Judy Garland and the Deaf community

[judydarling]

I've noticed that Judy G is popular with Deaf people and the hearing impaired and just wondered if your/their experience of Judy was the same as hearing people.

I think deaf people can feel vibrations and of course they can lipread and probably see a lot more body language even without signing and Judy just communicated so well on screen that it was very easy to get her meaning and see what she was saying.

Also she was quite loud when singing - that helps!

My Judy friend who is part deaf loved the Mickey and Judy boxset of dvds because its got subtitles and even I like having them on and learning american slang. I sometimes wonder if he's going deaf because he listens to so much Judy!!

[hiyajohnny]

I remember reading once that Marlee Matlin is a huge Judy fan and I found that interesting, mostly because Judy's voice is such a large part of her appeal! Don't get me wrong, I'd watch a Judy movie without sound too, but she's so well known for her voice....

[bogart]

Funny I was just reading an auto- biography of Marlee Matlin the other week.
She didn't mention Judy but I think Judy's gestures were a large part of her appeal, as well as the way she looked on screen, people could relate to her because she wasn't 'perfect'.

I love the story of Judy and the deaf/mute girl. When she visits the children's ward of the hospital and the girl cries out (the first time she has ever spoken in years) to Judy to please don't go. I think if Judy could make the deaf hear she is some kind of miracle worker..

I guess that's why I love the movie 'A child is Waiting'. Nobody but Judy would have taken the part.

[judydarling]

I'm glad Judy's movies now all have subtitles for the hearing impaired - now more attention needs to be paid to those CD compilations - printed lyrics would be good!