Silence filled the Bovee University Center Auditorium on Monday night – but that didn’t mean nothing was said.

The American Sign Language Society hosted the showing of “Forget Me Not,” an American Sign Language (ASL) film. Communication throughout the movie was conducted solely through ASL.

“Going to see this movie gives people who aren’t fluent in ASL a unique experience,” said Amy Somerset, Grosse Pointe Woods senior and president of ASLS. “You can see what a deaf person feels every day in a hearing world.”

For Michelle Minelli, a Mount Pleasant sophomore, the experience of being thrown into a deaf world was intimidating.

“Some people sign so fast, I can’t keep up,” Minelli said. “It can be confusing, and it takes a while to catch on.”

The showing of “Forget Me Not” served as an acknowledgment of National Deaf History Month.

“This is the month that the Gallaudet University Center for ASL Literacy opened in 1864,” said Jonathan Oakley, Mount Clemens senior and ASLS member.

Waiting for the movie to begin, no pre-feature chatting could be heard. However, communication still was taking place.

ASL conversations occurred in every corner of the auditorium.

About 80 students, faculty and members of the Mount Pleasant community attended the free event. ASLS T-shirts, key chains and popcorn were for sale at the auditorium entrance.

The room went black in preparation for the film.

Silent and dark, the auditorium was completely void of all forms of communication. Anticipation could only be heard through crumpling bags of popcorn and squeaking chairs.

“Forget Me Not” follows a conflicted family who wins the lottery and moves to a cabin, where a questionable stranger enters their lives, according to aslfilms.com.

No sound was heard throughout the film. Where there is normally the humming of wind or chirping of birds, there was silence. A fist against a wall produced no pound.

There were no subtitles or interpreters.

“I couldn’t really understand all of their conversations, but I could follow the plot,” said Scott Drain, a Mount Pleasant senior.

For ASLS, this movie event was a slingshot to a greater campus acknowledgment of the deaf community.

“People are so limited in their knowledge and exposure to ASL,” Somerset said. “It’s important on campus where people want to be diverse and explore other cultures to be aware of the deaf community.”

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