With RockStock quickly approaching, the drama “Sound of Metal” (2019) eloquently reminds viewers of the privilege it is to be able hear music. The movie is about Ruben Stone (Riz Ahmed), a heavy metal drummer who must face the reality that he is losing his hearing due to ruptured eardrums and will live his remaining life in silence.
My initial reaction to the movie was pure awe. As a piano player myself, the idea of never hearing music again, especially from the instrument I play, is a daunting premise. I immediately felt for the main character as he could do nothing but slowly drift towards deafness. However, anyone get lost in this film and empathize with Ruben, regardless of your musical background.
Arguably the best asset of the movie is how well it showed us Ruben’s perspective, allowing us to feel every emotion with him. In one scene, he is playing for his heavy metal band, and loses his hearing. We as the audience sit in silence with him as he must grapple with this hardship. Another scene shows him at the doctor’s office after getting a cochlear implant, which essentially is a device that is used to emulate sound and trick the brain into thinking it is hearing. As the doctor is testing it out, the noise is muffled and high-pitched. It is an uncomfortable sound for the audience, so we understand the nervousness and pain that Reuben must be experiencing.
Although the premise is intimidating, “Sound of Metal” itself does have joy as Ruben learns to deal with his new reality and find purpose in his life. He gets in touch with the deaf community, a community that has largely been underrepresented and misrepresented in the media, and begins learning American Sign Language. The film depicts the deaf community with love and care, showing them not as disabled people who have had something bad happen to them, but as real people who have created a culture and are thriving with their deafness.
Ruben wants his hearing back so badly that he is willing to pretend everything is normal, even against the advice of others. He continues to be in loud spaces, despite the fact that it will hurt his hearing because he does not want this life to change. However, being hard of hearing does not take everything away from a person. He can still be a musician and can still feel his drums, even if he cannot hear them. Once he starts accepting that he is going deaf, and that is not the end of his music career, things start looking up for him. It is not a death sentence by any means, and Ruben learns that as he grapples with his hardships.
Viewers walk away from the film knowing that even if they have a setback, there is always a way to accommodate it. “Sound Of Metal” is an inspiring movie that depicts the art of music and the love that musicians have for their craft. It shows how one must accept their reality, but not let the reality get the best of them.
