Television: Cultural Deaf Programming

While deaf characters have been portrayed on mainstream television since the 1950s, they were traditionally portrayed as being disabled, mentally ill, and/or needing to be fixed. During the 1950s and 1960s, deaf characters were rarely, if ever, portrayed from a culturally Deaf perspective through culturally Deaf programming. Programs that did include aspects of the Deaf community and sign language were quickly canceled. Over the years, there have been a handful of culturally Deaf television programs both in the United States and internationally. However, a majority of these programs, while they included deaf people, did not always respect input from deaf advisers as to what themes or topics to cover. Ultimately, decisions regarding content, filming, and producing of these types of programs were made by the hearing people in charge. In addition, programs have often been restricted as to when and how they were broadcast.

Culturally Deaf programming refers to television programs incorporating or portraying aspects of the Deaf community and Deaf culture, and having Deaf characters interacting with other Deaf characters and doing so using American Sign Language (ASL), British Sign Language (BSL), French Sign Language (LSF), or other sign languages. Ideally, members of the Deaf community are involved in all aspects of the production process (e.g., writing, directing, production). Another quality unique to culturally Deaf programming is the style of filming and editing. Historically, programs filmed for mainstream audiences that include sign language have been filmed in such a way that signs are often cut off, thus making conversations between characters [Page 965]difficult or impossible to follow. However, producers of culturally Deaf programs take care to capture both the signer’s face and his or her hands to ensure that viewers are able to follow signed dialogue.

Whether in the United States or internationally, culturally Deaf programming has primarily been presented in the following formats: news/magazine programs, children’s programs, and occasionally dramas or documentaries.