The Rebuttal

I went to the cinema for the first time since 2018. I had basically given up on Cinema. You know, looking through the paper or on the internet to try and find a movie of interest that is open captioned, near me and a time that I want to go. I got fed up of that.

I am not into blood and gore. I tend to be into comedies or historical dramas. Most open caption movies are blockbusters, action movies or animated movies that I tended to avoid. So, it was surprising that the movie I actually saw after 6 years away was Furiosa of the Mad Max series. My nephew was in it you see. He has a speaking part as a War Boy. That’s him there in the photo.

Ashamedly, I loved it. Broom, broom cars going fast, heads being blown off, arms being ripped off … all of it. Pure escapism at its best. And the ending, oh just brilliant. I can see women all over the world cheering in unison when they see it. And Chris Hemsworth can act too, that was the biggest surprise.

And it was so comfortable. No pokey seats. Beautiful leather recliners. Best of all, there were only three people in the whole cinema. We practically ruled the place. But let that sink in! Only THREE people.
I am well aware that advertising of open captioned sessions is almost non-existent. Any advertising usually comes from volunteer Deaf community groups. But three people? That ain’t gonna pass the pub test if the Deaf/HoH community want more open caption sessions in the cinema.

Right now, Deaf Victoria are campaigning hard to get more open captioning. None of this Craptiview stuff thank you. None of that yucky green text. None of this carrying around WallyE’s little brother. None of this squinting from device to screen or having to put your drink in your lap. Just beautiful open captions on screen. Every session, every movie and every day. But how will they convince cinemas of this if only three people turn up?

The short answer is that they won’t. They need the Deaf and HoH community to turn up in droves. They need to show that there is a high demand. They need to show that more open caption sessions is what the Deaf/HoH community want – OPEN CAPTIONS, all the time. Three people in a cinema won’t convince the cinema bosses of that.

Years ago, I was heavily involved in the cinema captioning lobby. The rare captioned movie that we did get was usually in the city. We might get 30 people to attend sometimes. Sometimes we had outdoor cinema at Hays Paddock that was open captioned. Heaps of people attended with their families.

I remember one movie was Life of Pi. I went to have a chat with the guy who looked after the projector. He showed me how they turned on the captioning. They had a code that they basically entered into the computer and switched on the captions. It was really less complicated than trying to find subtitles on the TV remote. The guy told me that virtually every movie had such a code, cinemas just had to request it. He said nearly all movies could be captioned at any time. This was 2012.

Interestingly, I asked him If I could quote him about this information. He asked me not to. He feared that if the Big 4 cinemas found out that he had provided me with that information, they would convince distributors not to do business with him. He feared that they would put him out of business. This gives you an idea of what captioning lobbyist are up against.

But I digress. The point that I am making is that in days gone by, people turned up. They showed that there was a demand. When big business sees an opportunity to make money they act. Three people at a session aint going to do that. We have to be seen.

I am fully aware that my 6-year hiatus from attending cinema did not help in any shape or form. But my wife and I have decided that we will attend Tuesday night sessions more often. It was the recliners that sold us. Mind you the open captions helped too 🙂

But in reality, if the Deaf/HoH community want more open captions then they have to turn up. That’s how to pass the pub test!!