"Where have all the captions gone?"
That was the cry of those of us in the hearing loss and Deaf community of Kansas City the past three months. For years, the largest theater chain in town, AMC Entertainment, led the way in providing captioned films here week after week. That is, until the dawn of digial movie formats this year. When theaters discarded the 100-year-old tradition of showing 35-millimeter films to all digital format, captioning those films was an after-thought.
Finally, FINALLY... After a summer-long absence, captioned movies are BACK in my hometown. "Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of G'Hoole" (PG) is showing in rearview-captioned and descriptive video formats this week at an AMC theater down the road.
As co-founder of the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) Chapter in Kansas City, I've recently rallied with other members, most notably Terri Shirley, in advocating for these movie captions. Captions allow those of us who are hearing challenged to understand movie dialogue in a way that headphones and asking the person next to us to repeat something can't. In a perfect world, all movies would come in open-captioned format, with the subtitles printed on the film, instead of rearview-captioned, requiring a reflective device that fits inside your theater seat's cupholder.
Our HLAA Chapter's first effort was a recent meeting with Dan Glennon, manager at the AMC Studio 30 theater in Olathe, Kansas, a Kansas City suburb that has since brought back captioned films. Studio 30 is the first AMC location to provide captioned movies in Kansas City that supports the all-digital format. Glennon said he is on board with providing these captioned film choices. However, the summer-long delay in providing captioning service was out of his hands. Thank movie studios producing and delivering the films, outside vendors providing necessary technology for rearview captioned digital films, and corporate red tape for that.
During the meeting, Glennon was presented with hearing loss and Deaf community statistics, compiled by an amazing advocate for the local Deaf and hearing loss community, Sandra Kelly, executive director of the Deaf Cultural Center in Kansas City. Among Kelly's findings:
* Though no one maintains the statistics on hearing loss of adults in the area, because the Kansas School for the Deaf is located in Olathe (and has been since 1866), there is a significantly larger population of individuals with hearing loss that live in the area.
* It has been estimated that there may be several thousand Deaf individuals in the Greater Kansas City area. This does not include individuals who are considered hard of hearing.
* There is an estimated 34-37 millions individuals in the U.S. with hearing loss significant enough that it affects their daily lives.
* Of these individuals, two-thirds of them are under the age of 65.
* Hearing loss within a family affects everyone, not just the person with the loss. Family members without the hearing loss are very aware of businesses and organizations that are supportive of this challenge. It is not only the person unable to hear that is considered the consumer. It includes his family, co-workers and others aware of the support from businesses.
* Visitors to the Deaf Cultural Center have come from every state in the Union, as well as, many countries from around the world. The numbers have more than tripled from three years ago. It would be difficult to estimate how many of these people have hearing loss, but Kelly estimates at least 50 percent. Again, it is the family and friends of Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals who often accompany these folks.
* Ninety percent of Deaf children are born into hearing families. Parents of these children are looking for equal access to entertainment.
* Last year Olathe was identified in an online survey with Deaf411.com as one of the most Deaf Friendly communities in the Midwest. This is a "draw" to people around the country.
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I need all of my blog readers, whether you are hard of hearing, Deaf, or hearing, to contact your local movie theaters and encourage them to show captioned movies. Cite the statistics above, or visit any of these sites for advocacy information:
CCAC for Captioning Advocacy Now
Hearing Loss Association of America, Kansas City Chapter
Hearing Loss Association of America - National Web site
2 comments:
Oh thank you for this post! I am hearing impaired and just went to see this movie with my kids. Several minutes into it, I leaned over to my 11 year old and said, "I can't understand anything they are saying." He asked, "Nothing?" I replied, "pretty much." I rely heavily on lip reading but I don't read beaks! I did not understand at least 98% of what was said in the movie and am waiting for the DVD so I can have CC. I live in the Phoenix metro area and no closed caption on movies. It's crazy! And there is a deaf school just down the street from the theatre! You have given me the nudge to see what I can do to bring CC to my local theatre! THank you!
Angie - I applaud you for taking the time to contact your local theaters about captioned movies. Please know you are not alone... encouragement and support are here if you need it. Many blessings in your endeavor!
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