Talk Description to Me

Episode 1 - The Image Behind the Protests

July 16, 2020 Christine Malec and JJ Hunt Season 1 Episode 1
Talk Description to Me
Episode 1 - The Image Behind the Protests
Show Notes Transcript

Join Christine Malec and JJ Hunt for their first episode of Talk Description to Me. First up is a challenging and sobering look at the George Floyd video, including a full description of the image that sparked protests across the continent. Then the duo discusses and describes the visuals of the Black Lives Matter protests themselves, and wraps up with a fun description of Canadian Prime Minister's COVID lockdown hair!

For links to the George Floyd video, and a follow-up discussion on neutrality in Audio Description, please visit our Talk Description to Me blog.


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JJ (00:04):

Talk description to me with Christine Malec and JJ hunt.

Christine (00:09):

Hi, I'm Christine Malec.

JJ (00:30):

and I'm JJ hunt. This is Talk Description to Me, where the visuals of current events and the world around us get hashed out in description-rich conversations

Christine (00:46):

As a user of audio description. I'm often curious about the visuals of what we see in the news, and it often leads to a lot of questions. And in talking about these things with JJ, who is an audio describer, we have discussed the issue of neutrality and particularly in this podcast, because neutrality is something we definitely should strive for, but I feel that sometimes neutrality is impossible and maybe even inappropriate. And so there, there will be times and issues where, uh, we just can't help it. And, and we, we kind of lose our objectivity, but I think that's sort of, um, appropriate at certain times. And I live with -- I'm a person with a disability, and yet I feel that I live a privileged, uh, in a privileged way. I'm, I'm, I'm white and I'm not often discriminated against in, in the, the, um, the ways that we're going to be talking about some of these images, uh, showing today. And so I like to just position myself as someone who knows that and is conscious of it and is, uh, very open to hearing. If, if we are presenting things in a way that doesn't feel authentic for people who are listening to our podcast,

JJ (02:04):

I'm a white man and I am, I have not lived with a disability, uh, at any point in my life. And discrimination is not something that I, I feel on a day to day basis. And it's important, I think, for our listeners to understand that that's where, that's where I'm coming from, this is where you're coming from, and we're going to do our best to be objective when we have these conversations to a point, as you say, there are some times when we need, we do have opinions. We do live in this world and we are having conversations about things that are sometimes they hit home. Absolute objectivity is something that, uh, describers aim for a lot when we are describing movies or television, or even pieces of art in a gallery. But when you're having conversations about real life events, real life, uh, situations and the visuals of the world, us having absolute objectivity is, uh, it becomes near impossible.

Christine (03:06):

So we're starting our first episode with some extremely, uh, intense, um, material. We, we want to be talking about current events and the images that are shown there. And so the first thing we're going to discuss is protests that have been going on. And we felt that the, the images of George Floyd are so important that, um, we, we are going to discuss them and JJ is going to do some describing of the actual video. So I'm just giving a bit of a trigger warning because obviously this is very difficult, a very difficult material, and it's something that as a, a blind person consuming the news, I had a certain type of choice about, am I going to watch the video? And it was a bit easier for me to say, no, I'm not because I won't get the visuals. And I think that there's a lot of value in having uninformed choice, a more informed choice. And so JJ is going to be offering some descriptions of, of protests and with lots of questions about that, but we've decided to start with the video itself difficult as, as it is. We, we feel it's, it's important to honor, uh, to honor that by allowing people with visual impairment to have access, to knowing what, what the images show

JJ (04:39):

With all of that in mind, um, I'm going to do my best to describe, uh, specifically there's a still frame from a cell phone video taken from that that encounter with police between where George Floyd is being arrested and killed. And, um, so I'm going to do my best to describe that one specific image. There were several videos that were taken of the encounter between George Floyd and the, I think there were four police officers in total that were, uh, uh, engaged in the, uh, physically engaged in the arrest. Um, at 1.3 police officers are kneeling on George Floyd, and there's a fourth officer who is standing and keeping, uh, passers by and onlookers at Bay while the other officers are physically in contact with, uh, with mr. Floyd, the still frame, uh, that we're going to be describing today is from one of those videos from a bystander, there was a 17 year old passer by named Darnella Frazier who took this, uh, cell phone video.

