According to the Internet Movie Database, Marlee Matlin has acted in 68 movies and TV shows, and has also appeared as herself in another 157. In Children of a Lesser God, Matlin plays a student at a school for the deaf who falls in love with a teacher, played by William Hurt. Matlin became the first deaf actor ever to win an Oscar. She was a sensation, and whether or not she liked it, she was also elevated to being a spokesperson for the deaf people of America.
A new documentary, directed by Shoshannah Stern, tells Matlin’s story, from her childhood in Illinois to the present. Stern interviews people who’ve worked with Matlin, like Randa Haines who directed Children of a Lesser God, and in many cases Stern herself sits with Matlin on a couch, both of them looking chummy and comfy as they talk about Matlin’s life and career.
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It’s a friendly film. And people like and respect her in both arenas. Matlin herself comes across as engaging, and serious but not somber. She’s direct in her conversation, yet, it seems, never bitter or resentful, although as she and others in the film describe what life is like for the deaf, you realize it’s not easy, to say the least. And the thrust of the movie is to explore the experience of deafness.
It’s of course a question of full access to the world. In a 1988 interview, Matlin describes in sign language her love of the film The Wizard of Oz. The documentary shows a clip from that film in silence, and then Matlin explains through an interpreter that the film has never been closed captioned.
"I see either on television or video," said Matlin, "and I heard that next year is the 50th anniversary of The Wizard of Oz, and I thought perhaps we could get the film close captioned."
She did just that, and she says that while she had once imagined what characters were saying, she could now understand what was really going on in the picture. Because of Matlin’s pressure, most television shows now have closed captions with the result that deaf people can watch nearly everything available.
The documentary also takes on the question of speech for deaf people. Matlin can speak and at first thought it was important to show that many deaf people can speak, but after some criticism, she came to realize that those who can hear often believe that the ability to speak is a sign of intelligence in the deaf. Most deaf people now reject that notion as untrue and damaging, and Matlin has for years fought against the many barriers and judgments that hearing people impose upon the deaf.
So, as the title indicates, Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore is about Matlin’s influence on opening American society to those who cannot hear. This film matters. It’s interesting and informative, but it’s not lively. At times it seems stuck in 1987, when Matlin won her Oscar. Many people in the film describe how that Oscar was and continues to be a revelation and inspiration for the deaf. But the movie goes to that event over and over, which gives the feeling that Matlin hasn’t done anything else and that many deaf people are mired in that one moment. Neither are true.
