What “Hawkeye” gets right about deafness – and what it glosses over

The recent Disney+ series “Hawkeye” has taken an interesting turn. The villain of the show is deaf and is portrayed by a partially deaf actor. Not only this, but Hawkeye (Clint Barton) himself, as well as his partner, are both affected by deafness. This results in an interesting dichotomy, both in characters in show as well as in directing. The episode which directly references these matters, Echoes, has been appreciated by many in the deaf community. However, some aspects of the show gloss over or glorify aspects of being deaf. For example, Clint’s flawless, almost magical hearing aid at times, working perfectly until the plot says so. Furthermore, there are no mentions of ableism, or many other struggles the Deaf go through in daily life. Only time will tell whether the rest of the series will correctly depict Deaf culture and problems.

Read the full article here: https://www.salon.com/2021/12/06/hawkeye-echo-deaf-maya-lopez/