Following a particularly disastrous week for Brexit, actor and writer Ell Potter tweeted a video of a BSL interpreter doing her best to communicate just what was happening.
No matter what you think of Brexit, I think it’s safe to say that last week was particularly chaotic. Shortly after British Prime Minister Theresa May announced that her Cabinet had agreed to the terms of the Brexit deal, the Ministers for Brexit and Work & Pensions (Dominic Raab and Esther McVey respectively) resigned. #BrexitShambles and #BrexitChaos trended on social media, and despite May vowing to fight for her draft deal, hostility to the deal from people both pro and anti-Brexit raised the risk that the deal would be rejected. This would mean that Britain could leave the EU in March 2019 without precautions.
During a lunchtime broadcast on the BBC World News channel on Thursday 15th November, a BSL interpreter was responsible for communicating this. Ell Potter shared the footage on Twitter.
WARNING: her wording on what she thinks of Brexit is not suitable for work. Swear words incoming…!
Potter raised the BSL interpreter for ‘perfectly conveying the perplexing f***ery of this situation.’
The sign language interpreter doing the Brexit Agreement on BBC News is perfectly conveying the perplexing fuckery of this situation #Brexit #BrexitChaos pic.twitter.com/bA66SYMXqN
— Ell Potter (@Pottell) November 15, 2018
And the video went viral: currently at 4 million views.
Potter soon confirmed her thoughts on BSL and Brexit:
(To be clear, as this tweet takes off & people add their own comments, I am not laughing at this incredible interpreter or at the deaf & signing community; I think the way she expresses this clusterfuck is amazing, and it’s the most accurate analysis of Brexit I have seen today.)
— Ell Potter (@Pottell) November 15, 2018
The footage triggered a discussion on how expressive BSL is.
This is brilliant. A huge endorsement for the expressive power of sign language.
— Pete Flynn (@PeteFlynn5) November 15, 2018
I know facial expressions are important in sign language to give proper meaning to some things, but I like to imagine they weren’t even necessary for most of this and she was just genuinely disgusted by how things are going.
— TheIrishNinjas (@TIrishninjas) November 15, 2018
Agreed. She’s doing an excellent work as an interpreter. Facial expressions are an important part of any sign language, also as part of grammar. No personal opinion expressed, just fuckery as it is.
— Ilkka Kilpeläinen (@kilpeli) November 15, 2018
British Sign Language has a clarity and directness many spoken languages lack.
— Madison (@MadisonHay1956) November 15, 2018
The video also prompted hearing, speaking people to ask questions on how British Sign Language differs from sign languages in other countries, as well as learning that BSL has regional dialects like any other language.
Learned something completely new and fascinating with this bit of information. Wow.
— Susan McIntire ☆彡 (@susanjmcintire) November 15, 2018
Not the person you were asking, but: There is no universal sign language. Due to Gallaudet, French and American Sign Language are more mutually intelligible than BSL and ASL! Each country has its own system, some more similar to other, some extremely different. I hope this helps!
— Writer, Artist, Witch (@effluviah) November 15, 2018
Everyone has different views on Brexit, but let’s hope that this viral tweet spreads understanding and awareness of BSL.
