By John Carucci
PHILADELPHIA (AP) --While characters wearing eyeglasses – real or as props – are commonplace in movies and TV, hearing aids are seldom seen on the screen – especially on leading ladies.
That's why actress Tessa Thompson was honored to play a strong woman who wears the devices in the upcoming Rocky franchise spin-off, "Creed," in theaters Nov. 25.
Thompson plays Bianca, the love interest of title character Adonis Creed, and we learn early in the film that she has degenerative hearing loss.
"People with disabilities are hugely underrepresented and not talked about enough in culture, particularly film culture," Thompson said in a weekend interview in Philadelphia to promote the movie.
The actress says the lack of these roles speaks to the way a disability is perceived and perhaps contributes to a screen stigma about the wearing of hearing aids.
"We tend to think about it through our own lens as someone who is not disabled, we think of it as something so terrible, because we can't fathom it for ourselves," Thompson suggested.
That's why it was important for the actress to play the character with a blend of confidence in the present and optimism for the future. For example, she openly discusses her hearing loss with Adonis, while learning sign language in preparation for the day when she loses her hearing completely.
"I think it was important for Bianca to tell the story of someone doing the best that she can," Thompson said. "Would she prefer to not be dealing with that at certain points? Yes. But she also maybe sees it as an opportunity, and it in no way makes her feel like she's not capable."
The idea for the character's situation came from director Ryan Coogler, whose fiancee works as a sign language interpreter.
"It makes her character richer and you learn a lot about her," Coogler said. "It's not in a way where she's ashamed of it at all."
In the film, Bianca provides the same support for Adonis as Rocky's love interest, Adrian, gave her man decades earlier. Adonis is the son of Rocky Balboa's rival and eventual friend in the earlier films, Apollo Creed. Adonis sets out to find Rocky to train him. Sylvester Stallone reprises his role as a legendary boxer, with Michael B. Jordan as Creed.
While the film offers the same inspirational punch as others in the Rocky series, Thompson feels this one takes it to another level by addressing the challenge of hearing loss.
"If I was someone that was dealing with this and I got to see that on film, it would make me feel really empowered and proud that my story was served," Thompson said. "I'm hoping that's how people feel about it."
South Korea fines Meta $15 million for illegally collecting information on Facebook users
South Korea's privacy watchdog on Tuesday fined social media company Meta 21.6 billion won ($15 million) for illegally collecting sensitive personal information from Facebook users, including data about their political views and sexual orientation, and sharing it with thousands of advertisers.
It was the latest in a series of penalties against Meta by South Korean authorities in recent years as they increase their scrutiny of how the company, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, handles private information.
Following a four-year investigation, South Korea's Personal Information Protection Commission concluded that Meta unlawfully collected sensitive information about around 980,000 Facebook users, including their religion, political views and whether they were in same-sex unions, from July 2018 to March 2022.
It said the company shared the data with around 4,000 advertisers.
South Korea's privacy law provides strict protection for information related to personal beliefs, political views and sexual behavior, and bars companies from processing or using such data without the specific consent of the person involved.
The commission said Meta amassed sensitive information by analyzing the pages the Facebook users liked or the advertisements they clicked on.
The company categorized ads to identify users interested in themes such as specific religions, same-sex and transgender issues, and issues related to North Korean escapees, said Lee Eun Jung, a director at the commission who led the investigation on Meta.
"While Meta collected this sensitive information and used it for individualized services, they made only vague mentions of this use in their data policy and did not obtain specific consent," Lee said.
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