Children of a Lesser God Movie Review

Children of a Lesser God (1986)

Rent Children of a Lesser God on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Mark Medoff (stage play), Hesper Anderson and Mark Medoff (screenplay), James Carrington (uncredited)
Directed by: Randa Haines
Starring: William Hurt, Marlee Matlin, Piper Laurie
Rated: R
Watch the trailer

Plot
A new speech teacher at a school for the deaf falls in love with the janitor, a deaf woman speechless by choice.

Verdict
It's a romance about people from two different worlds. Those worlds happen to be speaking and non-speaking. James is committed to helping his students, but he falls for a deaf woman. Her concern is that his interest stems from wanting to fix her or make her a project. She's been faced with people wanting to changer her all of her life. The solution has been to close herself off. While she's fallen for James, she can't shake that feeling. He doesn't understand why she wouldn't take every opportunity to better adapt. He cares about and wants to help her.
Watch It.

Review
This was Marlee Matlin's film debut and she became the youngest woman to win the lead actress Oscar and the fourth to win it in her debut. The title derives from Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem Idylls of the King, exploring the idea that some people are seen as inferior, made by a less powerful deity. Deaf people are wrongly considered lesser than or even dumb, only because they don't communicate in a typical fashion. It's not true.

James (William Hurt) becomes a teacher at a school for the deaf and hard of hearing. He's a bit unconventional but devoted to helping his students cope in the world. He's intrigued by the school janitor Sarah (Marlee Matlin). He doesn't understand why she's a janitor. Asking around, he finds she attended the school and was a good student.

Marlee Matlin, William Hurt play Sarah Norman, James Leeds

James annoys some of the staff in trying to reach his students. He stresses how important communicating can be. He doesn't want sign language to be an impediment for them interacting with a speaking world.

James and Sarah go out after his persistence despite initial rejection. James calls Sarah's mother to find out about her past as she won't go into detail. That only makes her mad. He later goes to her mother's house to find out why they're estranged. It seems Sarah's mom never made an effort to learn sign language. He's crossing her boundaries because he thinks his desire to know is more important than her right to keep her past private.

She thinks he's trying to be the hero, nobly helping a poor deaf girl. He's adamant that's not it. Her ability to hear has no bearing on his attraction, but her decision not to speak limits her communication with the world.

They're soon living together. It seems like they're moving quickly. James goes to a party with Sarah and discovers what it feels like to be left out. Everyone at the party is signing too quickly for him to follow. He's isolated, but it's a glimpse of what it's like to sign in a speaking world. I'm sure Sarah felt left out frequently. James and Sarah come from different worlds, speaking different languages. That creates tension as they see the world differently. He's trying to help her and his students cope in the world as it is, his world. She doesn't understand why she needs to fit into a society that doesn't readily accept her. She also can't escape the idea that James wants to change her, make her speak, as that's what he does in his job as a teacher. He asks her how she'll manage in a speaking world, but she counters she doesn't want to.

William Hurt, Marlee Matlin play James Leeds, Sarah Norman

I like how this translates sign language, with James voicing both parts as he understands signs and then responds in kind. It's better than captions and could be attributed to how he processes it.

They break up. Part of it is that she's never been close to anyone, and she doesn't know how to handle it. Sarah has to confront her doubts about why they're together and whether he wants to change her. In spite of the separation they get back together and it all works out in the end. It's one thing to overcome cultural differences, but this couple speaks different languages. On top of that you have James that doesn't understand why Sarah rejects the speaking world instead of trying to manage it. Sarah rejects that world, feeling like she shouldn't have to change. They have to find a middle ground to make it work, realizing that what they want can't trump their partner's feelings.