Inclusive Movies Centered Around Deaf Characters On The Rise

By Daniel Tucker, Meha Ahmad
In this Nov. 10, 2017 photo, actress Millicent Simmonds poses for a portrait in Los Angeles. Simmonds, who stars in the film, “Wonderstruck,” was named as one of 2017’s breakthrough entertainers by the Associated Press.
In this Nov. 10, 2017 photo, actress Millicent Simmonds poses for a portrait in Los Angeles. Simmonds, who stars in the film, "Wonderstruck," was named as one of 2017's breakthrough entertainers by the Associated Press. Rebecca Cabage/Invision / AP Photo
In this Nov. 10, 2017 photo, actress Millicent Simmonds poses for a portrait in Los Angeles. Simmonds, who stars in the film, “Wonderstruck,” was named as one of 2017’s breakthrough entertainers by the Associated Press.
In this Nov. 10, 2017 photo, actress Millicent Simmonds poses for a portrait in Los Angeles. Simmonds, who stars in the film, "Wonderstruck," was named as one of 2017's breakthrough entertainers by the Associated Press. Rebecca Cabage/Invision / AP Photo

Inclusive Movies Centered Around Deaf Characters On The Rise

By Daniel Tucker, Meha Ahmad
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In the near future, any sound above a whisper can kill. At least that’s the premise of the new film A Quiet Place, starring Emily Blunt and the film’s director John Krasinski. The film follows the Abbott family in a post-apocalyptic future, where blind aliens with incredibly sensitive hearing track their prey — in this case, the human race — by hearing even the smallest sound. The Abbotts manage to avoid attracting the aliens’ attentions because with a deaf daughter, played by Millicent Simmonds, they’ve learned to largely communicate using American Sign Language.

Following critically-acclaimed films like  Wonderstruck ,  The Shape of Water , The Tribe ,  The Silent Child , and  Baby Driver — A Quiet Place  is the latest in a growing list of movies in recent years to feature main characters who are deaf or exhibit some form of hearing loss.

Morning Shift talks to Lennard Davis,  a professor in the English Department in the School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago,  and a specialist in disability studies,  about this cinematic trend.