Since arriving on Netflix earlier this month, the reality show Deaf U, which follows a group of deaf and hard of hearing college students, has already been lauded by some mainstream outlets as a “huge leap for deaf representation on screen.” Though the show has received largely positive reviews so far, many deaf and queer viewers have expressed “mixed feelings” toward the series, especially regarding its lack of diverse representation and reality show format.
Deaf U’s main cast members attend Gallaudet University, a private liberal arts college for the deaf and hard of hearing in Washington, D.C. It’s produced by Nyle DiMarco, a Gallaudet alum, who recently told The Guardian that the goal of the series was to show deaf people on screen as more than “one-dimensional.” The people who made the show also comprised members of the deaf community, with 30% of the crew, 60% of the story department producers, and 30% of the edit team.
Several deaf, queer TikTok users who watched Deaf U said that they didn’t necessarily like the show’s reality show format, with most of its focus on the students’ romantic relationships, gossip networks, parties, and recreational substance use. The creator @deafthat, a current Gallaudet University student, said in a TikTok video that the show “did well showing what elitism is like on campus” and seemed like it intentionally set out to capture the messiness of college life. But they ultimately felt “disappointed that there were no Black women on the show, no Trans people, DeafBlind, [or] DeafDisabled [people].”
“So the show does NOT 100% represent what Gallaudet is like,” they said.
In the Guardian interview, DiMarco seemed to address why Deaf U takes a docusoap approach. He explained that the show looks at young deaf students through the “lens [of] their friendships, their romantic relationships, their journeys, and what their coming of age through college looks like, how they’re looking for their identity,” so hearing audiences can “learn their deaf experience without it being preached, without it being the tone of a PSA.”
Another TikTok user named @thataqauriusbunny also expressed wanting to see more diverse representation in the deaf community. “I do want to see more BIPOC people, specifically women, and educational background diversity,” they said in their TikTok review. “We don’t see and discuss [that] in the show. What’s up with that?”
They added that the show “overall was interesting,” but that they wished it could have centered the academic side of Gallaudet.”
Another creator, @jennawomackk, also said that they expected Deaf U to be about the students and their academic careers, including their “goals, job majors, [and] struggles in classes.”
Other deaf college students who attend California State University in Northridge said that Deaf U didn’t meet their expectations, especially in the show’s focus on students of the deaf “elite,” a subset of students who come from generational deaf families.
“The ‘elite’ were a horrible representation of the deaf community and they annoyed me,” one TikTok creator named Erika said. “But it’s true, it happens in the deaf community. You are judged on your ASL skills and if you grew up in a hearing family.”
A TikTok review from user @beardeaf74 seemed to get at the crux of the problem, which is that many expected Deaf U to be a serious look at Gallaudet, instead of just a handful of its students. “I thought it would represent Gallaudet University,” the Gallaudet alum said. “But it didn’t. It actually represented [those] cast members.”
