Streets are safer in Bogotá, Colombia, thanks to Mayor Antanas Mockus, who reduced reckless driving by hiring traffic mimes, says María Cristina Caballero in the Harvard U. Gazette (3/11/04). Initially 20 professional mimes shadowed and mimed pedestrians who didn’t follow crossing rules, and poked fun at reckless drivers. The program was so popular that another 400 people were trained as mimes…Marcel Marceau would be proud! Check out the article for other wild and crazy ideas from this mathematician and philosopher turned innovative mayor. Who says the arts can’t change the world?
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This is a great idea. Someone should pass it on to Pawlenty, who, upon vetoing the MN Poet Laureate position, managed to also ridicule mimes. Why not?
Comment by Chris Fischbach — 6/16/2005 @ 11:26 am
I’m not so sure MM would be proud that mimes would be put to such use… but I suppose this is what the art of mime has come to (?)… training 400 people to do this “bit” of mime surely should inspire a few to go thru further training… hopefully… as I fear this type of ‘mime abuse’ will only cause further degradation to the reputation of the art, creativity and discipline that’s needed to properly learn techniques. Mime and pantomime are NOT just about making people look ridiculous. To train folks in this one aspect is itself, “ridiculous”.. to both mimes and those being ridiculed…. and to call them “mimes”.??!!? Mime techniques take years of practice… hopefully the 400 ‘trainees’ will keep their day jobs
or who knows.. it may cause an explosive revolution of cocaine addicted mimes spreading throughout the world,…like a disease….(once they lose their ‘part time mime’ gigs) they will likely migrate to New York first… where they will probably demand ‘hush’ money from pedestrians to leave them alone….like window washers do to unwilling drivers. Ah well.. we are only a tiny droplet in the bucket of mime.. i mean “time”
Comment by Timmer Angel — 7/24/2005 @ 4:57 am
The cars should slow down because they might be so fast coming around the corner and they might be traffic lights and there might be people in the middle of the road (not standing in the middle of the road) they are crossing the road and when the cars are going so far around the corner and the traffic lights are on red and the people are crossing the road and they might go passed the red lights and knock over the people!!!!
Comment by Shannon — 8/6/2006 @ 4:28 pm