Why Sign Language Interpreters Like De Blasio’s Steal the Show
What made Lamberton’s presence so interesting to watch was the contrast between the tone that de Blasio was trying to set—measured, cool, calming—and the frenzied seeming gestures that Lamberton was using to describe the content of de Blasio’s speech. And you know, it’s understandable that de Blasio and other city officials are working their hardest to have the good people of New York chill out about Ebola. The facts are that it’s very difficult to get Ebola unless you’ve come directly in contact with the bodily fluids of someone who has it. You’re way more likely to get the flu than Ebola. Any politician worth their salt would want to encourage caution and community, and discourage panic.
But Ebola is a scary, mysterious, weird disease, one that’s taken over the media. It’s also totally understandable to be nervous and worried about it being in our city, one where so many things that you do bring you in close contact with strangers. In situations like this, where we all know logically that we should be cool and collected but still have that kernel of fear, it’s actually useful to see someone responding to the situation with real emotion, or at least the semblance of same.
Think of the instant fame that Mayor Bloomberg’s sign language interpreter Lydia Callis achieved thanks to her signing during Bloomberg’s briefings on Hurricane Sandy. People latched on to Callis during the crises during and after the storm. She got a mention on The Daily Show and a spoof on Saturday Night Live. Callis attributed her overnight fame to the general public’s lack of familiarity with sign language. “What I realized throughout all that is that the general population doesn’t know much about deafness, or deaf culture or the language, and I think that’s why it was such a novelty to everyone,” she told Yahoo.
Certainly that’s an element of the fascination. But something else is at work, too. These sign language interpreters are worth celebrating, not just parodying. In conferences like De Blasio’s, interpreters help translate what’s at stake, even for people who can’t read sign language. Political dispatches like de Blasio’s and Bloomberg’s are working to be clear and direct in the midst of a serious situation. The expressiveness of sign language adds a layer that these communications do not and, in fact, are trying to avoid, of the emotional undercurrent of the situation. That’s why people like Lamberton and Callis emerge as the heroes of these press conferences.