While I was on an accidental hiatus (thank you, adulting, work, and depression~) I watched a movie thanks to my curiosity from researching a topic because I was trying to be super accurate in a fanfic. Yeah, that’s actually how this happened.
I started up this fanfic that I hadn’t touched in a few years, and it touches on a disability. So, I figured since the characters were going to interact with each other more in this installment, I would need to do more research. This is a lot harder than it sounds.
It’s blindness by the way. Blindness in Korea is very hard to research. It’s hard to keep up English and Spanish, while learning Korean, first of all. And then slap trying to find out about disabilities in Korea on top of that.
What I did find out is that being a masseur in Korea is strictly a profession for the blind/legally blind because they have so few career options. It’s been fought several times, but the law has been upheld.
Another thing is, personally speaking, I’ve found it very hard to find learning materials for Korean sign language. I know there is one app (Memrise) that offers Korean sign language, but it’s the only resource I know of currently outside Korea to do so. I found one $80 book on Amazon, which I clearly cannot afford.
Sign language itself is a separate need because I have a health condition to where if I find myself in a position to where I can’t speak, I need to find a way to communicate. Which sometimes backfires anyway. Have you ever been in the middle of a seizure and had to write shit down because NO ONE CAN SIGN BACK??? (Yes, you can have a seizure while you’re conscious, no I was not faking it, fuck all the way off) This was my main inspiration for learning Korean sign language, but I prefer books to apps.
The problem is, finding a book.
While I was doing research I came upon an article referencing a deaf/blind man Young-Chan, in Korea who had a documentary made about him and his wife Soo Ho‘s everyday life in 2011. When they first were approached about the documentary they turned it down because they didn’t want to be pitied, since that’s how a lot of people and production companies approach people with disabilities and chronicling their lives and struggles, etc.
However, the documentary titled ‘Planet of Snail‘ doesn’t do that. It gives an introduction, and slowly introduces you to them, their lives, some of their friends and their daily struggles. You get to see how they communicate. Sometimes though, there aren’t subtitles for certain situations so you kinda have to guess in the context of what’s going on.
What I did figure out is that they communicate by tapping out braille letters on each other’s fingers. When I was a kid I was taught about Helen Keller, and I remember her teacher pressing her hand into Helen’s, making the letters, but tapping the braille out seems to be a lot more efficient. I don’t know, Just from an onlooker’s perspective. I don’t use sign language often, and it’s been a very long time since it’s been my main source of language.
He’s a poet and she seems to be a housewife, and the title describes their life, it’s slow, and quiet, like a snail’s. It’s also super funny and cute, and I highly recommend you watch it.
You can view the trailer here:
Rent or Buy it on iTunes! You could try your luck and buy it from Amazon as well. Just saying.
Ms. ThugBear 