Deaf Entertainers Film Analysis

The entertainment industry is often portrayed in mainstream culture as a brutal and difficult business, but the struggles for deaf entertainment industry are underreported. The film See What I’m Saying: The Deaf Entertainers Documentary follows four well-known deaf entertainers in the deaf community as they attempt to also connect with mainstream audiences. Comedian C.J. Jones, musician Bob Hilterman, singer T.L. Forsberg, and actor Robert De Mayo are highlighted through their personal triumphs and the various challenges they face. Deaf culture in America has changed throughout history, propagated by ASL (American Sign Language). In the early centuries, deaf people were oppressed and labeled as non-humans, being forbid to sign and receive proper

He was born in Wiesbaden, Germany from a family of eleven children. When he was four years old, spinal meningitis left him deaf. His family was unaware of this and assumed he was just “slow”. Hilterman’s family did not discover that he was deaf until he was ten years old, though he did not learn sign language until he attended Gallaudet University at the age of eighteen. Hilterman was raised in a family of classical musicians, which ultimately inspired him to become a musician as well (Shahidi). In the film, Hilterman describes his ability to learn to play the drums as a deaf person because it “comes from your heart” and that he loves to perform.

During Hilterman’s interview in the beginning of the film, he informs the audience that he has been teaching for the past two years, but feels the desire to perform one last time before he dies (Walla). He contacts all of his former band members and they all appear to be eager to perform as well. Hilterman is able to bring the band back together after they had a two year break and begins to produce the largest show in the band’s history. He invites the deaf singer T.L. Forsberg to be the opening act and she enthusiastically