Creed 3 is making sure that accessibility for the disabled is a core part of its message. The sequel promises to make Adonis Creed's (Michael B. Jordan) daughter’s, Amara (Mila Davis-Ken), experience as a Deaf child a simple fact of life for her character.
Amara was born in Creed 2 to Adonis and Bianca (Tessa Thompson), Adonis' love interest and motivation, as Talia Shire's Adrian was to Rocky. Bianca is a musician with progressive hearing loss, and she is dismayed to learn her daughter is Deaf at birth, believing that this means the two will not be able to bond over her deep love of music. Adonis is worried that she may have been given extra disadvantages after being born into an already difficult life. Now that she’s all grown up in Creed 3, however, the fact of her Deafness is simply a facet of the Creed family’s life.
Slash Film reported on a press conference held by Jordan, who discussed how Deaf representation is important as both a narrative device in Creed 3 and as a form of representation for real people who are not frequently represented. Citing Bianca learning American Sign Language in the first Creed, Jordan felt it was a good evolution of the character’s arc. He said, "I think naturally it was the right evolution of Creed's family. How do they grow? How do they deal with that obstacle and turn it into a superpower? It's a community of people that didn't really get true representation as much as they should and we use this as an opportunity to do that."
Jordan also commented that the cast learned ASL to bring authenticity to their performances. “Learning ASL and normalizing it was a really big deal for us," he said. "Hopefully in watching this movie, you feel it.” For Jordan, it seems that authenticity was a big part of this representation. Davis-Ken is a Deaf child actress, and hiring her for Creed 3 was a gesture of commitment to that representation.
Ultimately, Jordan seems to be handling the topic with sensitivity and empowerment. Historically, Deaf people have not been very well represented in film. The Deaf community faces many misconceptions and hurdles that are not taken into consideration, and media awareness is a huge cause to push acceptance of the condition and clear away the many misunderstandings of what it actually means to be Deaf. Deaf actors and actresses also face challenges while filming.
Some films have even incorrectly displayed sign language among their Deaf characters, either flat-out making up some signage or using completely incorrect grammar and syntax. It would be like hiring an actor who does not know how to speak German and then not coaching them properly on the language, then expecting them to speak it flawlessly. Deaf consultants are usually not hired, and Deaf actors and actresses are usually avoided in favor of actors who can hear. Creed 3 has previously shown its commitment to representation and equity when it announced it would be hiring 8 Georgia Film Academy Interns. The battle for representation rages on.
Creed 3 hits theaters on March 3, 2023.
Source: Slash Film