MovieChat Forums > ...And Your Name Is Jonah (1979) Discussion > This film both broke and healed my heart...

This film both broke and healed my heart..


Ah it was so beautiful, at times it was like watching my own childhood in the 1980s. I was born 2 months premature which caused me to have a 70% hearing loss in both ears. My mum was amazing to realise my hearing problems when I was just a few months old and despite the doctors telling her she was being hysterical I had hearing aids at 18 months old.

I had the same hearing aid pack, special outfits with a pocket for the battery. My mum tells me she had people talking to her as if I had a learning difficulty like in the film, she would calmly explain that I could understand if they faced me and I could lip read.

I was told by my teachers from a young age that I would never achieve anything, I was bad, stupid, ignorant etc. Then I was finally moved to a school which catered for Deaf and Hearing children together and I soon flourished with top marks in all my classes and I made some life long friends.

Sadly though the misconception about sign language still continues, I had a friend who was profoundly Deaf and was unable to communicate without sign language but his parents refused to use sign language with him, deciding to speak to him only. Even when we visited his house we were banned from signing to him, he grew up with no relationship with his family and moved out as soon as he was old enough.

I just hope that most children are encouraged to communicate in any way that they can. I communicate via speech and lip reading and know British Sign Language to be able to chat with friends and it terrifies me that children are still stigmatised as being stupid just because their ears doesn't work properly.

Regarding the film, three characters stuck out to me, the mother, who reminded me of my mum, who refused to give up fighting for her child. My mum is still the same even though I'm 30 years old now. The granddad who loved his grandson and would do anything to make him happy (broke my heart too) and special mention to the little brother, the scene where he was running around the park learning sign language as well so he could talk to his big brother was beautiful.

"My life is a show, a commercial for people to see how normal I am,when I am really anything but."

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I know this post his three years late, wow you had awful teachers and I this day and age, I was expecting to find out you grew up in the 70s. The controversy over sign language is ridiculous. It's actually becoming more popular to teach hearing babies sign language, it cognitively stimulates their brain activity, they're still trying to developing verbally so this allows them to communicate and lessens tantrums due to communication issues.

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