Chalk another failure for network television executives.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Marlee Matlin talks about producing a reality show about a California deaf family.
Since receiving an Academy Award for Best Actress for “Children of a Lesser God” in 1986 at the age of 21 — marking her film and TV debut — Marlee’s been featured in numerous stage and screen performances. I’m sure you’ve seen her somewhere.
Despite her credentials and expertise on deaf issues, an internalization she can relate, Marlee’s reality show was rejected by television broadcasters because of an assumption that primetime audiences wouldn’t appreciate watching closed captioning. That’s you. Would you appreciate it? Keep reading…
To their credit, Marlee says the executives “loved” her concept. “The reaction couldn’t have been more positive” about the Firl family of Fremont, California: mother Bridgetta and father Leslie with their four children: Jared, 15; Gideon, 12; Sabrina, 6; and Elijah, 3. Jared narrates the show, and only he and Elijah can hear.
But they still hesitated because they had no idea how an audience would react to characters signing with voice-overs and occasional subtitles.
Anyone who watches reality television will tell you that they employ subtitles a lot for dialogue that’s difficult to catch on the fly.
Marlee is familiar with resistance from mainstream media broadcasting companies who routinely fail to offer closed captioning of TV special events. She frequently speaks on behalf of the National Association of the Deaf, such as this testimony to the FCC and a newer presentation to Google.
Google owns YouTube, and that’s where she opted to make the 10-minute pilot episode available to the world. The video sharing site enables anyone to create subtitles on uploaded videos or utilize an automatic captioning process. Internet developers recognize the importance of online closed captioning and numerous alternatives to YouTube are gaining popularity.
Please take a look at the pilot of “My Deaf Family” either here or by playing the below video.
Future episodes (if they are produced) will be up at http://www.youtube.com/mydeaffamily and I encourage you to share your thoughts about the video either by adding a comment below or tweeting Marlee here.
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Hmmm… mixed feelings here.
I don’t like close captions, to be honest. It’s like subtitles are the opera – you’re not there to read the words. It’s the music that counts.
Fyi – I’ve done split testing on YouTube and cc has little or no impact on traffic, if anything it annoys/distracts from the video.
…which brings us to the TV show.
I’d like to see it. But, I’d rather have the cc off so I can get an insight into the family’s world and put myself in their shoes for that hour (or half hour).
CC, to me, is a cop-out, a pandering to viewers who don’t share this struggle. There’s also something a bit patronizing about this.
Christopher Nolan’s book Under the Eye of the Clock covered this very well.
Unless you read sign language, how would you know what the Firl family says if closed captioning was not an option? Are you suggesting you’d rather write your own story as they talk even if you can’t hear/read them?
I had a feeling you’d say that…
You’re seeing the world thru a very narrow lens.
Try this instead.
Next time you go to your office, find a quiet corner, and watch how people interact. You can’t hear what they’re saying, but… you can tell who’s depressed, who’s angry, who’s frustrated, who’s whining and so on. You can also tell who belongs to which group, who’s been left out and where the power struggles are.
Well, it will be the same on the tv show. You just need to make the effort to observe.
It’s the same as when you visit your grandparents – maybe she can’t talk anymore, but your heart can understand what she’s saying.
Do you see what I’m getting at?
Great post Ari! I’m not a reality TV show guy. Actually, I’m not really a TV guy in general, but I watched that pilot and it was fantastic. Thanks for sharing that! It’s a shame the executives weren’t willing to take a risk on it. I thought the use of voice overs was well done and resulted in the viewer only having to rely on the subtitles for a small portion of the overall dialogue. Perhaps this is why I’ve never felt inclined to buy a television. The shows that would interest me never get made.
Whoa, you’re a culture whore as a musician but don’t own a TV?
I know, shocking huh? Honestly I owned one a couple years ago but got rid of it because the only programming I really enjoyed was readily available through Netflix and Hulu. These days I get my news through CNN and the BBC News webpage. I learn about technology and culture through blogs, and I listen to music through streaming sites or buy it on iTunes. The only thing TV offers me now is a poorly produced and overly sensationalized batch of reality shows. It’s really a shame to see executives only furthering that by rejecting shows like Marlee’s. If reality TV is what they do now, it would be nice if they presented audiences with an alternative to the shlock that’s they’re pandering now. They just don’t get it.
Damn typos
Really interesting post, Ari. My personal opinion is that I enjoy subtitles. My father is partly deaf, so I grew up watching certain TV shows and movies with them on; I’m just used to them!
That said, I’ve noticed that Americans don’t like subtitles or closed captioning very much, whereas it’s common in other countries where Hollywood films are consumed (it’s actually quite interesting to look at which countries/languages tend to dub, and which tend to do subtitles, though it probably has a lot to do with literacy rates, too).
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It would actually be interesting to know what percentage of households are using subtitles. I know they are on in many of the homes of folks I know. Whether due to age related or genetic hearing loss. I find I depend on them on some of the shows that have a poorer sound mix. Once they are on for a while, most folks forget they are there.
On Hulu, we often avoid shows that have not added close caption support.
Seems that personal opinion is ruling the day here, rather than hard information.
We have all watched and enjoyed countless movies with subtitles. Why wouldn’t we enjoy a reality show with closed captioning. Network TV is stuck in the Stone Age. YouTube and Hulu will soon make them extinct.
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So glad I gave this post another look. I wasn’t prepared for learning about this great idea for a show and sadly hearing it is shot down.
Cheers to Marlee. Best wishes to her on this show.
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What prevented you from looking before?
I cant believe that closed captioning has such an advantage. It has calibrated the process of emoting feelings by such specially talented folks out there. Hats off to Marlee Matlin. Not only Americans, I am sure anyone who is able to understand the language talked on screen hates to have captioning. The main reason is their eyes stick to the captioning area and forgets to watch the actual picture. It is the global concern of illusionists. I think there should be an inbuilt option in the TV or any other visual medium where people can turn the captioning off if they dont need it. Its already their in video players used in computers.. or there should be some type of spectacles which can be worn by the specially talented folks, so that the captioning is visible only to them..hows this idea? please chuck it if you find it stupid
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