By Robert Kingett
“Books are in the holy shape. They are silent, and yet, speak directly into the imagination,” says Maghra, played by actress Hera Hilmar, in episode two of See, a science fiction drama produced for Apple TV+.
Disability Representation in the Media
Disabled characters in media rarely get a fair shake at representation, if they even get representation at all. In the extremely rare cases that a character with a disability has any agency, that character is bathed in a stereotype or the disability is obliterated altogether.
Upon first watching the audio-described trailer for See, which is about a blinded population of survivors centuries after a virus wiped out many humans in the past, I had questions. For example, in the series, two twins have the mythical ability of sight. Will they be just convenient tropes or will they become an integral part in shaping the world, centuries beyond their passing?
This question and more had me curious enough to check out the sci-fi fantasy. After all, I’m a sucker for dystopian fiction and it was the first production by a major studio where blindness was depicted as just a way of life.
About the New Apple TV Series See
See takes place in the distant future, after a deadly virus decimated humankind. Those who survived emerged blind. Jason Momoa stars as Baba Voss — the father of the aforementioned twins, who were born centuries later with the mythic ability to see. Queen Kane, played by Sylvia Hoeks, is the ruler of the Payan tribe. Queen Kane lives in one of the only places that still has electricity. In a world where sight is considered a forbidden heresy, she tasks her tribe with finding the children who are rumored to have this mythic ability of sight.
See is a different world from our own. In this world, books are seen as mystical or advanced technology, because they don’t make a sound. People in this world don’t have to adapt to a sighted society, they just live in it while facing war, love, and even tenderness. This is important, because no other media portrays blindness in this kind of casual way, even if it holds a worrying plot point. There’s a bigger picture than the sighted savior trope, after all.
Audio Description in See
To illustrate how the population lives, very few things are explained through dialogue, which makes audio description so vital. There are little things, like using a sword to determine the texture changes in the ground — used as an approximation of guide dogs — and ropes are used inside and outside to effortlessly guide people from one place to another. In this world, it would make sense that sight would be viewed as a form of dark magic.
See is just one of many offerings on Apple’s new, on-demand streaming service called Apple TV+. Like all of their other content, See has audio description in nine languages. And no audio description track is region locked, which is a great thing. Also, one nice surprise is that the audio description is mixed in Dolby Atmos, which is something I wish more streaming companies would do.
The only thing that was disheartening to see was the audio description writer and narrator for See weren’t credited at all. I can only identify Tansy Alexander as the audio description narrator, because she described other popular titles, such as Stranger Things.
Apple TV’s Screener Platform is Inaccessible
Unfortunately, Apple’s screener platform for journalists wasn’t accessible, so I was limited to reviewing the described consumer episodes. Moreover, the screener player for the press had unlabeled buttons, making it very difficult and, even in some cases, unusable by both my desktop screen reader and Apple’s vision accessibility technology, VoiceOver. The screener platform didn’t have audio description on any of the episodes. And, in a show like See, audio description is vital to understand how the world is crafted.
At the time of this writing, only three episodes were available for me to watch as a consumer. Apple says there will be an episode released every week, but some shows have full seasons released.
See Review: A Giant Leap for Blind Actors
Upon watching all available episodes, I was pleasantly surprised that Apple didn’t shy away from sex and violence. There’s a battle in the first episode and it is quite bloody. I definitely wouldn’t recommend this show for kids.
Even with the violence though, there’s a tenderness in the portrayal of all the characters. They are strong, fierce and cunning. They are people and soldiers first. Their disability is just a fact of life, which is something I’ve never seen on TV. I’ve also never seen disability adaptations handled in such a refreshingly casual way.
The difference isn’t just on screen. Huge leaps were made with the inclusive nature of this production. From hiring visually impaired actors and actresses, to hiring a totally blind person as a frequent consultant. Joe Strechay is one of the many totally blind consultants, and he’s credited as an associate producer.
Bree Klauser is one of many visually impaired actors and actresses starring in this show. According to her IMDB page, she is a New York-based singer, actress, voiceover artist, and songwriter who happens to be born legally blind. Bree earned her BFA in acting from Brooklyn College and is a long-time student of former Metropolitan Opera singer Francisco Casanova, and has studied with many other coaches and Broadway musical directors. She has full achromatopsia, which leaves her visual acuity at about 2800. With correction it’s about 2250, but still not corrected enough to not be considered legally blind.
One thing that really stood out to her, as she landed the part of Matal, a tactical warrior for the Alkenny hero tribe, is just how accessible the crew was. The crew was extremely inclusive, and she really enjoyed working with the other cast members.
“It really was kind of an ensemble cast,” Klauser told the Disability Tribune. “Even though we had some big names, no one acted like a star. And especially us who worked in the Alkenny tribe, we spent many, many days in the wilderness, sometimes in the cold and the rain and the mud, trekking through water. It was really a bonding experience.”
She shared that the energy was infectious, and it helped that the staff was extremely accommodating to her disabilities — far more than any other studio had ever been.
When it comes to the portrayal of disability in the show, Klauser is extremely happy about not only the portrayal of the blind, but especially blind women. She stated that quite often, in horror movies especially, blind women are portrayed as victims. “So, I’m really glad that we don’t see that [in See],” she shared. “The women that we meet in this show…They are certainly not victims. These are some strong bitches. So, yeah, I think they get that right.”
Participating in the show was, as Klauser puts it, a huge burden lifted off her shoulders, because the crew were so accommodating, and the set was very accessible. She shared that it was the little things that made a world of difference, such as sight lining not being an issue, because eye contact wasn’t important.
The visually impaired actors also gave valuable input on the script, and Klauser was extremely pleased to see people taking script suggestions seriously. Klauser clarified, “In the development of the script, because this is something that’s not based off of any kind of other book or lore or whatever, it’s all being created by Steven Knight. And he said that it was from a dream or something, which is pretty rad. But they were very sure to listen to us if we ever felt like any of the language being used was ableist, or if something just didn’t make sense logically in this world of blindness.”
See is a step forward. Some may call it a shaky step, but I certainly don’t. I think it’s the leap we need to introduce more shows with disabled characters, portrayed by disabled actors and actresses, and on an inclusive and accessible set.
Robert Kingett is an award-winning author for his essays that feature human stories, boldly told, and his fiction, where disabled characters live normal lives. When he’s not writing, he loves to listen to fiction podcasts. His website is blindjournalist.wordpress.com.
Photo: Jason Momoa and Hera Hilmar in See. Photo courtesy of Apple TV+.