JJ (05:46):

And it really has become the most infamous single image that's associated with George Floyd's death. It's the image that was put on tee shirts, protest signs. It's been featured in news reports around the world. Uh, it's been referenced in political cartoons and, uh, it's, uh, it's everywhere. So this is the image that we're going to be describing today. It's a somewhat grainy still frame. Of course, when you take a, a still frame from a cell phone video, it is going to be a little bit grainy and it was filmed in a portrait or a vertical mode. And, uh, the image itself has a white police officer kneeling on the neck of a black man who lies face down on the road, partially obscured by the back of a black police SUV. The police officer is named Derek Chauvin and he's a middle aged white man with a graying buzz cut.

JJ (06:42):

He's got some gray stubble under his chin. He's dressed in a, in a blue patrol uniform with a kind of a sky blue short-sleeved, uh, collar shirt that's tucked into a dark, that's tucked into dark blue pants. Um, the shirt that he's wearing is somewhat snug and it appears to feature an integrated, um, bullet proof vest. Uh, yeah, there's a Minneapolis police patch on his shoulder, and he's got a metal metal badge on his chest, which hangs askew over his breast pocket. Now Chauvin wears black leather boots with very thick soles. He's got sunglasses perched on the top of his head above the hairline and his, uh, his belt, uh, has several tools hanging off of it, including what appears to be a small spray can a walkie talkie and a very large black flashlight lying on the pavement beneath Chauvin is a black man.

JJ (07:42):

George Floyd. Now much of Floyd's body is obscured by the SUV, but his face and his bare shoulder are in view in this, uh, in this, in this image, Floyd's cheek is pressed against the street and his head is turned toward us. He has a buzz cut, a skin, he's got a large nose, full lips and a muscular shoulder. Chauvin a left knee. The police officer's left knee is positioned right on the back of Floyd's neck, between his ear and his shoulder. The exact position of his right knee is unclear, but it appears to be on George Floyd's back now in this frame, Chauvin is leaning forward slightly, and he has his left hand in his pocket. His feet are behind him with the toes of his boots on the pavement. And his backside is well off of his heels. Chauvin is facing us and he's looking past our right shoulder.

JJ (08:48):

His mouth is slightly open. His forehead is wrinkled and his left eyebrow was raised now under his knee. Floyd's mouth is partially open and what appears to be white foam or spit marks the, his lower lip right at the corner. Um, Floyd's eyes are closed, but his brow is raised and his forehead is wrinkled. Um, what we'll do is we're gonna post some links to the image, uh, that was described above, and there are some other, uh, there's some other reports in the media that, that really helped flesh out this image further. And we can post links to that in our, uh, associated media. Oh, damn. That's intense.

Christine (09:37):

That's, that's hard to listen to, and it must be very hard to, to describe

JJ (09:43):

You can watch a scary movie through your fingers. You can turn away at, at, at a, at a certain moment so that you can avoid catching the moment that a needle goes into an arm. If you're watching a TV show that involves drug use or something, you can turn away. And when you're hearing description of something that is really intense, it's, it's much harder to turn away. And I think it's one of the reasons that it's both really difficult to listen to a description of an image like this, but it's also, I think one of the reasons it's important to have it available.

Christine (10:22):

I'd like to talk about the protests and a bit of a broader context. One of the things that, uh, was new to me was in the protests that have been going on. There's a lot of reference to taking a knee. And could you describe what that means?

