Portrayal of Deaf characters in Korean movies

Characters in movies have the potential to influence perceptions of how people see themselves. Deaf adolescents who have little opportunity to interact with Deaf peers or family members may be particularly drawn to Deaf people they see in the media. How the media portrays Deaf people may impact Deaf adolescents' self-perceptions of and language preferences. Yet little is known about the ways Deaf people are portrayed in movies, particularly films developed outside of the United States and not in English. In this study, we utilized content analysis to explore the portrayal of Deaf characters in Korean movies and Deaf involvement in the production of films. Descriptive statistics were used to determine the extent to which characters were portrayed by medical or cultural perspectives of Deaf people. Findings indicate that 68.5% of scenes in the sampled Korean films include medical rather than cultural messages about Deaf people. Additionally, none of the movies had Deaf people directly involved in the production of the films. Implications for future directions regarding identity and portrayal of Deaf people in media are discussed.