September 6, 2005
To Whom it may concern;
Once upon a time, I had dreams of being in the movies. Eventually, I grew up and had to satisfy my love of Hollywood by just going to see the films instead. Then in my early 20's, my hearing started to fail. For a couple of years, I continued to go to the pictures every so often, but as time went on, it just wasn't the same. Even with my hearing aids, I wasn't getting enough out of it anymore; I was missing the punchlines, and would sit there, confused and silent, while everybody else roared in laughter. As ticket prices began to rise and my hearing grew even worse, it just became a big, fat waste of money.
Now, at 31, I have just enough hearing to have a decent conversation with someone who speaks clearly and enunciates, but it's impossible to watch TV without Closed Captioning, and I haven't been to the cinema in ages. It's a shame, really, because I used to LOVE going! Sometimes, even now, I'll forget, and I'll see a movie trailer on television, and start to mentally make plans about going to see the flick. And then, I'll remember, and have to settle for waiting several months so that it can come out on DVD.
Honestly, I think the film industry has been fiscally irresponsible on this issue. After all, the deaf, deafened and hard of hearing communities are HUGE, and the money being lost by blocking us from the theatres must be in the millions.
Honestly, do they realize how much money I alone am capable of spending if I got to go to the movies on a regular basis?! Silly of them, really.
I'm really glad that someone is stepping up to the plate on this issue. I applaud your efforts, and hope that you - and thereby, us - find success soon.
Very sincerely,
Maryan Florio