'Are you kidding me?': Amy Poehler derails silly Q and A to talk about dire issues.
Some (most?) days, it feels like the world is going to hell in a handbasket.
No one gets along anymore (or at least it feels that way). Social media is like a bad ex who loves toying with our moods. The news cycle is downright exhausting. Oh! And climate change is literally destroying our planetĀ faster than ever before.
Thank you, K.C. Green, for blessing us with this all-too-real meme.
It can be ... a lot. So escapism can be a good thing! Read a silly book, binge on your favorite sit-com, walk in circles until you forget who the president is. Whatever works for you.
Some days, though, it's honestly too difficult to focus on anything trivial when it feels like there's so much on the line.
Amy Poehler gets the feeling.
Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images.
Poehler did a question and answer session for The Hollywood Reporter's "40(ish) Most Powerful People in Comedy" feature. Ā
And the interview went spectacularly well or terribly wrong, depending on how you see it.
In response to eight lighthearted questions posed to the comedian, Poehler flipped the script, answering most of them with sobering realities about the current state of affairs.
"Who cares?" Poehler answered as a way to start things off when asked about her most memorable heckler. "The whole world is on fire."
Image via The Hollywood Reporter.
College comedy audiences are "kids that are afraid they will be shot in their own schools," she continued. "What has happened to us?"
"Let's not forget over 4,600 people have died in Puerto Rico," she chimed in when asked about her guilty pleasure.
"A giant whale just died in Thailand after eating 80 plastic bags," she answered instead of detailing her "dream product endorsement."
Can anyone blame Poehler for getting real in her interview?
Things do feel particularly bad right now. But we don't have to accept the status quo.
- Concerned for whales and other ocean life? Support organizations fighting to get plastic out of our oceans.
- Alarmed our elected leaders don't seem to care about the people of Puerto Rico? You can help, even if Washington is failing them.
- Sick and tired of senseless gun violence? Do something about it.
- Also, vote. Vote, vote, vote. Make sure you're registered!
- And lastly ā and this one is especially crucial ā don't forget to laugh along the way. You deserve it.
Our whole world may feel like it's burning, but ā believe it or not āĀ there's a lot of good happening too.
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for informationānot just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimicā¦could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if theyāve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESLābut English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I donāt know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! Iām 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."