As a formerly sighted person I have not even bothered with described
movies except for listening to some sample scenes. Having seen movies
before with perfectly fine vision I am acutely aware that no amount of
description can possibly reproduce seeing it. Sure, you can say that a
person crossed the room and that will give some idea of the action going
on, but how could anyone ever properly describe the magnificent visual
scenes in Star Wars. I remember that when I was in rehab I happened to
mention that I had just about given up on television because it was now
so hard to follow the action and to know what was going on. A
congenitally totally blind woman seemed to be surprised and said that
she liked television. She said that when there are action scenes the
characters usually talk about it afterwards and that is as good as
seeing it. Sorry, but that is not as good as seeing it. I told her that
literally - putting emphasis on the word literally - she did not know
what she was missing. In my case I do know what I am missing and that
leaves me very unsatisfied. I still use television for news programs and
an occasional documentary, but for movies or other fiction television I
pass. Frankly, listening to that kind of television without being able
to see it is just plain boring. But then, even before I lost my eyesight
I much preferred books to television.
On 10/23/2016 2:37 PM, Miriam Vieni wrote:
I think that there's a lot of denial, among blind people, about how serious
a disability blindness is. I think I know some of the causes of this. Some
of it has to do with our constant battle to convince sighted people that we
can do things that they think we can't do. Some of it has to do with our own
rage and frustration related to the limitations we face. And for some
people, it has to do with ignorance about what life is like for sighted
people. And God help any of us if we challenge the agreed upon reality of
the blind community. Age certainly does change one's competence as a blind
person because that competence depends on all one's other senses working
well and on having a healthy body. Age changes all of that and every change
impacts on one's ability to compensate for lack of sight. But aside from
that, there is that ignorance of the richness and depth of experience that
sight brings to life. And my analogy is my one experience with a described
movie to which I listened without seeing it. In the nineties, I had a VCR
and I would occasionally borrow described movies from the local library. I
had enough vision to see what was on the screen if I sat near it, and the
audio description filled in whatever I might be missing. It was great! But
now I don't really have enough vision to see much that is on the screen, and
the VCR is no longer of use. A few years ago, there was a movie, Twelve
Years a Slave, for which I could download the audio plus the audio
description from Blind Mice Mart. So I did. And I listened to it, and for
the most part, I didn't know what the hell was going on. I thought, "All
these people with no sight, are listening to movie sound tracks with audio
description, and they think they're having the same experience as their
sighted peers?" Movies are very visual these days. The story is not carried
by the dialogue like it used to be 50 years ago. It is carried by shots of
scenes, all visual, with dialogue and sounds supplementing the visual. I was
so incredibly frustrated. I got the book, Twelve Years a Slave from BARD and
read it, and then I understood what that sound track had been all about. I
had one other experience a few years before that when I was still a member
of Audible and I got the sound track to what became a popular movie about a
poor person in India. I can't remember the name. There was no description.
But Audible was selling this to its customers, most of whom are sighted, and
it was really frustrating to follow. So I have made a decision not to
torture myself by getting any more described movies, movies like Lincoln,
which I'd love to have seen, if I could see, because I'm not willing to
subject myself to the frustration of experiencing a mere fraction of the
whole. Instead, I'll read, because I can still hear well enough to hear
every word.
Miriam.
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Sunday, October 23, 2016 12:47 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: A tidbit from Hillary's speeches
When I meet with newly blinded clients, I tell them that we will assist them
in becoming as independent as they can be, or as they want to be.
We have found in working with over 3,000 older blind and low vision folks,
that regardless of our efforts, many do not want to be independent. Fear,
ignorance and their individual comfort zone play an important part in how
far down the road to personal independence they travel.
And then there are the "real world" limitations. No matter how we want it
not to be so, there is much in this world, and in our present social system
that presents barriers to personal independence. Our American Way of Life
has decided that individually owned transportation takes priority over mass
transit. Again, my personal opinion is that only a blind fool who has no
idea of what traffic looks like, would dream of taking to the road
independently. Maybe down the road we will have safe vehicles that safely
drive us about, but that is one long look down the road. Location is a
factor in how independent we blind folks can be. Living in the Forest on
the Olympic Peninsula can only be possible if the blind person has
convenient access to transportation. Perhaps the blind individual is
wealthy enough to call on taxis or Uber to attend distant activities or do
the shopping. Even having a sighted family member puts limits on the
freedom of the blind person, that is not put upon the sighted.
And despite all of the advances our American ingenuity has created, we can
find ourselves in a tangled mess when the TV acts up, and we can't access
the On-Screen prompts, or our computer suddenly stops talking.
Perhaps those of us who became blind at an early age, or have had lots of
"hands On" experience, can run our homes without sighted support, but many
people who lose sight at an older age are completely helpless when it comes
to the most simple of tasks. Putting the key in the front door, getting the
toaster plugged into a socket, setting the washer or dryer, finding the
proper settings on the coffee maker or the stove oven, replacing a washer in
a dripping faucet, knowing if stains are out of clothing, and on and on and
on.
