I'm going to single this movie out for the 14 I've watched over the weekend.

First, it's not special. Deaf people in this virtue signalling/representation environment doesn't elevate you to "great" or more by default anymore than another marginalized-status qualifier, and frankly, the "reviews" that can't get over themselves thinking their outpours of affection are synonymous with expressing a valuable or thoughtful opinion are moving from making me sick to angry. That said, the deaf characters were funny, even if her brother seemed to over-sell his role.

The lie at the heart of this movie is that your family or community will pull through and prioritize the right things after what appeared to be an indefinite period of exploitation, ridicule, and ostracization. Provided you're talented or find a way to save them all in spite of how you've been treated, all will be well. Some of the characters are underdeveloped and you're lead to believe certain plot lines might get explored, but they don't, [spoiler]like with Bernardo's family, or Leo's different roles altogether.[/spoiler] Many budding musician cliches made for montages are drawn out into scenes.

Anymore, this seems to be our collective delusion now masked ever-further under the lazy-gaze of those checking representation boxes. [spoiler]The only criticism she had of her family was their need for a free interpreter. She didn't indignantly decide for herself to go to school, they had to relent and drag her to the final audition. Right. A lifetime if taking her granted or resenting her role now magically fixed because...? [/spoiler] You don't deal with questions like that in feel-good let's just sing together movies. Love wins. [spoiler] She gets the boy. The community discovers how to integrate and accept. [/spoiler]

Why am I calling it "fair?" It does what you expect in its superficial lane. It's got jokes. Eugenio is a star. The singing is enjoyable. It's another compelling stain on our collective psychology.