Fans of Netflix‘s Queer Eye who are deaf or hard of hearing are raising issues about the show’s captioning. And Queer Eye culture expert Karamo Brown has vowed to do something about it.
The issue seems to stem from Netflix’s captioning often changing the words in subtitles, either when there’s profanity or to make sentences more concise. Several viewers posted their frustrations about trying to engage with the show.
it fundamentally changes the experience of the television show for anyone who is d/Deaf or HOH, and it does so without their consent. that’s seriously ableist, @netflix
— ace tilton ratcliff ♿️ (@MortuaryReport) June 27, 2018
https://twitter.com/SqueakyTheMouse/status/1012204729143910400
https://twitter.com/blakereid/status/1012228761171853313
Brown stepped into the conversation to let fans know that he’s going to “bring up this issue internally” with Netflix and that he “won’t stop until something changes.”
Reading everyone’s comments breaks my heart. I don’t know how much power I have but know, the next time I’m at Netflix I’m going to bring up this issue internally & wont stop until something changes. Deaf & HOH people should have the same experience as everyone else! #TypoFixed https://t.co/AQ4emvgUBv
— Karamo (@Karamo) June 28, 2018
Please stay on them about this. It's ridiculous and changes not only the viewing experience but it puts different words in your mouths. Unfair.
— woodcarving hajima⁷🖤💜 (@blerdwriter) June 28, 2018
Another commenter mentioned that the season 2 episode about a trans man used the wrong gender pronouns in the subtitles.
Maaaany of the captions were off for most of season two. And i was told by a friend that the French subtitles used the wrong pronouns for Skyler!!!!!!!
— ✨AJ✨ (@_a_jean_) June 28, 2018
This issue doesn’t appear to be unique to just Queer Eye; there are apparently captioning issues with other Netflix series and movies too. We’ve reached out to Netflix for comment.