A Hand-y Trick in Film

Seeing as I am a breathing female human, I love Titanic. I mean, by the time the ship starts to sink, I start to lose interest, but I never cease to become enthralled by the love story between Rose and Jack. As I mentioned to a friend, that scene when Rose's hand slides down the car window gives me shivers. It's amazing what a non-sexual body part can imply--the scene would be far less romantic if the audience actually watched them have sex. Because the director trusts us with our own imagination, we can see the passion between the characters without, y'know, seeing the passion--'cause that part is icky and X rated, which would be a silly choice on the marketing end.

But it got me thinking about other movies that give me shivers. I mean, Jaws for one, but that's a more teeth based film. I'll save that for the next blog. Hitchcock's Psycho made such an impression on me, that I was terrified to take a shower for the following month. While the murder scene wasn't particularly scary, it was the victim's final breaths, and the hand grasping for her last few moments that resonates most with the audience.

I mean, we all have hands, we all use them for pretty mundane tasks, so what makes them so prominent in film? Could we just as easily see Rose's feet slide down that car and get the same reaction?

Maybe. Or we'd be wondering since when did sex turn into olympic gymnastics?

To me, a great film doesn't include a million special effects, nor does it focus on grand explosions and flying monkeys (although The Wizard of Oz did resonate with me as a child). The most renowned directors take the little bits in life and metaphor-ize them, without being all "hey! Hey you! Look at me, I'm a metaphor!" Hands are expressive, and what make us so...human. Sure, we take out the trash with our hands, but we also create with them, hold our children with them, and straighten hair with them. That's all some important shit. When we see a common link between ourselves and the characters, we relate to them. We realize we could be them. You too, could be in the back of a car with Leonardo DiCaprio. Just think about that.

Unless we're getting manicures 24/7, we don't often think about our hands. They're very lovely extremities, if you ask me. Maybe they could look a little more terrifying when I unleash the "claws," but other than that, I have no complaints. But we don't typically see the mundane as a defining moment or sexy. These films remind us that it's not what we have that allows glamour, but we we use it.

Namaste.