Member since: 9/24/2007
It looks like I'll have to keep dreaming. I recently shared my experience in trying to get subtitled movies on a flight from Chicago to Hawaii. I called United Airlines again to get them to load a subtitled movie on the flight home.
It's not going to happen. "I'm sorry, we don't show subtitled movies for the flight you are on," said the United agent.
Is there another person I can talk to about this, I asked. "Uhhh, I need to place your call on hold for a bit. Uhhh, if you wish to speak to somebody else and you want to complain about this, you can call Customer Relation (sp) and the number is...."
Sigh.
So I talked to a friend who works for United and learned that another deaf friend and United employee had brought the issue high up into United but nothing happened.
Here we are, in 2008, and deaf and hard of hearing passengers are still being excluded from enjoying the movies like other passengers.
I asked my friend Howard, a deaf attorney, what could be done.
"You'll need to pass a new law," he said.
Another thing added to my ever-growing advocacy list.
It's hard to believe the level of inequality in today's world. Yes, we may be in 2008, but society has a long way to go in order to have true equality.
And the funny thing? I bet you anything that if you asked hearing people on the same flights if they wanted subtitles for themselves they'd say yes. It would be better for EVERYONE if they did this, in my opinion. (aside from the obvious inclusion that should be happening)
Aren't there subtitles on most DVDs? We often watch the subtitles because the actors often mumble or talk with an accent I don't always understand.
How hard can it be for United? Are other airlines the same?
I think the subtitles would be appreciated by other passengers as well. I was told that they provide subtitles on international flights. How hard would it be to turn on the subtitles when a passenger requests them upon boarding? As far as I know, not a single airline provides subtitles upon request. I sure hope the airline are listening and will make changes!
I would PREFER captions on airplanes (not that I fly that often) because frankly, the thought of using headphones someone else has used would REALLY creep me out. I have a hard enough time using the 3D glasses at different shows when we go to the Disney parks. *LOL*
I still say I can't believe they can't easily fix this. Sounds like they need a wake up call or are being deliberately stubborn. How hard can it be to use a captioning feature on a DVD, if that's what they're doing? Even my son's portable DVD player has a caption feature for the subtitles.
hi karen, sure wish they would change that for every deaf person. sorry that you have to go though tough times for no reason sometimes. love you karen, xoxo :)
That's just it, Madmumbler, the solution is a relatively easy fix. Most movies have the subtitles in them. The airlines do create their own packages by putting tv shows etc together with movies, but they could make it possible to turn the subtitles on and off depending on customer need.
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