It’s the filmic equivalent of person-first and identity-second. Maddie, for Siegel, could be any person who feels alone and who, in this case, happens to be deaf. “Something happened to her in the world left her feeling like nobody could hear her, like she couldn’t speak, like she couldn’t be heard,” she said. Siegel said she wasn’t necessarily trying to play the character to mimic the deaf experience, but instead focus on telling the story of a woman who isolated herself by choice. “What I could write about was being isolated or having your whole world changed based on one experience,” she said. One of the key changes, according to Flanagan, that was made on the consultant’s suggestion was to change Maddie from being born deaf to being latent deaf. The consultant not only trained Siegel on ASL (American Sign Language) but also vetted the script. ![]() “We both did as much research as we could online but also enlisted a consultant who was deaf,” Flanagan said. Research was key, and both Flanagan and Siegel admit they knew they were limited by not being deaf themselves. “What was most important was that she wasn’t defined by what made her different,” Siegel told IndieWire. As Flanagan says, Siegel created the character of Maddie completely on her own, doing as much research as possible to create a figure that would be relatable in some way. It’s this trope, in particular, that director Flanagan and co-screenwriter Siegel wanted to avoid. ![]() “Hush” was something different to watch, especially as a disabled film lover who generally saw disabled women - what few existed - left as damsels in distress. Stuck in self-imposed isolation, Maddie soon discovers she is being hunted by a masked man who sees her deafness as proof positive of easy prey. In 2016 I discovered Mike Flanagan’s horror feature, “ Hush,” a film he said is inspired by “Wait Until Dark.” That features Kate Siegel as Maddie, a woman who, after a bout with meningitis, is made deaf. The Very Real Monsters in Mike Flanagan's 'Midnight Mass'įrom 'Reality Bites' to 'Fatal Attraction,' Keep Track of All the Upcoming Film-to-TV Adaptations 'The Midnight Club' First Look: 'Haunting of Hill House' Creator Turns Back the Clock for YA Scary Stories
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |