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Rating: 4 out of 5
Recently, I picked up Children of a Lesser God. It was on my Academy Award winners list. I had no idea what it was about, and the box cover never really interested me or stood out to me. After reading the back cover, it explained that it was about a romance between a teacher and a custodian at a deaf school. It didn’t pique my interest, but I felt like I might be able to relate a little to being deaf. I am not entirely deaf, but I have lost complete hearing in my left ear. It was a scary moment, but I have gotten used to being deaf in my left ear. I wear hearing aids that help me out or help my right side. With that, I wanted to see what this film was about in that realm.
Like most films, I am starting to see that many are written from a play. The screenplay was written by Hesper Anderson and Mark Medoff. Medoff wrote the 1979 play of the same name. Get that check when you can make it into a movie. The film follows employees at a school for the deaf: a deaf custodian and a hearing-speech teacher. James Leeds (Hurt) has just arrived at a school for the deaf and hard of hearing in New England. His resume is impeccable, as he has taught at some of the best institutions. James is assigned to a speech class in the upper grades, and soon, it is realized throughout the school that his teaching methods are progressive and a little wacky. On his first day, he notices a cleaning woman and learns she is twenty-five-year-old Sarah Norman (Matlin). Sarah is deaf and used to be a student at the school and has been there since she was five. James is immediately smitten with her as she is bright, headstrong, and angry but doesn’t speak. In the teaching world, James manages to get through to many of his students by letting them feel more comfortable speaking. In his personal life, James is told not to pursue Sarah but goes for her anyway. A tumultuous relationship begins between the two as James wants Sarah to speak, but Sarah doesn’t want to. The pair has many ups and downs in their relationship, with Sarah never feeling like a complete person and James maybe seeing her as a project to complete. Things come ahead for the pair with the question of their relationship surviving.
Movies from the 80s sure didn’t know what boundaries were. That is what put me off a little with this movie and story. The romantic part of the film was full of violating someone’s boundaries. You should pursue someone, but when they tell you they don’t like something, you need to respect it. Sarah was conflicted because her mom thought she was a failure and left her ass at a school for over twenty years. I understand why she doesn’t trust anyone and has so much anger. She is getting by even if she is somewhat of a pain. When James comes along, he wants to date her but doesn’t respect her decision of not speaking. If she is comfortable communicating through sign language, that should be it. Let her open up to you. This causes so much tension because James lets his teaching get in the way of truly understanding. Let me back up, he understands because he is a teacher, but he forces his teaching views on Sarah, and it doesn’t work that well, and they fight.
Several scenes made me cringe and want to say, “Come on, man!” First, James follows Sarah to her favorite spot, where she thinks, and asks her out. She did turn him down a few times but was still a little stalkerish. When she follows her to the pool where she is swimming, that is a sign that dude is a control freak and needs to really back off. The scene that set it off for me was when they were making out. They had a lovely night playing cards, with Sarah winning, but back at home, he constantly asked her to speak when she didn’t want to and suddenly just snapped. Man, you were about to get some loving, but you wanted more sound than anything else. It felt like James was not right for Sarah, and like most 80s films, the dude wins out. Sarah did drop his ass but came back to him after he was doing the depression thing.
James’ teaching was also at the forefront of the film. I didn’t mind these scenes as he tried his best to help and showed that he really cared for his students. With one of them, they played music and sang along to get the speech pattern down. Hell, they even performed during an outstanding talent show. I also liked how the biggest student called him an asshole. I thought that was great. Even though one of his students never spoke, he tried to press but soon accepted that he wasn’t going to speak, and that helped him realize that he was messing up with Sarah.
As far as the acting goes, I want to start with Marlee Matlin as Sarah Norman. Matlin was AMAZING as Sarah, and I really enjoyed her performance. Matlin was 21 years old when she won, making her the youngest Best Actress winner and the first deaf Academy Award winner. I can tell you she deserved it because her facial expressions were priceless. When she went off in sign language, you could tell she was pissed and ready to put her hands on you. She was truly amazing!!
William Hurt as James Leeds was decent, even if he overstepped his boundaries. I don’t know about you, but the more I watch Hurt in past films, the more they all seem the same. Was he fun with the class and showed that he cared? Of course. Was he emotional, sensitive, and pushy with Sarah? Hell yea! Hurt is a great actor, and this is one of those roles that helped show his range.
Children of a Lesser God is a decent film that explores the world of being deaf and the challenges in a relationship. The story is okay, but there would be plenty of talk about boundaries and respect in today’s environment. Marlee Matlin is where it is at in this film. She is AMAZING and FANTASTIC in this film, and her performance should be applauded for years to come. Watch this film and become intrigued with a community you might not know about.
