‘Shaking Hollywood’: B.C. deaf community excited about CODA, Kotsur Oscar wins

Sunday’s Oscars was a historic event for the deaf community, and one that is inspiring for members who live in B.C.

Troy Kotsur won the Academy Award for best supporting actor for his role in CODA. He is the first deaf person to win an Oscar in 35 years.

“The last time a deaf person won was in 1987. That was actress Marlee Matlin,” explained Mari Klassen, who is an American Sign Language instructor and consultant who discussed the impact of Kotsur’s win with CityNews through a translator.

“Finally, we have another deaf actor who has won … It’s exciting to see more deaf actors and deaf representation in the film industry,” she said, noting representation is also growing behind the scenes, among film production crew members.

Related: Smith, Rock confrontation shocks Oscar audience, Canadian production designer wins for ‘Dune’

Klassen believes this Oscar win will lead to more opportunities for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

“It may be there are hearing parents who just had a deaf child. And then they’re seeing someone on stage at the Oscars, a deaf actor, winning an Academy Award using ASL to communicate … Having that representation can give those parents some relief.”

The way Kotsur’s win was announced was also meaningful to Klassen.

“It was really nice to see that they didn’t announce his name right away … She attempted to sign ‘I love you,’ and then went ahead and continued. That was really cool to see, that there was that pause to give that time for recognition.”

Related video: Recapping the wild night that was at The Oscars

Several members of the audience held their hands up and twisted them from side to side, a visual expression of applause used by the deaf community. Klassen also appreciated that Kotsur was not physically given his award right away, so he could properly deliver his acceptance speech.

“With American Sign Language, you need to use both hands to sign. So, she held the award as he delivered his speech in ASL and then proceeded to give him the award after he was done,” she explained.

His speech was an inspiring one to Klassen.

“A deaf child or anyone else in the community, just seeing ASL on the stage at the Oscars (would see) more access to communication and also hopefully less language deprivation for our deaf children, as well.”

CODA, which stands for Child of Deaf Adults, is a coming-of-age comedy-drama. The film also won in the Best Picture category at Sunday’s Academy Awards.

“Just shaking Hollywood … to see deaf actors playing deaf roles is just groundbreaking and hopefully we’re able to see more positions in the film industry going forward.”

With files from Tarnjit Parmar

Top Stories

Top Stories

Most Watched Today