Having been delayed since its November 2020 release date, Godzilla vs Kong finally came out in theatres March of 2021. The movie starred two deaf actresses, Millie Bobby Brown who is best known for her character Eleven in popular Netflix sci-fi show Stranger Things as well as newcomer Kaylee Hottle who is a 10-year-old Deaf girl from Georgia. Deafness runs in Hottle’s family as both her parents are Deaf, on her father’s side Deafness goes back over four generations. Prior to her movie debut, Hottle appeared in several commercials as well as two short films. The first by the title of “Dear Hearing People.” The purpose behind the film was address some of the misconceptions that the hearing community have regarding the deaf community and to encourage all people to communicate with each other. I personally feel that more can be done within this space as most of my peers here the University of Richmond have little knowledge about ASL and a ton of misconceptions, just as I did when I first took the course. There needs to be greater awareness and transparency regarding the deaf experience and deaf culture as a whole if we are to build a more equitable society. I implore someone at Modlin to bring something like this into production. I believe our entire university community would benefit greatly with a little more awareness and empathy.
In Godzilla vs Kong, Hottle plays the character of a young native girl by the name of Jia who seems to share a special bond with the giant ape Kong. They share many touching moments together and it is later revealed that she is able to communicate with Kong through ASL. There were several scenes in which Jia and Kong were communicating with each other through sign language and I felt very empowered as I was able to follow along and decipher what was being said. Looking back at my language learning goals during the beginning of the semester, watching and understanding Kong sign “I want to go home” and “I feel sad” felt like instant gratification for the work I had put in all this time. My friends were very impressed and kept hyping me up by asking me what Jia or Kong was saying every time they signed.
Having spent the semester further exploring and learning about deaf culture, I was very pleased to see greater representation of the deaf community, particularly within the mainstream film industry. Having done a little research, I learned that this is a controversial space and that there are two drastically different schools of thought when it comes to deaf cinema. “Deaf cinema” is a movement that includes all works produced and directed by deaf members of the community. The purpose of Deaf cinema is to nurture and develop the image of the culture. On the other hand, there is “Cinema of the deaf” which are films that are centered around the topic of deafness but are written, directed, and produced by anyone including those who barely know any ASL. These films often send out wrong messages, misinterpret crucial components of deaf culture, or portray negative stereotypes regarding the deaf community. My hope is that as time passes, technology evolves to be more inclusive, and people develop a greater awareness and appreciation for deaf culture, we can see more promising young stars like Kaylee Hottle and Millie Brown grace the big screens. I also hope that the performances of these breakout stars will encourage the average person to explore more of “Deaf cinema.”
Interview with Kaylee Hottle where she discusses her role as Jia, some of the challenges she faced, particularly working with a green screen and signing to a invisible giant ape: https://www.dailymoth.com/blog/interview-with-kaylee-hottle-deaf-actress-in-godzilla-vs-kong
Attached below are also some images from the film.
Replies
Hi Nibras, I really enjoy reading your post! I have never actually watched Godzilla vs. Kong or any variation of those films before! I am glad that I have a chance to learn about this as well as look at the resource you posted featuring Kaylee Hottle. Thank you so much for your information!
Hi Nibras, thanks for this cultural post! I haven't explored or studied ASL, and I'm glad to see such an article about ASL movies. I also hope that with the passage of time, technology becomes more inclusive and people have a stronger understanding and appreciation of ASL. I hope we can see more and more talented stars like Kaylee Hottle and Millie Brown appear. I also would like to learn more about it in the future!
Nibras, once again reading one of your posts has shed some more light into a topic that I did not know about at all. For one, I agree fully with how you feel about the lack of representation for deaf and hard of hearing communities, especially when it comes to mainstream media or I guess for media in general as well. As someone who watched all of Stranger Things, I did not know that the Millie Bobby Brown was deaf. I hope that this is something that can be brought more attention to in the future.
Hi Nibras, thanks for sharing your experience with ASL and the Godzilla vs Kong movie! I had no idea that ASL was used for the girl to communicate with Kong and I think that is awesome that you were able to pick out and understand what you learned through your study of ASL. I also agree with your point that there could be more done to raise awareness and empathy in the Richmond community for ASL as there are definitely misconceptions and I would love to learn more in the future!