ABOUT SIGHT

WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2011

ABOUT SIGHT

It's only fair to talk about sight after my post on taste, isn't it ? Obviously (how could it be different?) I'll view this subject under a well defined angle.

I could, of course, sing the praise of great landscapes.

By the way:

GOOD MORNING !!!

     

But I'm sure you expect something different, don't you ?

Ohh...I got it wrong ? Then I'd better continue with my landscapes (hey, I'm just teasing!)

Nature aside, what comes to my mind when I talk about sight is a movie by Alfred Hitchcock ("Rear Window", 1954)

Great film, great actors but I especially liked Raymond Burr. Who would imagine him in the character of Perry Mason some three years later ?

This is somehow to introduce today's theme. I'm sure you have understood what it is about: curiosity, inquisitiveness and voyeurism.

Where does curiosity start to become inquisitiveness ? Where do they turn into voyeurism ? And what kind of voyeurism ? As I see it (but you can give your own view, of course), curiosity is instinctive and inbred in humans, since their birth, and in animals alike.

Inquisitiveness can have its origin in curiosity but is an in-depth search with a precise target.

Voyeurism is the search of pleasure through our eyes, usually associated with eros.

 Let's leave aside the degeneration of voyeurism into a maniacal and psychotic disease. There are tons of literature on the subject.

What interests me more is how we ALL are - more or less - voyeurs. How could we otherwise explain the fascination of movies, web sites, magazines, blogs, etc ? How does it happen that if we see shapes moving behind a curtain, we instinctively feel like looking (although our upbringing makes us look away immediately, most of the time). 

The very fact that some persons feel more aroused by the hint of nudity rather than by plain nudity is quite telling.

For instance, I doctored a lovely picture with Powerpoint

I showed it to a friend of mine. He felt more aroused by the second version than by the first. And you ?

Talking about voyeurism, we should also keep in mind that there are two wide categories:

shy or sly voyeurs who revel in watching their targets (or the object of their adoration) whilst staying hidden

(A scene from "Body Double" by Brian De Palma - 2nd best movie on Voyeurism after "Rear Window")

and

open voyeurs who take pleasure in viewing their partner's erotic experiences, rather often without their own active participation (pity for them !) A win-win situation if the active partner is (as it's often the case) exhibitionist.

Then, there's the pleasure of stolen moments: I love the moments when my partner, or lover is unaware (sleeping, dressing or undressing, showering or shaving...) and I can look at him. So defenceless, so arousing !

  *longing sigh*