I have stared blankly at mild acquaintances, confused people’s siblings with their girlfriends and have said hello to complete strangers. As far as I know, there is no name for this weakness, but I refer to it as Facial Recognition Disorder or FRD.
From time to time, you hear introductories interrupted with the apology “Please forgive me, I’m not very good with names”. This seems to be an acceptable memory lapse. It’s very rare though and less acceptable to hear the apology “Please forgive me, but… you have an unmemorable face, so I will probably blank you next time we meet”. “Please understand me”, I’d clarify, “it’s not your face, but my brain that’s the problem”.
Women especially, are often the object of my error, what with all their clever disguises brought about by changing hair styles, subtle colouring and other cosmetic tinkering that I don’t quite understand.
I sometimes linger a stare at an individual, waiting for them to say something, or for a pang of recognition. If this doesn’t come, I assume they are an unknown and will not feel guilty for their lack of cooperation if indeed they do turn out to be someone I have met before. Perhaps we should all go about with name tags… except that sounds a bit like identity cards, which didn’t go down very well with the British Public.
I have lost count of the number of times I have pointed excitedly at an actor or actress, recognising them from another programme, only to be met with sympathetic shakes of the head. Although I am generally better at names, there are occasions I come unstuck there as well. I should have known better when I got into an argument, which was the result of mistaking the actors Jeremy Northam and Edward Norton.
I think it’s about time that FRD was accepted as a proper disorder and all long-suffering inflicted victims should be a given a card – not in order to facilitate parking spaces, but so that there is something to waive at friends or strangers after a mishap to avoid embarrassment.
Anyway, see you around. Or maybe not.
March 23, 2012 at 4:51 pm
I too have the same issue. Only in people with very distinct features or people I have spent a lot of time with over a long period of time can I recognize. I coach gymnastics and memorize the names of the kids based on their leotard. The next workout I am clueless again.