It was part of Marvel’s new trailer for the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2: “What’s UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUPP? Chris Pratt here, with a special look at Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. And… C’mon seriously dude? You’d rather read… those… than… hear… me? Nah, no. No reading those. (Chris swiping away the text.) Those. (Chris swiping away the text again.) (Not captioned: “Listen up, hey, for real, do me a favor, turn up your volume, right now.”) Turn up the volume! (Not captioned: Check out this new clip.)”
Below are some frames from that clip:
The clip started with cool captions, but after Chris swiped them away, it went on without captions for more than last half of it. It turned out to be insensitive to those who need captions and infuriated the disability community so much that they stormed Marvel’s social media with comments about why captions are important. While it’s understandable that the point of the clip was to listen to sound effects, there was no reason to remove captions. Captions could still go on along with sounds. Captions are more than just adding words – they also include certain sound descriptions. There are over 50 million of deaf and hard of hearing people who rely on captions as well as many millions more for various reasons. So just turning up volume doesn’t help everyone.
While many movies are captioned online and on DVDs, most trailers are not and many movie theaters are inaccessible to those who need captions. There are some movie theaters that force caption users to use bulky goggles or devices in a cup holder, but they are not as effective or user-friendly as open captions that most people prefer.
Captions are universal access to everyone and benefit more than just those who cannot hear. Following are comments of Twitter users on this video clip to prove why captions are important to everyone:
@svknyc @MarvelStudios @prattprattpratt I’m not surprised they’d do this. MarvelStudios has proven they don’t care about accessibility as their trailers never have closed captions.
— #NoBanNoWall#NoTrump (@MarkSweeney) May 3, 2017
Hey @prattprattpratt & @MarvelStudios I’m hard of hearing after 9 1/2 years in the Navy. It would be great if I didn’t need captions. I DO. https://t.co/gKXFeo5RFa
— TheShepherdPersists (@civilwarbore) May 4, 2017
This is infuriating. I have ADHD and sensory processing issues. I always use CC on everything I watch. Fuck @prattprattpratt @MarvelStudios. https://t.co/AKroShDRny
— Grace Breedlove (@FrostyCobweb) May 4, 2017
@svknyc @brookewinters33 @MarvelStudios @prattprattpratt Really disappointed to see this used as a gimmick. Accessibility is important.
— Jax Blunt (@liveotherwise) May 3, 2017
So, #Marvel thinks #deaf people are lazy, I guess? TURN ON YOUR EARS GUYS! No, Marvel. That’s not how it works. Hawkeye is displeased. https://t.co/oLjpIP2YEy
— Kit Englard (@MathnSkating) May 3, 2017
yikes. yikes yikes yikes.
a) deaf people exist??
b) captions help me know what you say bc sometimes people talk too fast & i can’t process?? https://t.co/aUo3YxSm8Y— short hair, idc. (@maliakaana) May 3, 2017
i have auditory processing disorder, i can’t understand spoken language unless i know the voice, the accent & it’s very very clear https://t.co/GlCKoEfzKW
— skye ♿ (@disabilisaur) May 3, 2017
Come ON… ?
Deaf people’s access is important AND ALSO, other disabled ppl need captions too (for auditory processing etc). This is lousy. https://t.co/275kBqUT3a— Erin Human (@theeisforerin) May 3, 2017
I’m disgusted by this! I’m partially deaf and often need CC as it’s hard to keep up. To say get rid of them in such a joke way is awful!! https://t.co/BF8jt98t3h
— Stacy (@Disney_OnWheels) May 3, 2017
@svknyc @erabrand @MarvelStudios @prattprattpratt As someone with APD, I agree with this sentiment. I need captions to understand wtf anyone is saying. ?
— Sam. ? (@Omniscientesque) May 4, 2017
This is not the first anti-subtitle campaign I see and it really mystifies me. Like, what is there to be against? https://t.co/PBgZKh4OFz
— Kramski (@kramski) May 4, 2017
@svknyc @MarvelStudios @prattprattpratt ugh. Not cool. There are a lot of reasons why captions are important and necessary.
— D (@pinstripeowl) May 4, 2017
Wondering when @Marvel will stop trying so damn hard to alienate their fans https://t.co/yLBT0K54Ko
— inkbot kowalski (@inkbotkowalski) May 4, 2017
The offensive video was removed after numerous complaints then Chris Pratt personally delivered an apology on Instagram where he used sign language in video and wrote a detailed text below to admit his mistake and agree that captions are important. His apology is greatly appreciated.
I also agree with him that Instagram needs to implement a captioning feature. However, auto captions are not of acceptable quality – captions still need to be created manually or auto captions need at least be cleaned up. I explain how to add good quality captions manually to any video players with a caption feature (or to clean up auto captions). Also, captions and subtitles are not the same thing.
Chris not only owned up to his mistake, but also showed how he cared by using some sign language and encouraging Instagram to incorporate a captioning feature which is quite impressive. However, I wonder why Marvel creative team didn’t bother to publicly apologize to deaf and hard of hearing people for such a stupid idea for the insensitive ad that they came up with in the first place? Were they using Chris in hopes to get off the hook?