A Window Closed…and Another Opened
How Benjamin Cleary’s “Stutterer” discusses the social and emotional implications of
sensory impairment and social media’s effect on those implications.
By Stephen Wei
April 19th, 2022
Rating:
4.5/5
Matthew Needham as Greenwood Carsen in “Stutterer”
SPOILER ALERT
The following content contains spoilers on “Stutterer.”
For the vast majority, meeting and talking to others in real life is considered the most
basic yet effective form of communicating and connecting with others and the outer
world in general. But how about the minority?
University College Dublin and London Film School graduate Benjamin Clearly (The
New Yorker) answers this question with his debut film “Stutterer”, a film inspired by
“a friend growing up who had a pretty severe stutter” (The New Yorker). This 12minute Oscar-winning film displays the daily activities and struggles of a stutterer by
the name of Greenwood Carsen. Moreover, we follow Greenwood through his
journey of an in-person meeting with his online relationship partner: Ellie Parks, who
the viewers later learn also possesses some form of sensory impairment.
While exploring a range of topics, the film’s discussion on the sense of disconnection
and lack of self-acceptance in such sensorially impaired individuals is significant.
Cleary’s approach on how social media serves as a path for these individuals to reconnect with the outer world, presented by Greenwood’s relationship, is also
exceedingly relevant. Through his clever storytelling and utilization of various
cinematic techniques such as shots, sound, and editing to complement them, Cleary
not only emphasizes the challenges of connecting to the outer world and selfacceptance for sensorially impaired individuals, but also acknowledges the benefits of
social media and how it both enables and assists such individuals in overcoming
those challenges.
The first two scenes of the film demonstrate Cleary’s excellent utilization of
cinematic techniques to complement his clever storytelling. The film starts with
Greenwood calling for his bill and struggling to communicate with the woman on the
phone due to his stuttering. This scene is presented by an 18-second extreme close-up
of Greenwood’s lips trembling, with his stuttering voice being the only sound heard
throughout these 18 seconds. As Greenwood
gets hung up on, the camera cuts out, and
we see Greenwood staring at the camera as
his inner voice introduces his name to the
audience. We then move to the second
scene, in which Greenwood is learning sign
language through medium shots of
Extreme close-up shot on Greenwood's lips
Greenwood’s upper body and mediumclose-up shots of his hands making signs.
Although the shot selections don’t stand out
in this scene, they are more than sufficient
in presenting the fundamental idea of this
scene: Greenwood’s acceptance of failure in
overcoming his stutters. Within around a
Medium-close-up shot of Greenwood's hand
minute into the film, Cleary efficiently
learning sign language
establishes the main character, his name,
and his main point of conflict: A stutterer named Greenwood struggles in daily life,
feels disconnected from the world and challenges to accept and face his disabilities.
Having established Greenwood’s character and main point of conflict in the first two
scenes, Cleary then generously uses a length of the film to further emphasize the
severeness and significance of Greenwood’s point of contention through clever
storytelling. Further into the film, we are introduced to Greenwood’s father in a scene
where Greenwood struggles to share a Gottfried Leibniz quote to his father despite
repetitively reciting it to himself before his arrival. Several scenes later, we then
overhear Greenwood’s father arguing for Greenwood on the phone with who seems
to be Greenwood’s employer. While Cleary displays Greenwood’s close and warm
relationship with his father, his unceasing nervousness and struggles even with such
a warm and acceptant father further reveal the amount of self-pity, lack of confidence,
and disconnection he experiences when in contact with the rest of the outer world.
Another plot point that highlights the disconnection sensorially impaired individuals
have to the outer world is Greenwood’s multiple “snap judgments” presented to the
audience through Greenwood’s inner voice. Exactly twice in the film, Greenwood
would find someone in his sight, and his inner voice would make assumptions about
the person’s basic information, personality and etc., based on his observations. His
inner voice numbering his two “snap judgments” made in the film as #1224 and #1225
and close-ups of subtle changes in his facial expression assert how his disconnection
from the world as a stutterer has resulted in such an abundance of un-expressed
internal thoughts.
