The Department of Justice (DOJ) is proposing a regulation to require movie theater owners and operators to having movie captioning and video description available for 50% of movies shown within 5 years. Great! How great is it that the DOJ and technology is finally in a position to allow equal access for the deaf/HoH people and blind/low vision people?? I mean, it's about time and there are many other things they need to help enforce (like captioning for internet videos and shows). But they are making progress on this also! Several organizations such as the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) and others are encouraging hearing care professionals and people with hearing loss to write comments to the DOJ regarding movie captioning. So...I decided to contribute. The DOJ is proposing (in a few words) to require movie theater owners and operators to have 50% of movie showings ready for captioning and video description within 5 years. HLAA stand on this issue to have 100% of movie showings available for movie captionings and video descriptions. That way, people who need them can see the movie of interest at any time they choose and therefore equal access.
This is all great and having the ability to view even 25% of movies would be great but I have a different concern: the type of captioning they will require. In the St. Louis area, AMC theaters have been good about making some movies available with captioning. However, most theaters are only equipped to show closed captioning. Also, it is usually a kind of closed captioning called "rear window captioning." If you have not experienced this, it is not an enjoyable way to view a movie. You have to ask for a bulky device from the front desk and then you have to position it in a cup holder and then make sure you sit in a specific area of the theater where the captions can appear onto the screen of the device. And then also position it somewhere in front of you where you can see both the captions and the movie. Sigh...it's kind of difficult, isn't it? That is, if it works at all. Movies that are open captioned (which have the words playing right on the screen) are much more enjoyable and effective. I wrote to the DOJ that open captioning would be more cost-effective because many more deaf and hard of hearing people would go to the movies. So what if non-deaf/hard of hearing people don't want to see the captions. They might be glad they were there so they could catch what someone said if they missed it!
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Steph, I'm always impressed w/ your writing, but I do not agree w/ this approach to increasing the availability of captioned-flix. Why is it the government's responsibility to force private entertainers to spend disproportionate cash on a minority? I could provide the ridiculous analogy that this is similar to a request that 50% of movies be in Spanish or have "Tyler Perry" in the title. It's not like the movie industry isn't crumbling enough as it is due to piracy and the masses that prefer to stay at home and catch up on Snooki's activities over a night absorbing a quality film on the big screen.
ReplyDeleteRecommendation: Use your blogging power to push the various theatre companies to provide better captioning service. If you have a legitimate movement and support it w/ people filling the seats, the theatres will ramp up that service to compete for those patrons. Demanding misguided and unnecessary regulation is one of the chief causes for the US' decline in freedom and prosperity; you're not considering the unintended consequences (less movie variety and higher prices to pay for new rules). You have a great cause, but I think you can achieve the desired results by shifting your strategy. Good luck!
-luke
Point well taken, Luke! The government's regulations really have gotten out of hand. Some are needed, but you're right, if deaf/hard of hearing people expressed the need and want for captioning to theater owners and operators, perhaps more theaters would make them available. I honestly don't go to movies because the higher prices to see movies that I don't understand and end up leaving frustrated makes it worthless. I love foreign movies though! Why is it that foreign films can be captioned but domestic films can't? I wish I understood how captions are made to more fully understand what has to happen or what equipment is needed in order for open or closed captioning to occur.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading my blog! I'm not really much of a blogger or an activist, but if more people than myself and a few others care, I would consider making more of effort to further a movement. Thanks for your comments!