Tuesday 1 November 2011

The Real Actors

God, it's weird how the Greeks were right about so many different things. Like the persona for instance which has sprung up within psychology thanks to Greek theatre.


Janus was a two faced Greek god. Surprisingly, most people are two-faced without the burden of an extra head. Is the face really a window to the soul or is it a mask to be molded? Take Monalisa's smile for instance. What exactly is she smiling about? Well, books are sure easier to read than people.


Gestures and expressions do say a lot but then we have the differences in individuals to counter. The whole complexity of this human body and the manifold expressions and contortions it can give. A smile can be a threat, a gesture of friendship, a silent answer. It can be n number of things.




Self restraint and control also tip the scales. And so do the forms of expression in various cultures. How can one read those signs? The universal language was once naively thought to be encompassed within a smile as a signal of friendship. Much like a dog wagging its tail.


Perhaps, with our more introspective and ulterior searching outlooks we have struck much deeper than we meant. Hardly any of our social gestures are spontaneous. You have to walk a particular way, hold your head in another way, smile with so and so amount of gleaming teeth displayed. We indeed, are the true actors on the world's new stage.


No comments:

Post a Comment