deaf daughter of deaf parents, who wants the implant, and the dilemma that throws the family into, and the way the parents convince themselves denying their daughter the operation is the right thing. At times the style feels just a bit disingenuous; the camera’s being ignored, but clearly its presence is affecting people’s behavior. Also, I wish they had subtitled the sign language, rather than having voice over actors give their own inflection to what’s being said -- which may or may not be accurate readings of the emotions involved.On a second viewing those issues bothered me a bit more, but I also felt more emotion around the confusion and complexity of it all. I could feel sympathy for the fear and hurt of the deaf parents, but not empathy. From my perhaps unfair hearing perspective it seemed like they were trying to deny their daughter an easier and fuller life to cling to their own ideas of deaf culture. I found myself wondering, would blind parents want to keep their child sightless? Would paraplegic parents be tempted to deny their children an operation that could allow them to walk, so that the child could continue to relate to them and their world better? At what point is that abusive or unfair? What about religions or social beliefs that say girls shouldn’t get a higher education, or have jobs?Thus is the power of the film, as it forces us to really ask, in a complex way, how much to children really belong to their parents – without giving a neat or simplistic answer.

The media could not be loaded.  Having watched a number of Docurama documentaries I found this one to be one of its best. When watching it you go back and forth from being positive about cochlear implants to being against them. This film highlights the dilemma that two families face when deciding whether or not to have implants for their children. These families are related by two brothers. Some of the family members are totally deaf and some have normal hearing. The film is aptly named “Sound and Fury.” There is definitely a lot of Sound but there is a lot more Fury as family members argue about the pros and cons of cochlear implants for their children.There are two reasons I didn’t give this documentary five stars. First of all the film is dated, having been made in 2000 and filmed primarily in 1998, over twenty years ago. I’m sure that cochlear implants have improved dramatically since then. I speak from some experience when it comes to technical advances related to one of the five senses, in my case, eyes. I have wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Twenty years ago there were no viable medical procedures available for treating AMD. Today it is entirely different. In 2015 I was declared legally blind but every four months I get eye injections of drugs like Avastin, Lucentis, and Eylea. These drugs have saved my vision, for now at least. Instead of being legally blind (20/200) my vision is now about 20/30.Also, I couldn’t believe this documentary was released with NO subtitles. I have hundreds of DVDs and they all give you the option to use subtitles if you wish. Docurama documentaries do NOT have subtitles available. They should and especially this one, “Sound and Fury.”So watch this film but remember that it is 20 years old. If you are considering a cochlear implant do your own research.

I simply wished to say that the seller of this DVD was very prompt in sending the product and it was received in excellent condition. I would give this seller the best possible rating. I would also like to explain that the DVD came while I was away from my home, and thus the review is late in being posted. However I would like the seller's promptness and the condition of the DVD being excellent, to be added to his reputation for good service to your customers.The subject matter of the DVD was quite interesting to me. My daughter is a school teacher, teaching science to middle school students. She is taking an American Sign Language course as she wishes to teach deaf students. She told me about the DVD as it was presented in her class. I live 1,000 miles from her, so I ordered the DVD to see it myself. I was horrified to see that the Deaf Community is so closed to new technology and so hostile to "sharing" their children with the hearing world. As a mother I cannot IMAGINE not giving my child every opportunity to broaden his or her horizons and allow them to be a part of BOTH communities. I see no reason why, after the cochlear implant has been done and the child has learned to speak properly and with clarity, the deaf parents could not THEN also teach their child American Sign Language, so that the child could be a part of both the hearing and the deaf community. I don't believe the child with the implant would shun his deaf family and the community that he or she is an integral part of by virtue of their being born deaf and then receiving the GIFT of hearing via the cochlear implant. They would simply be bi-lingual as are many children who speak more than one language. This is a GOOD thing, and to deny the deaf child the right to hear, on the basis they may "hurt" the deaf community in some way, is wrong and shows selfishness on the part of the deaf parents/grandparents and community at large, and bigotry against the hearing community. It is an offense against the deaf child's best interests....