Finally saw CODA

If you read my blog, bear with me as I go off course for this one. Since the movie CODA came out in 2021, I have wanted to see it but we don’t have Apple TV. My husband Ron signed us up for a free three month trial of Apple TV just so I could watch this movie. If you have not seen it, I highly recommend it although it does have a few crude scenes.

Truth be told, I rarely watch anything on TV. With my hearing and vision loss issues it’s just usually not worth the time. A few weeks ago I did “humor” my husband by watching a few episodes of a show on Netflix, but after three straight episodes, I had enough. I can’t see well enough to read the caption and can’t her well enough to hear the story line. I could sort of follow the story but Ron had to give me some clues to “what was what”.

Ron was meeting up with some friends tonight so I asked him if he would set it up for me to watch while he’s out. Another confession, I put the recliner right “smack dab” in from of the tv so I could see it. Do you see the picture above? That’s how close I sat and even from that close I can’t read the close captioning.

CODA stands for children of deaf adults. At least half the dialogue is sign language but it’s captioned so hearing people can understand. It’s about a deaf fishing family but there is one hearing daughter. Warning, there is some crudeness but such a beautiful story line. I cried in several scenes.

After I finished watching it a deaf friend texted me. I told her I had just watched the movie and it was like us but flipped. Instead of being the only hearing person in our families, we are the only deaf ones. And you can throw in my “double whammy” with being legally blind too. 😜

Watching the movie was slightly frustrating simply because I couldn’t see all the signs. I stood right in front of the tv, even closer than the recliner, to try to see what the characters were signing. I have to be kind of close to read sign language. The parts that I missed that were captioned, I tried to watch reading the caption CLOSE UP. So I sat, then stood close, then closer for captions, over and over throughout the movie. Now you know why I don’t watch tv. The movie was very moving though.

If you have a deaf person in your family, I recommend watching CODA to see things from their perspective but with the roles flipped. I could share more elements so you could see what it’s like with the added low vision angle. It’s sort of like being the odd one out. With a group of hearing people I am totally lost in understanding. In being with a group of deaf friends, I have to be pretty close to see what they are signing. Welcome to my unique world. It is what it is.

No pity parties here. I am fearfully and wonderfully made. I am resilient in many ways. I fall down, I get back up. I am always ok because It’s not about me. It’s about giving glory to God in the struggles and seeing Him pour strength in when it’s overwhelming. One day God will heal me. That might be when I reach Heaven.Through it all, I press on towards the prize to which God is calling.

If you liked this blog post please subscribe and share. I’m thankful for this gift to share when God puts something on my heart. You can find my autobiography Rooted by the Water on Amazon. (Hard cover soft cover, and e-book formats.) I pray it gives you great hope and courage to surrender to Jesus. He is all you really need. All for the Glory of God.

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