As part of an experiment, a man asks for help translating a Facebook message he has received.
One man speaks only English in Lithuania. The message is in Lithuanian. It is in Lithuanian, and he can’t understand it so he asks locals to translate it.
Two things emerge as he asks each person to translate the message.
1. A message containing hate speech was sent to him.
2. It is a difficult task to translate it for him.
It is nearly impossible for these people to bear it.
It’s like a powerful connection that suddenly develops between the translators, the man they’re translating for, and their client. They protect him and tell him to forget about the message.
They offer their sincere apologies for the message.
They seem to want to weep.
It hurts.
Most people wouldn’t consider saying such awful things. This video shows people realizing in their gut what it must feel like when those words are pointed at them — it’s all right on their faces. Their compassion is also beautiful.
Their empathy is beautiful, even though the Facebook message is terrible. The video’s emotional power makes it special and well worth sharing.
Here it is.
This video is in English and subtitled in Lithuanian. Watch the faces.