Children of a Lesser God

Inspiring teacher. Hot romance. A young William Hurt and a smokin’ sexy Marlee Matlin. Like, what is better? William Hurt is a teacher who takes a job at a deaf school. Marlee Matlin is a reportedly brilliant former student at the school who now works as a janitor. She’s deaf, and to assert some sort of power she believes she doesn’t really possess, she sleeps with guys. Deaf guys, hearing guys. Whatever. Hurt pushes his agenda of teaching the kids to vocally speak in order to give them more independence. And, he encourages his class to perform a song. They eventually learn to talk and sing. A lot of them come out of their shells, and it’s all very inspiring. As always, I like to get to the good part of the movie: Hurt and Matlin start a relationship. She is super sexy and, of course, they begin their love affair.

He respects her and sees her potential. This is a new phenomenon to Matlin, who is used to using sex for power and does not respond well to someone who encourages her to use her smarts and to assert her own independence. She’s used to using her body for power, for sex, for assertion. Hurt urges her to use her voice, but she refuses because she’s embarrassed by its sound. The scenes of Hurt and Matlin arguing in sign language are interesting because the characters are basically screaming by way of the use of their hands. No words are exchanged (although he does speak most of the time), but the energy they convey to one another is palpable, even through the silver screen. Sometimes, it’s difficult to switch up a mentality you’ve held for so long. Matlin has mastered her body and understands the power it can yield. It’s difficult to initially grasp that type of assertion, but once you do, it can feel way too vulnerable to unclamp that grip. Hurt is really asking too much of Matlin when he wants her to have sex without an agenda, when he wants her to let go of the grip, and when he wants her to speak his vocalized language. He’s the teacher. She’s the student. But, you know, that’s not really true because when it’s all said and done, she’s still the deaf janitor. And, when she’s in bed and the lights are out, Matlin is totally in control. I mean, I’d do her.

It can be seen as fetishising to give a deaf woman this sex ability. We can ask ourselves what it means to be turned on by this deaf woman who is powerful in the bedroom, but doesn’t speak. Would she be as hot if she were talking the whole time? No. (But, in all fairness, no one is as hot in bed when he or she is talking. I mean, even I—who never can shut up—know to be quiet. Well, I mean, I get the no-talking thing.) Maybe, we’re actually taking steps forward by sexing up a person with a disability. I think that’s a dangerous rationale to follow, though. I mean, making a movie about legless prostitutes doesn’t necessarily set the women’s movement or the a.c.l.u soaring ahead. But, who am I to make those claims? Maybe, stereotypes die only when we can picture having sex with the subordinated classes. Whatever the outcome, I’d be into seeing if that actually works. Sex on screen is never a bad thing. And, while we're on the subject, legless prostitutes are pretty hot, too.