Since It's Release About A Week Ago, There Has Been A Lot Of Controversy Surrounding This Music Video

Since it's release about a week ago, there has been a lot of controversy surrounding this music video ultimately due to the fact that those people reporting on it didn't do their homework and check their translations/interpretations.  British sources initially became upset when they translated the word which was meant to say "valentine (person)" as "enemy", and the word "appear" as "tampon".  Now, were this the case, that would terribly embarrassing for everyone who helped work on the video, but instead it was an error on the part of the reporters, probably born of rushed conclusions and sloppy research. For help with the sign language Paul McCartney contacted his sources in Hollywood (to be specific: Hollywood, USA). Despite being from Britain, Paul McCartney used American Sign Language (ASL) in the music video not British Sign Language (BSL). Lo and behold, in light of this realization, knowledgeable viewers discovered that the words did mean "valentine" and "appear", not "enemy" and "tampon". (see definitions at aslpro)  The really sad part of the story is that the fact that those words are correct is totally lost in the host of media coverage about the "wrong" signs in the video, from both British and American reporting.

The media mess aside, I really liked the video. Overall it was really lovely and the black and white tone really brought out the "simple but elegant" element.  That being said, I couldn't help but feel that there was still something off about it. Upon a second viewing, I managed to discern the cause. During the video Natalie Portman wears a straight face and Johnny Depp is creepily impassive. Normally, this could be dismissed as an artistic/directorial decision, but circumstances are different where ASL is concerned. Now, I am by no means an authority on ASL, nor am I even close to fluent, but I know that facial expressions and other non-manual signs are an integral part of the language, necessary in some of the most basic sentence construction. As far as I can tell, what Portman and Depp are doing with their faces (rather, not doing) gives the signing a very heavy and very strange accent. 

I did a bit more research and found that the Deaf community had some very valid and unfortunately overlooked comments on the matter.  First, is that beyond the "incorrect signs" debacle, the signing in the video is not so hot.  The word choice may be questionable and the actors' ability to communicate those words is a far cry from the expressive gesturing and hand shapes of an experienced signer (which, actually, is understandable considering neither of the actors know ASL). This brings me to the second concern. If Portman and Depp are so bad at signing, why bother to go through the trouble of teaching them if the outcome is mediocre at best? There are lots of really talented Deaf actors out there, why not use them in the video instead? The answer to this, of course, is simply that any other actor would not be Johnny Depp or Natalie Portman. 

With all that in mind, the one thing left to consider is: was it worth it? The signing might be bad, the rumors may be false and the actors might have creepy blank expressions, but they did make a full ASL music video; one which is bound to get a ton of publicity. Even if the final product was rough around the edges, it was still a genuinely well-intended and even fairly successful attempt at promoting ASL and, by extension, the Deaf community at large. 

Brrrraaaaiinnnnssss....

Obble-y Gobble-y

Legions of Zombies! They'll

Beat you and bite you 'till

You're turned as well.

Dubious research in

Necro-neurology

Lead to this outbreak we

Can't seem to quell.

I broke down and posted this incredible graffiti mural. Oh, well. The levee has been cracked and it won't be long before my poetry blog is covered in graffiti (and I won't mind it one bit!).

Somewhere in Williamsburg.

Too soon?

Hoitily-toitily

SNL's Samberg had

Asked an alluring young

Lady to dance.

Finding some privacy

Andy excitedly,

Anti-climactically

Jizzed in his pants.

The truth about riding a public bus in New York City

A crazy man stares at the sky;

So I wonder what he's thinking.

And then he starts to pick his nose

-- curiosity is fleeting.

Math! It's delicious !

I generally adhere to the "traditional" classification of limericks; that is, the poem must be dirty, perverted, somehow sex-related, or simply gross to qualify as a "proper" limerick. However, every once in a while I come across a "clean" limerick that I like so much that I have to make an exception. The anonymous poem below is one of such exceptions.

A mathematician named Klein

Thought the Möbius loop was divine.

Said he: "If you glue

The edges of two,

You'll get a weird bottle like mine."

If you are not familiar with the concept Klein bottles or Möbius loops, I highly suggest utilizing Google and/or Wikipedia as they are quite weird and a lot of fun (and you can easily make yourself a Möbius loop to play with!).

For further reading: Acme Klein Bottles has a whole page of Klein bottle cartoons and limericks. It's awesome; you should check it out.

I will formally conclude this post with some spiffy Möbius loop/Klein bottle animation.

Möbius loop

Klein bottle

Klein bottle with highlighted Möbius loop

And finally, a Klein bottle hat that I might just have to order for myself...