My hunch may have been wrong
In this post, I was poking fun at bad publicity shots for bad theatre. I ended that post by writing, “I’m also struck by the hunchback on the left.” Note the relevant photo, which I’ve helpfully replicated above.
Yesterday morning I got a sincere email from a faithful reader of this blog. In a very kind way, he took me to task for calling the person on the left a “hunchback,” because he believes she has untreated scoliosis. And, I gather, whether or not she does, it’s wrong to call a person with a hump a “hunchback.”
I have to say, I’m not big on calling people out by being types. So if I’m guilty of that, I apologize. It wasn’t my intent.
The point I was trying to make was this: Given the awful acting and over-the-top costuming and cartoonish nature of the photo, right up to that woman’s image, I had assumed she was acting impaired. Hence the offhand nature of my comment — I was criticizing the production and the photo, not her physical nature, and using a derogatory term to indict the intent. Looking at the photo again, I have to admit, I can’t say definitively what’s going on. (Though my suspicion remains that we’re look at bad character acting.)
In any event, I apologize for any unintended slight. And for the bad pun in the title. (Just couldn’t help myself.)