CODA movie - Dad's verison
****SPOILER ALERT: If you intend on watching this movie you may want to wait to read this!****
I remember shedding tears watching the end of Brian’s Song, Terms of Endearment and even Bambi. I experienced strong emotions throughout CODA! I don’t usually stay for the credits but needed to! This was quite different for me! I realize this movie touched others as well!
As Kelly explained this movie is about a hearing girl with deaf parents and brother. She is challenged to balance her life deciding what she wants and assisting her family. There were so many scenes that I could also relate to as a parent of a deaf daughter.
In the beginning of the movie the parents showed up at the school playing music very loud. This way they can feel the vibrations. This obviously caught the attention of the hearing kids who laughed and ridiculed them. The daughter defended them with no success. Deafness is not visible! We can relate…. as a teenager Kelly was returning a grocery cart to the corral for her mother. A man yelled to Kelly from behind that he would use the cart. Kelly not hearing did not react and put it away. He then threw up his arms in haste & with a very angry face mumbled something. Diane seeing this, informed him that she is deaf! Not so calmly!
At one point the daughter in the movie expressed herself as “I am exhausted”! This was used in context of being torn between helping her family and developing her life. Her family’s demands were so great (doctor appt, court and negotiating for their business) she had missed her commitments. Kelly has expressed frustration with her family members who sign in group situations. Especially around the holidays! She misses so many conversations and it is difficult for the interpreter to determine what conversation to interpret.
Kelly mentioned in her review that during the school recital the director turned off the sound. The film scanned back and forth with all the happenings but the silence was overwhelming! The deaf parents’ heads were moving back and forth to try to understand what was going on around them! This put all viewers in the place of the deaf characters. Wow! This was a great approach to give you the feeling of their daily life.
The family returned home after the recital. The father and daughter were outside. He was asking questions about the song she performed. He asked her to sing it to him. She obliged and he put his hand on her throat! She seemed surprised but realized he wanted to feel her voice! Kelly started at a school when she was a year old. They worked with Diane and Kelly on her speech. Mirroring mouth movement for repetitive sounds. I remember putting Kelly’s tiny hand on my throat and repeating sounds. I remember her face. Kelly always showed amazing facial expressions as a toddler!
Toward the end of the movie the daughter was auditioning for admission to a prestigious music school. Her family was not allowed in her performance but found their way to the balcony. They entered quietly not to tip off they were there. She started her performance of “Both Sides Now” by Joni Michell and she saw them. She started to sign the song about 1/3 of the way directly to her family! This confused the staff evaluating her until they realized her family was there. The irony of the song was well represented to the struggles she had. She fell back into her role as interpreter where she should be individually focused. You could see the love she had for her family!
“Rows and flows of angel hair
And ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons everywhere
Looked at clouds that way
But now they only block the sun
They rain and they snow on everyone
So many things I would have done
But clouds got in my way”
Looking at things from Both Sides Now is a constant effort! Understanding one’s perception may not be what you actually see. This movie really made me think! I hope more opportunities come for these people to express their views of the world!
Please watch this movie! I am sorry to give details before seeing it but I wanted to reference these moment to my personal experience.
