April 18, 2011
Executive Director
National Pantomime Guild
1220 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10105
Dear National Pantomime Guild Executive Director:
I was recently walking along a crowded thoroughfare as part of a semi large to a full mid –size group when I encountered a street mime.
I will describe the mime. He was a waifish, frail, silent man in a tight, black and white horizontally striped shirt. His face was painted white with black teardrops running from his eyes.
It is my regrettable duty to report to you that there are certain elements of socially acceptable etiquette which were unfortunately breached during this stroll.
You see, I am an expert in American Sign Language (ASL). I believe that it is in the best interest of yourself, as well as your guild members, to urgently consult the services of an ASL expert to proofread all mimed routines that have the potential to be performed in public areas.
For example, I was horrified to see this particular mime acting out what is commonly known as ‘pulling the rope.’ I can assure you that to the non-hearing community, this type of performance has a drastically different interpretation.
In deaf dance clubs, a very similar move is the equivalent of ‘dirty talk’ and is considered both lewd and highly suggestive. It has no place on a public street in plain view of children.
Furthermore, I feel that you will be disappointed to learn that my incredulous and stunned stare was greeted rather rudely by the mime. First, he wiped the outside corners of his eyes as if to wipe away crocodile tears. The words 'boo hoo' were very clearly mouthed.
I felt unjustly mocked. In our non-verbal tit-for-tat, I hardened my glare to more clearly differentiate what he interpreted as sadness to indicate my scorn.
In my opinion, he continued goading me. He leaned back against an imaginary ledge (with his arm swinging freely from the elbow down) and began to pretend that he was inspecting the fingernails on his free hand.
Undeterred, I maintained eye contact – which is universally accepted in ASL as a signal that I wish to engage in conversation. To my disbelief, he put his thumb to his mouth and began to imaginarily blow air into it…as if to inflate his bicep.
Sir or madam, I viewed this gesture as very aggressive and threatening. It was completely uncalled for and it goes without saying that it was unprofessional. There was no need to incite a fake fight in this situation.
As with most disagreements in life, I believe this whole situation was exacerbated by a mutual failure to communicate. His inability to communicate in ASL and my utter disregard for what mimes are trying to prove led to an unfortunate stalemate in this instance.
Please take my comments as constructive feedback so that under your stewardship, the miming community; a) better takes into consideration the sensitivities of the deaf community; b) does not take their personal lack of professional fulfillment or purpose out on the concerned public.
I would appreciate a (non-mimed) response to my thoughts in the interest of continuing this dialogue.
Sincerely:
Amery Mitchell
