If you haven’t seen CODA yet on Apple TV, go out and make sure you can stream it. It’s that good.
What’s it about?
CODA is about a family in Gloucester, Massachusetts. The parents and the son cannot hear. Ruby, the daughter and protagonist in the movie, was the only hearing member of the family. The teenager helped her family with their fishing business. Every morning at 3 am, she would go on the boat with her father and brother. She would negotiate deals for them and then, she would go to school.
After joining the high school choir, she realized that her dream was to be a singer. Her choir coach picks her up as a private client because he “believed in her.”
The conflict – should Ruby go to college or stay with her family business to help them out.
What I thought
CODA made me think about my family and our history of hearing impairment or hearing loss. My sister was deaf in one ear and throughout her life, she had a hard time hearing properly.
But it went even further than that. My cousins, who used to stay with my family during the summers, parents were both profoundly deaf. Therefore, the children had to learn sign language and were able to communicate with their parents that way. CODA reminded me of my cousin’s upbringing.
Interestingly, throughout the movie, the audience would see the world through the eyes of the parents. You would see people talking or arguing, but as you watched, there would be complete silence.
In CODA, Ruby talks to her singing coach about how she never learned to talk right because her family was deaf. That made me think…
When I asked one of my cousins how the kids learned to talk, she told me that her grandmother and her uncle were always around talking to the kids so they learned from them.
Why this is important
CODA won multiple Oscars and deserved them. But, most importantly, they brought up the issues of hearing impairment to the forefront.
With more than 600,000 people deaf in this country, bringing to light issues that people with hearing impairments face is important. It also gave me a greater appreciation for my cousins. Because any Child of a Deaf Adult (CODA) who dealt with challenges and obstacles, needs to be admired.
Tell me your thoughts on the movie in the comment section below.
