I’ve been having thoughts about what I can do to contribute to the discussion of film, but more importantly from a blind perspective. I expressed a lot of frustrations about Godzilla minus one being allowed to be submitted for Oscar consideration without being accessible. Even if the Acadmey made exceptions for certain categories, like International or the Short Film categories, there’s no reason to exempt a movie being considered for visual effects. If anything, that’s the category that should be required, otherwise any blind or low vision Oscar voters are at a disadvantage. Not to mention, the general population.

So why am i talking about this here? because I genuinely don’t know if an audio description track was created for She came To Me. Hulu isn’t very good at tracking down audio description. Regardless, for a film that did manage a Golden globe nomination, it doesn’t have accessibility. And I’ve been putting on a nice face, and trying to be fairly diplomatic about these things, and not just rant and rave every single time, but it’s exhausting.

Sighted audiences can pick from any title, on any service, including theatrical. And I do mean simply sighted, because closed captioning is so ubiquitous that I think that is a true statement. Certainly, it would cover 99% of the sighted population. The problem with this method of offering a randomly selected list is that people are not a monolith. We blind folk don’t gather every year at a convention to align our views on what we like and dislike, and choose our titles to watch in the upcoming year. the sporadic accessibility, in many ways, is a form of censorship. Perhaps, not the most obvious form, or a dangerous form, but certainly it is sending a message that there are things that are not for us, but those things are for other people. And the worst thing is that the reason these things are not for us, is because of something we can’t just fix, or switch on. i cannot change my vision, but companies, like film distributors and streaming services, they can change their “best” practices to aim for a truly inclusive structure. that’s a structure that would allow someone like me to click on She Came To Me, perhaps because I like independent film, or romantic comedies, or Peter Dinklage, etc. At the same time, a truly inclusive model would also support someone else who just wants to watch Grey’s Anatomy from the beginning all the way through. then someone else would be able to check out The First Omen, because they are into horror. And the adult animation crowd can get their kicks on by watching entire runs of shows like Futurama, family Guy, King Of the Hill, and Bob’s Burgers. But that isn’t the model Hulu supports.

The even sadder thing, is that with the exception of She Came To Me, I do believe all the programs and movies I listed are licensed by Hulu’s parent company, which means they are far more likely to stay on Hulu. Investing in full audio description for a show like Futurama, a show recently revived by Hulu, would allow fans or potential fans, who are blind or low vision to go back and enjoy the show from the beginning, instead of just Hulu’s new seasons (which to be fair, are audio described). A planned King of The Hill revival is coming, so now would be the time to find ways to bring in a new generation of fans, including those in the blind and low vision communities.

And for films like She came to Me, a great way to attract an audience, is to be accessible to that audience. because, instead of getting a solid review on the film, you get this instead. An explanation of why the film needs audio description.

Yes, I saw the film, and my quick thoughts would be that the film has this secondary storyline that is so oddly specific about Romeo and Juliet type laws, that I just wondered what on earth it ever had to do with Peter Dinklage’s romantically entangled composer. Dinklage is capable of so much more, as are his co-stars Anne Hathaway and Marisa Tomei. However, maybe I missed some nuance. After all, I was not provided the accessibility I need to fully immerse myself in this film.

Accessibility matters. While the world around us seems to be crumbling down, the best way we can push back is to keep moving forward. Expand accessibility. Invest in audio description. Target blind and low vision audiences by promising them that you’re consistently offering them quality audio description tracks and have plans to fill out your catalog of titles.

Until then, well, films like She Came To Me just simply get…

Final Grade: unwatchable