Eternals Character Causes A 250% Increase In People Wanting To Learn Sign Language
Makkari is the Marvel Cinematic Universe's first ever deaf superhero and her presence in Eternals has been praised.
Fans have gone wild for the super fast immortal because it provides visibility to the deaf community and shows how they can be included in huge blockbuster movies.
Her inclusion in Marvel's latest film has caused a huge spike in people wanting to learn sign language.
Preply claims there has been a 250 per cent increase in online searchers for 'learn sign language for beginners' ever since Makkari's character was announced.
Lauren Ridloff played Makkari in the film and is deaf in real life. She was overwhelmed to see how big her impact is on the world.
She wrote on Twitter: "This is great. Do learn sign language from Deaf/HoH teachers/content creators."
The actor added: "What would be even more amazing is to see Google offer up courses by Deaf teachers!! Best to learn straight from the source-people who sign daily!"
She was praised by fellow Eternals star Kumail Nanjiani, who is also Marvel's first ever Pakistani superhero.
"This is amazing. Look what you did Lauren Ridloff!" he wrote on social media.
Ridloff's co-stars all learned American sign language so that they could communicate and understand her on set as well as accurately portray their lines to her in the movie.
She also explained how she 'cried tears of joy' watching her co-stars use sign language on the big screen knowing that it was going to be seen by millions of people around the world.
The actor told Variety: "It was definitely life changing. And I hope that this has the same impact on different communities, people who have been marginalized or are underrepresented in this industry."
Ridloff also revealed that an entirely new set of sign language hand movements were created for the Eternals script.
There aren't any ASL (American Sign Language) movements for some of the characters names, so Ridloff worked alongside her husband, Douglas, who was used as an ASL consultant for the film, to address this shortfall, according to Tech Radar.
She told the outlet: "[Our director] Chloé Zhao doesn't know American Sign Language. So we had to work out how we'd be able to direct the cast and what they [signing each Eternal's name] would look like on screen.
"Our ASL consultant happened to be my husband, who also worked on A Quiet Place and its sequel.
"He and I worked with Chloé to give those nuances of what looked good on screen and to come up with specific signs for each character, which the entire cast and Chloé could use."
Featured Image Credit: Marvel
Topics: Entertainment, TV and Film
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