Marlee Matlin says SNL crossed the line!
The Oscar-winnning actress was screaming over the show’s opening spoof New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg‘s sign language interpreter, Lydia Calas‘s VERY animated signing.
Marlee, who is deaf and is an outspoken member of the National Association of the Deaf, took to Twitter to express her disgust with the sketch, writing:
https://twitter.com/MarleeMatlin/status/264985098275926016″ data-datetime=”2012-11-04T06:59:05+00:00
https://twitter.com/MarleeMatlin/status/264986676517019648″ data-datetime=”2012-11-04T07:05:21+00:00
That’s not a bad point!
Howeves, we don’t think the sketch is making fun of the language, they’re making fun of Calas’ way of signing.
This wasn’t making fun of the ASL, it was poking fun at the interpreter’s expressive style — like her accent. We all know SNL lurves laughing at accents. (DA BEARS!)
Press PLAY (above) to see a clip of Calas’ now-famous signing technique, followed by the “offensive” SNL sketch and make up your own mind!