I saw distinct, repetitive hand gestures, passive glances, aggressive breaths, and clear acknowledgement of the camera. I experienced a strong sensation of stage presence, humor, and a twinge of disgust. I saw no panic in the eyes of either candidate. I saw flashes of impatience crawl across each candidate's face whilst the other spoke. I could almost feel their breath as they raced to spit out their scripts, in forceful tones, in paced tones, in trained tones.
Romney's hand gestures made me think of an aggressive cooking show. He had continuous chopping motions, number pointing, pile separations, pinching, and scattering. He looked like he was out to inform. Obama's hand movements reminded me of passive, late night infomercial. He often placed his hands in such a way that suggested an invisible product, and he talked directly into the camera more often than not. He looked like he was clearly selling a product.
They had distinct styles of ending their monologues--Obama would glance down at his podium, Romney choked out a flat smile. The tone of their expressions were much too contrasting--Romney combative, Obama passive. Both had a presence that was clearly dramatic, clearly rehearsed, clearly in disagreement. They also seemed to blink way too much.
I wonder if there were parts that were spontaneous, improvised, thought of on the spot. I wonder if they actually listened to each other. Or were they just waiting for their queue to speak and to gesture. I wonder how they speak to each other behind closed doors, with no cameras, no lights, no script, no audience. I wonder.
No comments:
Post a Comment