Elvin Mensah is a prankster. Videos of his stunts, normally doing something unlikely – running on a treadmill, for example – on a tube or Overground carriage, have been viewed more than 10 million times across social media. And it’s not hard to understand why. It’s funny to see something out of context, especially when a bemused public looks on to deliver extra tension. Mensah’s latest set-up, however, has drawn controversy as well as laughs: setting a table, complete with starched table cloth and metal cloche, the internet comedian takes a seat next to a lone female commuter and starts pouring her wine. There’s a red rose in a vase (and a lot of pressure on her, besides).
For many, the new prank follows Mensah’s tried-and-tested formula: activity ≠ setting. Ha, that’s not what normally happens on the train! For plenty of others, though, it’s much more uncomfortably familiar than laugh-out-loud ludicrous. Responding to the video posts, women online have been quick to point out an equation they recognise all too well – male stranger makes an approach in public, and a combination of socialised politeness, fear of causing offence and anxiety about a retaliation to an outright rejection conspire to make a kind of Catch 22.
It can certainly be difficult to know how to react: a terse ‘fuck off, I’m just trying to get to work’ feels overdramatic and might provoke anger. On the other hand, experience tells us that smiley engagement will only encourage the behaviour we’re trying to duck away from. Taught to think of male attention as a privilege, and absorbing the toxic idea that those who fall victim to its unwanted manifestations ‘asked for it’ in some way, many women will recognise the strained half-smile on the commuter’s face. As one woman tweeted, ‘People thinking this is cute clearly have never felt like they had to entertain/appease a “nice guy” like this in order to avoid an altercation. Hidden behind most catcalling and “harmless” harassment is the implicit threat of violence if the woman doesn’t act flattered.’ Another Twitter user wrote, ‘That nervous grimace contorted into a smile can be literally translated as "I'm stuck on this train with you, strange man, please don't hurt or kill me"’
Approaches in the spirit of Mensah’s are double-pronged: first they impose a dynamic, and then they place the burden of mediating it on a stranger socialised to be polite. With all the good will in the world, it’s hard to envisage a version of this interaction that doesn’t push the person approached onto the back foot – especially when they’re caught in the interested gazes of a carriage full of people and an enclosed space.
Alongside the responses denouncing Mensah’s stunt are plenty applauding it. Perhaps it depends which side of the transaction you see yourself on.