The Disney+ series Hawkeye follows the Marvel comic book character Hawkeye, whose real name is Clint Barton. Hawkeye is one of the Avengers, and the world's greatest archer. He is also losing his hearing. And that is groundbreaking for others who are hard of hearing, but rarely see the condition realistically depicted in TV or movies.
Hawkeye not only explores the superhero's adjustment to hearing loss (Hawkeye is starting to learn sign language, but isn't good at it), it also has deaf characters played by deaf actors. The interaction between characters highlights the realistic struggles between the hearing, the hard of hearing, and the Deaf communities. The Deaf community, capitalized, refers to those who were pre-lingually deaf, mostly communicate through sign language, and consider it a cultural identity. The lower-case word deaf refers to anyone who can't hear for any reason. The difficulty Hawkeye encounters moving from the hearing to the non-hearing world is accurately illustrated in the series, including small touches that the Deaf community will instantly recognize.
People who are deaf or hard of hearing rarely see themselves portrayed in media, and when a deaf character appears, it's often a single person surrounded by the hearing. Hawkeye dips into a world that millions inhabit but don't see reflected in pop culture. Author and media critic Jo Berry explains what makes Hawkeye different and how important the series is to the Deaf community and to those experiencing hearing loss. -via reddit
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