Opinion | Watching Movies With Low Vision – The New York Times
At the movies, for the first time, close to the giant silver screen, I could see clenched fists, grimaces, smiles, nods and other expressions and gestures. Back in the day, I would have had no idea of what a life hack was. But that’s what movies have been for me.
In real life, I frequently have trouble reading the room because I rarely see facial expressions, gestures or what people are wearing unless I’m very close to them. I frequently miss visual information that gives sighted people clues about the people they date, fall in love with, marry, parent, socialize with and work with. I can’t see how you gesture to get a server’s attention when you’re having dinner out or when you’re flirting with me or rolling your eyes.
I won’t pretend that I see what sighted people see when they view movies, but I see enough. I also sometimes use audio description, a form of narration that gives blind and low-vision people access to visual elements in movies and other media.
Yes, a lot of the time I can’t tell what weapon is used in a murder mystery or the size of the engagement ring a lover has hidden in his beloved’s dessert. But the sheer experience of film is what I love — the sense of images moving across the screen as we move through space and time. And because movies are on a big screen, with close-ups of lovers, musical numbers, battles and street scenes, I’m able to view what I otherwise rarely can.
My everyday life, like that of everyone I’ve ever known, isn’t like the movies. I’m not, like Norma Desmond, getting ready for my close-up. I’ve had some lovely romances but never as magical as in “The Philadelphia Story.” I have moments of existential dread. But I’m not Laurence Olivier in “Hamlet.”
Yet the imaginary world of the movies has helped me by giving me irreplaceable, even magical glimpses into how the world works. From watching films, I got my first idea of what people were talking about when they said someone was smirking, snarling or shrugging. Today I’m not bewildered if I’m asked to smile for a photo. One day, I’ll learn how to roll my eyes.
Movies have been a decoder ring that helped me make sense of the world. They’ve …….