jomanila

Hi guys! I haven't been to this forum for quite sometime now. That's because I have been blogging for the deaf community in the Philippines. My blog is entitled: Filipino Deaf from the Eyes of a Hearing Person..

My latest blog post is about these two popular icons of the deaf world. Want to know your thoughts. Thanks.

Here is the link: Heather Whitestone or Marlee Matlin?

Deafness

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Jolie77

First of all, I'd like to say I've read your blog and thought some parts were interesting.

However, To side with either Heather or Marlee is like saying we could look at it differently. Yes, Both of them have had a parallel with some similarities.

Both of them have brought success on a different path. It is good for their own term. Naturally, I'd lean with what Marlee is pro activating for. I also do commend Heather for her success.

In my opinion, It would not be fair to say one side looks down at Heather and another side looks down at Marlee. I think in retro to this, Both of them have paved the path for a lot of other deaf people whether they are oral or signers.

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PowerON

Matlin use sign language at most of time as entertainment. But it's not really deaf culture, at least, she tried.

Whitestone... just beautiful but support like deaf-oral.

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lsfoster

Personally, I think Marlee Matlin is great. Plus, I loved her on The L Word! But to be honest, I don't really know much about Heather Whitestone, so I would be totally biased.

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NorCal20

JoManila...well, i rather to have Marlee over Heather in any day. simple enough.


i hailed of Kalibo, Aklan, Philippines :]

and.. im californian-

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shel90

As a former oralist, I used to identify with Heather but after so much soul searching and finding my true identity, I feel more connected with Marlee than Heather. Like me, Marlee uses her oral skills sometimes but seems more comfortable with using ASL.

With Heather, I am happy for her but she is not someone I look up to anymore.

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NorCal20

i wonder what is she is doing at this time?

i know that MM is still performing in various of tv shows.

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ClearSky

I think both of them have issues that different deaf people can relate to. I can't say that one is better than the other. They are each different.

I do notice that there's something I don't like about Heather, but I am thinking that it might be related to her personality. It might not be related to her deafness at all.

I did read her mom's book and Heather's. I can relate on many experiences. She had her difficulties, too. I didn't find anything to be against her or offensive, but it didn't have any magical solution that would suddenly make your life easier or see her as a role model.

I think Heather's human, and I don't think that she's perfect, but some people tried to push me to watch her pageant as a role model because people thought that she had it perfect. It pi$$ed me off because I felt like they were ignoring the fact that it was difficult whether Heather's in the picture or not. I knew behind all of the pageant success that Heather must have had her share of difficulties in life as a deaf person, and it was true when I read her book. I was like "ha, bitches. Ye can't fool me!" She went through it to pay her education as well.

It was as if people thought that her experience would automatically make me more confident. Dude, just because she made it to the pageant doesn't mean that all of my difficulties would diassapear because of Heather winning a pageant.

I am not against Marlee at all. I think she's humble when it comes to deafness, but I wonder where she stands on oralism because she does talk sometimes. So I am not sure how much she speaks or supports it or what. What I seem to get is that she probably just respects it, and stays with what she's comfortable instead of pushing people to be on the total deaf side. What I like is that she's not so much on Deaf Pride, so it makes it easier to relate to her in some ways.

They both have their differences as deaf people. I don't think that either one represent the deaf community better. Some people will like one person better than the other depending on their personality.

ClearSky

The last time I saw Heather's website that she was going to be a Beauty Consultant, and run the business with her husband. All I heard was that she got her second CI after she lost the remaining hearing.

I think it'd be SO cool if Marlee Matlin would have her own TV Show. A family TV show. That she'd be the main character. Wouldn't that be so cool?

Bottesini

"If I were offered a cochlear implant today, I would prefer not to have one. But that's not a statement about hearing aids or cochlear implants. It's about who you are" (Marlee Matlin)

Marlee Matlin Quotes

Where did you hear about CI and Matlin? I don't think she has one.

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shel90

MM has no CIs.

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ClearSky

I was referring to Heather Whitestone .

shel90

well..it seemed like u were referring to MM.

Yes, Heather got bilateral CIs.

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ClearSky

Okay, I fixed the previous post for clarification.

BradB08

I'm a fan of Marlee, especially her work in a little known movie called "What the Bleep: Down the Wormhole".

sablescort

Heather or Marlee? Hell, Id take MM over Heather cause MM has the ultimate award a deafie can achieve: The Oscar. Even though I cant stand MM's further evolution, her role in Children of a Lesser God totally takes the cake. The AG Bell Society can have Heather for all I care...I got no use for their outdated oralist ideals starting way back to Milan 1880.

Liebling:-)))

Yes I learn about them and love to watch Marlee Matlin's movies.


I do not like to compare them but respect what they are because they are different people and have their own way.

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BradB08

Why do Deaf people look down on Deaf celebrities that don't use exclusively ASL? Why is this such a bad thing?

Cheri

Good question, I never understand why either.

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NorCal20

true.. ummm...

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Cheri

It's funny how deaf people always complain that hearing people look down at them, but aren't they doing exactly the same thing to their own culture?

Before many people in the deaf community looked down at Marlee because she used her voice in some television roles, and Heather was not accepted by the deaf community just because she did not sign enough and she relied too much on lip-reading, then she had her cochlear implant in 2002, the deaf community went nuts. It's unbelievable.

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Angel

:nodding in agreement:

Sunshinelady

yeaaah, i am the same way with you. I don't like compare about this or this.

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Levonian

Some of the old-timers here don't think too highly of MM. My wife has met her, and she says Matlin was polite to her, so I dunno. I've never met her, so I can't offer an opinion one way or the other.

ClearSky

I don't understand either. Even with Marlee Matlin, they hate when she try to use her voice or read lips too much on movies because they feel it's not reality.

Nothing's perfect enough to the Deaf Culture.

Angel

Exactly

BradB08

These are the same people that hold Gallaudet as an elitist institution and look down on Deaf people from hearing families or Deaf people that learned how to sign later than themselves.

shel90

Right...not all Deaf people are like that. In my years I have been involved with the Deaf culture (since '98 ), not one person ever said anything about Heather Whitestone and I was at Gallaudet in 02 and nobody that I know of made a big fuss about her implants. Either the people I hung out with werent hard core Deaf culture elists or they just didnt give a ****. LOL!

What people said about the Deaf community being against her is new to me. Interesting but I am not surprised that some extremists would probably say stuff like that.

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web730

I recalled attending a speech by MM in person at Gally when I was a student in late '89 or '90. Anyway, she mostly spoke about her experiences being an actress in the "Children of a Lesser God" movie and bits of her life inside the Gally gym building.

There was a friend who stood up in the crowd not far from me asking her question that he was told that you (MM) failed the admission test for Gally. She was quite blushed and glimpsed at her bodyguard, who also acted in her movie, hoping for something what to say to his question to get by, you know.

I didn't know how he got word that she failed the test. Boy, how rude he did that just to make her feel low front of a hundred Gally students. Some were surprised... thought that she was quite smart enough to pass. Poor her!

It was a hot issue right after her speech for a brief of time but then faded.

Yet odd enough probably that she eventually received a honorary degree from Gallaudet University several years later or so. That guy (who asked her the question) eventually died from a car accident later.

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BradB08

Actually it's What the Bleep: Down the Rabbit Hole