JJ (10:39):

Yeah, absolutely. They're dropping down onto one knee. It's usually the right knee and the right knee drops down, touches the ground and the left knee is bent. Um, and the thigh has left. It kind of like parallel to the, uh, to the ground. So it's, it's kind of like physically, it looks like someone is, uh, lunging, like the lunge exercise, but they've let their right knee go all the way to the ground and touch the ground. Sometimes the person who's taking a knee will, uh, lean forward a little bit, kind of put their elbow on the raised knee and kind of bend their head down. That's the kind of the somber version of the pose. There's also kind of, uh, there's there are more defiant stances, or, you know, there, there are more defiant versions of the pose where someone will, you know, go down on one knee, but instead of bending forward, they'll keep their head up and maybe hold a hand or hat over their heart. Um, uh, or perhaps even raise a single fist in the air, raising one fist in the air and the black power salute, which as you can imagine is a, is a pretty powerful gesture.

Christine (11:44):

I didn't realize that it started with, uh, with the sports figures. And I had heard that there had been where people had chosen not to stand for the Anthem, but I didn't realize that it ended with them, uh, in a kneeling posture. So do they start by sitting and then some stand and some just go to a knee? Or how does that progress look when you saw it in the sports context?

JJ (12:10):

Yeah. In a sports context. I mean, I think you'd have to go back to Colin Kaepernick, who is the, uh, San Francisco, 40 Niners, uh, quarterback, I believe. And, um, you know, at the, at the beginning of a, of, of a game, uh, everyone's supposed to stand for the national Anthem and he knelt, he got down on one knee and of course it was massive. People were totally up in arms about this. Uh, and it was the quiet, um, the, the quiet protest and then other, uh, other athletes started doing it. Some of his teammates started to do it, um, in other sports. Uh, people started to do that as well. And of course, it's now gotten to the point where, uh, there have been moments during these protests where police officers have gone out, uh, in front of the police stations, went there, you know, met with all of these protestors.

JJ (13:04):

And as a gesture of solidarity, they drop to a knee to let the protesters know I'm I'm with you. Or at least to give that impression, politicians have started doing it. A Trudeau has dropped to a knee. The Canadian prime minister has dropped to a knee. So some protesters are really upset because these politicians and, uh, and police chiefs and police officers are kind of taking advantage of this, um, this gesture, but not backing it up with any actual, uh, um, you know, with, with any appropriate behavior. It makes for a really powerful photo op

Christine (13:40):

So much of the news coverage as, as it often does, is focused on images and, uh, videos that either people have taken or the media is, is showing. And I wonder if you can talk about some of the most powerful images that you've seen.

JJ (14:00):

Yeah. I mean, there have been some just incredibly powerful video clips and, and images and still shots from those videos that have gone around. And th these protests by the way, are attended by all kinds of folks, right? Like if you scan the crowds at any one of these in any one of these protests, uh, videos or, or shots in the newspaper, you're, you're seeing all kinds of folks, there are black people, there are white people, people of all races, people of all ages. In some cases, people in some of the protests, people were bringing kids. Um, you know, this is a, it's a pretty diverse group of people. Folks are holding protest signs. A lot of black lives matter protest signs, a lot of, uh, signs that say defund the police or defund white supremacy. And of course, a lot of signs that are referencing George Floyd's final words.

JJ (14:49):

I can't breathe. I can't breathe. And people are wearing, um, tee shirts that say, I can't breathe. They're wearing t-shirts. And, and even masks because a lot of these protests are taking place during the, you know, the COVID lockdowns. People are wearing masks that have been printed up that say, I can't breathe on the left side. And on the right side, there's a, there's a screen print image of George Floyd being killed, uh, protest signs that read peace and justice, no justice, no peace. And then a lot of signs that explain the idea of black lives matter and comparing it to all lives matter. And so signs that, you know, that kind of break this down, what those two things mean and why black lives matter is, uh, is important. And, uh, and why all lives matter is, is offensive to, uh, you know, to a lot of people who are at these protests.

Christine (15:46):

What's the, uh, breakdown of how many people are wearing masks.