But what really is the case when Greenwood directly contacts the outer world?
Cleary does not answer this question until more than halfway into the film with a
scene where Greenwood is approached by a woman asking for directions while
minding his own business and smoking. Although Greenwood’s inner voice reveals
that he knows the exact directions, he decides to use sign language to avoid verbal
communication. Again, in concert with his storytelling, Cleary’s utilization of sound
plays a vital role in indicating how Greenwood’s lack of confidence and selfacceptance has led him to intentionally disconnect himself from the world through
such means of eliminating verbal communication.
One might wonder up to this point: so how is the main storyline of Greenwood’s
online romantic relationship relevant?
While Cleary successfully presents the
challenges and hardships of sensorially
impaired individuals, he takes a step
further by discussing approaches to
help such a community. Specifically,
Cleary showcases the potential benefits
and impacts social media platforms
Greenwood's Facebook conversation with Ellie
such as Facebook could have on
sensorially impaired individuals like
Greenwood. Throughout the film,
Greenwood’s online relationship is
presented through cuts between closeup shots of Greenwood’s face and his
Facebook conversation with Ellie on his
computer, which reveals both the
Greenwood's facial expressions while messaging Ellie
intimate text messages between the
couple and Greenwood’s subtle yet certainly delighted facial expressions. Through
such a combination of narrative and cinematic choices, Cleary highlights how social
media provides sensorially impaired individuals with an alternative yet equally
effective option of expressing themselves and connecting with the world, hence
overcoming their struggles of real-world interactions and self-acceptance.
As the story builds up to the couple’s final meetup, Cleary’s notion on social media
and its beneficial effects on sensorially impaired individuals is further emphasized.
Upon Ellie’s invitation to meet Greenwood in real life, Cleary utilizes a sequence of
still close-ups and medium shots to display Greenwood’s expressions and actions,
emphasizing Greenwood’s initial fear and reluctance to meet Ellie. Despite a
combination of chaotic voices in Greenwood’s head along with multiple medium
shots that show Greenwood’s distressed expressions and awkward body language
reveal his anxiousness as he arrives, the very occurrence of the couple’s real-life
meetup reflects Greenwood’s elemental yet significant success in overcoming his selfpity and lack of confidence. In a previous scene, we also see Greenwood verbally
standing up for a girl who gets verbally and violently abused by a toxic boyfriend.
Although his stutter still led him to receiving a beating, it is undeniable that
Greenwood has already overcome his lack of confidence and self-acceptance due to
stuttering. Most importantly, through contrasting Greenwood’s actions before and
after the development of his relationship and connection with Ellie, Cleary highlights
the beneficial effects social media could have on sensorially impaired individuals such
as Greenwood in terms of both helping them overcome their struggles of selfacceptance as well as experiencing their deserved connection to the world.
In sum, Cleary cleverly presents the struggles of connection to the world and selfacceptance for sensorially impaired individuals, represented by Greenwood’s
character. Cleary achieves this through his combination of compelling storytelling
and selective cinematic techniques that compliment them. Furthermore, Cleary also
highlights the potential benefits of social media in enabling and aiding sensorially
impaired individuals or anyone who feels disconnected from the world to overcome
those said struggles. Both areas of discussion, although rather implicit upon first
viewing, are exceedingly meaningful, not only due to their relation to the struggles of
the socially disconnected community, but also due to the historical context of the
film: the early 2010s, during which the internet and social media platforms such as
Facebook, Instagram, Tinder, and many more experienced rapid growths. Thus, the
outstanding relevance of these areas of discussion and Cleary’s admirable storytelling
and utilization of cinematic choices are the compelling reasons I would recommend
this film to any individual or group.
Works Cited:
Larson, Sarah. "An Oscar Winning Short Film about Stuttering and Love." The New
Yorker, Conde Nast, 18 Oct. 2016, www.newyorker.com/culture/
culture-desk/an-oscar-winning-short-film-about-stuttering-and-love.
Accessed 15 Apr. 2022.