I can't watch LOTR!

From: BBC, UK - 30 Dec 2002

Sarah thinks Fellowship of the Ring needs proper subtitles

She also thinks that there needs to be more done to help the hearing impaired watch films.

Here's why!

"If I told you to list similarities between Lord of the Rings and Austin Powers what would you come up with?

Perhaps you'd say that they were both successful films with some big names.

Maybe you'd say that they both had various cute actors in them.

If you asked me what I thought was the main similarity between these very different films, you'd get a very shocking answer.

Hearing impaired

When hearing impaired people watch TV or a film they often use subtitles.

Subtitles for the hearing impaired are words at the bottom of the screen which show what the actors are saying and what sounds are being made.

Austin might be groovy, but not if you can't tell what's going on!
Lord of the Rings

Videos are only subtitled if the makers pay to have the subtitles made, but most modern videos do have them.

Sadly, Fellowship of the Ring does not - nor does Austin Powers.

Hearing impaired people all over the world have been denied access to what is one of the biggest films of this millennium so far.

I wasn't born deaf so I know that a lot of hearing people are ignorant to just how many deaf people there are.

We're not aliens!

We enjoy films just as much as the next person and we aren't some kind of aliens.

We're not daft, we're disabled and we are not going to ignore this.

This is discrimination, and needs to be addressed.

I hope you agree."

Sarah, 14, Birmingham

©BBC