JJ (15:51):

Oh, that's a good question. So I, in a lot of the protests, um, quite a few people are wearing masks, especially in the, you know, a lot of attention is paid to the protests that turned into riots, but there are far more protests, of course, that don't, if you're looking up those images, uh, there are lots of people wearing masks. I would say almost the majority of people. And as people are marching in public spaces, they are it's it's, um, it's, um, a "gapier" crowd, if that makes sense. People are separating a little bit and, and keeping a few feet away from the other protesters, not always the case, but is certainly sometimes the case. Uh, the, there seems to be some effort made a lot of people wearing masks. And, and then the fact is when you get into a kind of dicey or protest situations, the protests that are clashing with police officers, a lot of the folks who are at the front lines of those protests, they have masks and bandanas and things around their necks, things they can cover their mouths with any way, because they're concerned about tear gas, they're concerned about, uh, pepper spray.

JJ (17:04):

So the masks are doing double duty.

Christine (17:07):

I want to talk a bit about, um, the, the, the visuals of the COVID world and the COVID locked down. And, um, I came across this really sweet piece in the New York times of all places that was about Justin Trudeau's hair. And it never occurred to me that this was a thing, but our populist sentiment is that if we can't get a haircut, our prime minister should not be getting a haircut. And so I understand that he hasn't been, and his look has gotten enough attention that it was in the New York times. So I wonder if you could give us a, uh, a description of Trudeau's appearance. I know he's been giving daily updates every day, so Canadians are seeing him regularly. So I wonder if he could do a little description about that.

JJ (17:57):

Oh, absolutely. Always happy to talk about our pretty prime minister, Justin Trudeau. He, so the thing with, with Justin Trudeau is that Canadians have, we've watched this man grow up. We saw him as a little boy. We saw him as a teenager. We got to know him as a young politician, and now he's the prime minister. So we got to see him at all of those stages of his, of his youth and his adolescence. And so, as we're watching him give these daily, you know, these daily talks, these daily briefings, and we're watching his hair get a little bit longer and a little bit shaggier, it's kind of it hearkens back to those times when he was a young teenager or when he was a young politician or a teacher. So it's, it's, it's really interesting what these visual cues are, you know, presenting us with these like keys to his past.

JJ (18:55):

So, you know, when we entered into this lockdown period, Trudeau's hair, he's got dark, wavy hair. Uh, he keeps it with a side part and he generally, these days has it reasonably trim. It's not a buzz cut or anything, but it's reasonably trim. Um, but as the days went on, it gets a little longer the waves in the dark hair come out. And that the, you know, the bangs that are swept across his forehead get really long and wavy. And it does start to become almost shaggy. There's a luxurious quality to his hair. It never got like shoulder length or anything, but it was, you know, it was getting long. And in the, in the, in the bangs, you know, a lock, a Chestnut lock would come springing out of his bangs and tickle his brow. And so then he has to do this gesture of course, where he has to brush the hair back out of his eyes.

JJ (19:47):

And so he runs his fingers through his hair and pushes the hair back onto the back of his head. So he's got this gesture where he reaches up and he runs his fingers through his hair to brush the hair off his forehead. And someone grabbed a clip of this, someone on the internet, God bless the internet, grabbed a clip of Trudeau doing this hair flip, and they slowed it down and they paired it with a seductive soundtrack. And you ended up with this fantastic viral video of the prime minister of our country sweep in the hair back off his forehead. It was just wonderful. And then sadly, a few days ago, Justin Trudeau managed to get a haircut. And it was just, I know, Oh, it was so devastating. Everyone's heart just made the sound that you made. That was so tough. It was so rough, but I guess it's time we can all go out stage two. You can bubble with your hairdresser now and get a haircut...

Christine (20:54):

Have feedback or suggestions of what you'd like to hear about. Here's how to get in touch with us. Our email address is talk description to me @gmail.com. Our Facebook page is called talk description to me. And our website is talk description to me.com. You can follow us on Twitter at talk description.