TheArchive: Reviewing the Rare, Retro, and Restored

Written by Multicom's Nicole Bajorek (artwork by Nicole Bajorek) This post was originally published on (2/15/21) and updated on (3/27/22) . CODA has won Best Picture tonight at the 94th annual Academy Awards, a a historic win for the Deaf community. Deaf characters and actors have long been underrepresented, stereotyped, and ignored in the history of cinema and television. A majority of the few deaf characters featured or included in movies and shows were often played by hearing actors (usually with no ties to the Deaf community), and painted as highly-dependent beings. A deaf character was also often dismissed by the majority of (hearing) characters, and regarded as slow-minded and gullible.   While I cannot speak for deaf people, as a #CODA (acronym for Child of Deaf Adults), I’ve grown up among the Deaf community and have experienced, understood, admired, and respected Deaf culture firsthand. My mother was born deaf, while my father became deaf at the age of three due to tubercu...