Review of Sound and Fury

This film portrays the agonizing of an extended family over the choice of whether to give children born deaf the ability to hear. This decision is much more complex and far more emotionally charged than I as a hearing person had realized before watching the film. Cultural factors, personal and community pride, the historical struggles of deaf people, and concerns about careers to be embarked upon (or not...) far into the future -- these and other considerations are invoked repeatedly in an astonishingly complex debate about whether deafness is something that should be eliminated or whether it should be valued and preserved as a perfectly valid alternative to hearing.

This movie provides a fascinating and powerful window into a world about which I now realize I was profoundly ignorant. I'm very glad I saw it and strongly recommend it to anyone interested in culture, ethics, family dynamics or the deep uncertainties that go along with being human.