To Hear Or Not To Hear

After watching this film I felt like I learned a lot. I had always thought that my viewpoint coming into the subject of cochlear implants was obviously the right choice. Why wouldn’t anyone want this procedure done to him or her if it meant the difference between being deaf and hearing? But after the movie had concluded I was forced to reevaluate my stance. I don’t know a thing about being deaf or what its like to live around deaf people, I don’t even know anybody that is deaf. Because of this, I realized that it would be extremely narrow minded of me to think about it soley from my personal point of view and this movie opened my eyes to how the other side lives.

In the documentary, Sound and Fury, the little girl Heather wanted to get a cochlear device so that she could be like her hearing friends. Because Heather’s mother and father are both deaf this lead to some family between the deaf parents and the hearing grandparents. Personally I think it should be up to the parents of the child to decide whether or not to have a surgical procedure as serious as a cochlear implant. Parents like the ones that Heather had, obviously cared for her and believed that they were doing the right thing for their daughter. They didn’t want her to lose the knowledge and ability to connect with the deaf community. They didn’t believe that it was going to be possible to effectively live in both the hearing and deaf world at the same time. That does not mean however, that they were completely right in their decision of not getting the implant.

The grandparents of Heather had some really good points on why it would be the right thing to get the implant. They believed that by not giving her this option it would severely limit her abilities to succeed in the world. They also brought up the point that it wouldn’t be fair to make this choice for Heather, it should be her choice since it is effecting her future.

In conclusion I think that despite both sides having strong points for their arguments I agree with the parents of Heather. I think it’s impossible to know exactly what it is like to live in the deaf community. Since Heather is still at such a young age, her parents have her best interests in mind and that is what matters the most.