#deaf superheroes

[gothamincarnate]

The amount of ASL users in comics that are nonverbal and not actually deaf/hh is uncomfortable. ASL & the Deaf community ARE open to nonverbal people who use ASL (also please please never use mute for a nonverbal character) but we need Actually Deaf representation because it's a different experience than a nonverbal character who signs.

The real reason they do it is so they don't have to bother actually writing hearing problems or come up with assistive devices for Superheroes, even Clint's home isn't shown to have a strobe doorbell or super loud alarm or anything, iirc.

[vaguelyclevermatters]

ASL + Deaf representation in Hawkeye 19 by Matt Fraction

[concerningwolves]

Hi! I was wondering if you were familiar with and/or had an opinion on Hawkeye comics where Clint Barton is deaf. If so, what are your thoughts on how it's portrayed, and would you have any advice for someone wanting to write fan fiction where he's deaf and has been from a young age after a TBI and worsened after an incident with an explosion? I have done research on various things, but I was curious to know how you feel about it, if anything at all, and whether it was a good idea to work with.

i LOVE my caffeine-addicted disaster son clint barton. he was my favourite in Avengers and then I learned that he’s deaf in the comics and sort of....... fell down a rabbit hole? ooops? i can’t give a solid opinion though, because i haven’t yet reached the point in matt fraction’s hawkeye where he gets deafened again. (because i don’t currently feel like i can justify spending money on further hawkeye volumes; it’s sad)

but! i chose fraction’s hawkeye because i saw scanned images of the panels after he learns he’s deaf and i adored everything about them — the colour scheme, the art style, and how these two things came together to present a deaf view of the world. i remember reading somewhere that one of the writers (or one of the artists?) said something about how the volume wasn’t supposed to be easy to understand because it shows the difficulties deaf people face, and imo that fuckin slaps.  granted, an approach like that isn’t always conducive to creating accessible material, but in the context it was excellent. 

as for your proposed idea, it doesn’t raise any red flags. (it actually sounds pretty, uh, dare i say, on-brand for clint lmao). you say you’ve done research, so as long as you stay true to what you’ve learned from deaf people, you should be fine. hmu again if there’s anything else you want to check! 

[champsays]

I’m surprised no one is talking about the MCU introducing its first deaf hero that will be played by an actual deaf actress. How epic is that?! Her name is Lauren Ridloff and she will be playing Makkari in the ETERNALS film. This is dope!

[tay-kat]

I wants movie based around deaf people

The main character and all of the secondary characters are deaf, they use sign language (and there are subtitles for it of course) for all of the dialogue, and an amazing film score of just violins plays in the background the whole time. Oh, also, they are superheroes. Oh, also, everyone gets their own instrument that plays in the background of the violin when they are 'speaking'.

[yndigot]

For anyone who missed it:

Re: deaf/HoH Clint posts last night -- I reacted badly to the tone and some of the wording, but the person making those arguments was angry, and as someone who has definitely been less than articulate when angry, that's NEVER something to hold against someone raising valid concerns.  It's not my place to be tone policing someone criticizing deaf/HoH representation/lack thereof.

They did come back and explain on the original blog where they sent that ask. Their problem was not so much fanworks that want to incorporate deaf or HoH Clint Barton (which was my initial reading, since it was a comment in reaction to a fanwork) but implying that MCU counts as representation, the commenter having known some people who'd heard about Clint in the comics, went to the movies expecting representation, and were disappointed. They were also criticizing the specific kind of representation found in the specific fanwork that inspired the comment. Another commenter pointed out that or that if MCU decided to declare that Clint had been deaf/HoH all along, that still wouldn't make it GOOD representation, and the fact that his whole life is designed to make things easier on hearing people would actually make it HARMFUL representation, all of which I respect. 

I stumbled a bit around those points last night, but didn't really give the commenter credit for trying to argue that angle. Something about the tone and the wording made me jump to the assumption that they were coming from a very different place, but again, it's not my place to be tone policing these kinds of criticisms, and I apologize. I was wrong to make assumptions and criticize. You should always listen to someone who tells you how they feel about their own representation in media.

There are some great fics out there (including MCU based ones) that incorporate deaf Clint without erasing everything that means, and there are great resources out there by deaf fans to help you write deaf/HoH Clint, but it's definitely a point where you need to do your research.  And MCU canon is, as always, frequently a disappointment when it comes to diversity.

[yndigot]

yo, saying mcu clint is deaf is inaccurate, and unfair. i know it's nice to be diverse n shit but until mcu clint is actually shown as being deaf, you're just baiting folks. fraction and aja worked to make 616 clint's deafness real, please don't jump on that bandwagon and lead people on.

lol what the actual shit is this? Putting deaf or HoH Clint in MCU fanworks is 'unfair' and 'baiting folks' and 'leading people on'?

ETA: I talked about giving the person who raised this concern the benefit of the doubt in my follow up post to this, but not this one.  They (and another fan, who is very articulate about the issues and is quoted before them in the above post -- a very good read about deaf representation) did mean to raise some of the valid points I talk about in my follow up post, and I reacted badly to some of the wording and the tone.

[kairii-xx]

I love that we can’t read what Clint can’t hear