After watching the documentary Sound and Fury, I was surprised and kind of angry at the choices the deaf parents made for their daughter Heather. To me the decisions they made regarding her were very selfish. The cochlear implant would have helped Heather by increasing her opportunities to succeed. All the parents seemed to be worried about was if she would grow up to be part of deaf culture. I realize that deaf culture is important to them, but they also have to realize that they are in the minority and that the main society(people w/out disabilities) that deaf society is a sub-section of often requires hearing for certain activities or jobs, or being able to hear at least makes it easier to succeed in them. The deaf father’s parents pointed this out to the several times. If they care so much for their daughter, why don’t they realize that the best thing for her is to have the implant operation performed?
The deaf father said that he wants Heather to succeed and knows “in his heart” that she will succeed as a fully deaf person. It’s great that he feels that, but it doesn’t mean it’s going to happen. It is possible to succeed as a deaf person in a primarily hearing world, as demonstrated by several examples in the film, but it is often much more difficult for them and they often are limited in what they can do. The deaf father even admitted that he will most likely be unable to advance further in his job because of his deafness, even though he is otherwise capable. Despite this, he still doesn’t want Heather to get the implant, even though not having it might limit her in the future when she is going on to higher education or a job. He is willing to take this risk in order to make sure she is part of deaf culture. His parents are correct; this is tantamount to abuse, and the best thing to do would be to get Heather the implant.