Many of these skills can be taught, if the blind person happens to be young
enough or in good enough health, but that depends upon having enough
rehabilitation teachers and enough funding to reach all of those needing
such assistance.
The number of older blind people is growing. The number of Rehabilitation
Teachers and funding is not growing.
And by the way, if I haven't offended anyone to this place, let me do it
now. I have had it up to here with blind people who claim to be
photographers. First of all, I was a professional photographer back in my
life as a sighted man. With limited sight, there were some processes I
either did poorly or could not do at all. Setting up and framing the
photograph I desired to take was very doable, as long as I had enough sight
to arrange the details to my satisfaction. Doing the darkroom work
presented serious problems for a partially sighted photographer. A spec of
lint or a hair on the lens of my camera or darkroom projector could produce
a mark on a final photograph, that I could not see no matter how close I
peered.
In portrait photography, timing the click of the camera to that exact
expression, the slight tilt of the head or the certain look in the eyes,
made the difference between a great masterpiece or a simple snapshot. In
capturing the beauty or the strangeness of Nature, long planning might go
into just how to set up the scene. What sort of lighting? Shoot the scene
low or high? What filter would give you the desired results?
I worked to try to set up the perfect photograph when I snapped the camera.
Then in the darkroom I could make final small adjustments and crop the
picture exactly as I wanted it. I did know many photographers who took many
pictures in the field, then went through them in the darkroom to determine
which ones they wanted to save. But either way, the beauty was in the eye
of the creator.
Am I being too rigid? Perhaps. But blindly clicking a camera is, to me, no
different than a deaf person banging their hands on a piano keyboard and
declaring that they had just composed a song.
Living as independently as I can live calls for me to be as honest as I can
possibly be. I won't pretend to do that which demands eye sight, just to
try to prove my independence. And trust me, the older I become, the more
challenges I am forced to examine to determine if I can overcome them and
continue living at my current level of independence, or whether I must alter
what I do in order to still enjoy my personal freedom.
Carl Jarvis
On 10/23/16, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I've heard tales of legally blind people ddriving cars. People tellguns.
these tales with pride. My silent response is that a blind person who
drives a car on a public street or highway is a selfish ass. I also
think that elderly people whose reaction times have slowed and whose
vision may be severely impaired are doing a disservice to others, as
well as themselves, when they continue to drive. Given that our
culture emphasizes automobile use in terms of convenience and lack of
funds for public transportation, I understand why people feel as they
do. Nevertheless, reality intrudes. In the same way, I believe that a
blind person who chooses to own and use guns at his discretion, is a
selfish ass. If shooting at a target with a sighted instructor at a
shooting range is part of a rehab program, I have no problem. But if
that is a precursor to that blind individual owning and using guns on
his own, I have a problem. If blind people believe that government
should provide them with an even playing field, should alter the
environment to meet their special needs, then they should also accept
government restrictions on their activities in situations where their
blindness might cause harm to others.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Sunday, October 23, 2016 11:10 AM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: A tidbit from Hillary's speeches
Okay, so I have my head in the sand...or in the clouds, but I am
totally against firearms of any kind, owned by anyone. Of course I
understand that this will never happen in the lifetime of anyone on
this list, but that is my position.
Don't tell me that criminals can always get guns. Drunks can always
get cars. Should that stop us from having laws that protect our
People? This nation leads the world in gun violence, both civilian
and by those who are supposed to protect us from violence. And I know
that people meet violent death by many means, every day of the year.
But I'd rather be met by a drunk carrying a knife, than the same drunk
packing a gun. Out here in the quiet wilderness...except for hunting
season, we gather up the broken beer bottles and booze bottles and
food wrappers tossed aside by people who don't give a good God Damn
about the rights of others. These are law abiding citizens! And they
are after the Bucks who have the good sense to have already moved to
the high mountain canyons, leaving only the Does behind. When we used
to put up signs telling hunters to not trespass, and declaring our
property to be "gun free", the signs were shot off the trees. And so
were the,, "School bus stop" signs.
The conclusion I draw from years of observing careless behavior by
hunters, is that we are far too infantile to be allowed to own deadly
But frankly, if a citizen can head for the hills, packing a weapon and
a jug of hootch, then I would say that any totally blind, sober person
would be safer. Nonetheless, I never plan to own a gun, nor to allow
hunting on my property.
Carl Jarvis
On 10/22/16, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
This is particularly for Joe whom it will bother the most, I think.
She's talking about gun control here.
It was a law that is what we call in Washington it sunsetted. So it
went out at the end of 10 years. And since then there has been a
concerted effort by the gun lobby to basically end all restrictions
on guns. And I don't think that's what is called for under the
Constitution. I think that there are a number of sensible steps that
can and should be taken. [.] And one of the new claims that they're
making is that blind people deserve to have their Constitutional
rights, and deserve to have guns. And that you kind of think to
yourself, that's almost beyond imagination. And it's pushing and
pushing and pushing because there's no push back." [Hillary Clinton
Remarks at Nexenta, 8/28/14]
Miriam
Hai
