In all forms of writing, from academic to artistic, there is a large emphasis placed on the strength of the writer’s “voice,” and that the strength of this voice generally correlates to the quality and power of the writing. From a writer’s voice we interpolate their personality, who they are, what their message is, and what makes them unique, and, in general, we assume the voice and the author are connected: if I’m watching a clip of Bernie Sanders give a speech, I believe that it is Bernie Sanders’ voice coming through my speakers. To frame this in terms of Aristotle’s work, we assume that the “impact of the inbreathed air against the windpipe” is originating from the windpipe of the individual we see is talking. The “Bad Lip Reading” clips play off of that idea by robbing and distorting an individual’s voice while still satisfying the visual component of listening – we can match the words of the voiceover with the movement of the subject’s mouth, their facial expressions, and their gestures. Particularly with the presidential debate editions of BLR, it becomes extremely satisfying and funny to see individuals “say” things that we know they would never say. However, it is not hard to envision this robbing and replacing of the voice (or, the displacement of the origin of the voice from one windpipe to a different windpipe) being used in ways that are disconcerting and dangerous. We are already approaching a point in our society of truth not being truth. What will happen when voice is no longer voice — In other words, when an individual voice can be put in anyone’s mouth?
