Sunday, February 16, 2014
Response to Martin Jay's "Downcast Eyes"
While
this reading was a bit difficult to understand and digest for me, I found a few
quotes that were interesting and stuck out in particular to the discussions we
have had regarding the destruction of one's world when torture is involved. Jay
states, "...touch restores the proximity of self and other...It also
entails a more intimate relation to the world." I think here, the
difference between physical and mental torture can be related to Jays’
thinking. Physical torture involves almost all of a person's senses, but the
main difference between physical and mental torture is the sense of touch.
Without using touch, one cannot be physically tortured and according to Jay,
touch creates a deeper reality for the one being touched because it forces one
to acknowledge the distance one has between them and the person touching (or in
this case, torturing) them. Therefore, I think mental torture allows a person
being tortured to more easily lose a sense of the world around them or their
reality rather than physical torture because physical torture involves touch,
which in turn pushes the victim of torture to recognize their physical
existence to a greater extent.
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I find that quote equally as interesting, and you did a great job analyzing it. To try and apply this to things we've experienced in class, I think we should consider how visibly seeing torture in the movie affected us mentally. If I'm interpreting Martin Jay's statement correctly, we are able to lose touch with the "real world" because we are experiencing a mental "torture" instead of a physical torture which would do the opposite and "restore [our] proximity of self and other". I define torture, as it is applicable to our circumstances, as watching scenes like Antonio getting stretched out by his torturers and the woman being hung. When we watch scenes such as this, or in any type of movie really, we are absorbed into the story and the world around us disappears. However, there's still a disconnect. While I feel slightly uncomfortable watching Antonio be tortured, I can take myself out of the context of the movie and reabsorb myself back into the real world and feel normal again. We don't experience the physical pain or any feelings of temperature, claustrophobia, or anything. That's probably why 4D shows at Disneyland frighten me more than they should; they put you in a more realistic situation and you're afraid that when all the bugs from A Bug's Life come flying toward you, you're going to physically experience them and one might sting you (childish, I know, but that's the most pertinent example I can think of).
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your analysis of this quote. I also found the reading difficult, but the way you broke apart this quote is a way I did not think as far into. I see where you came up with the idea of mental torture causing you to lose the sense of the world around you more easily than physical torture. It is definitely important to look at how the only difference between mental torture and physical torture is the sense of touch, but how differently the two can effect a person. Before this reading I had not thought about how touch brings someone back to reality and keeps them with their sense of world. Rereading this quote now though I can even picture a comparison for someone having a panic attack for example and the touch of someone could help bring them back.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Lauren! I agree that the reading was very difficult to digest haha. I found your point on mental and physical torture very interesting. I had not thought of physical torture as being a weapon to force the individual to acknowledge the separation of the self from the body (possibly bringing them back to the tangible world and reality). Additionally, physical torture also shows the separation between the victim and the torturer in terms of position of power. I think that physical torture and psychological torture work hand in hand in making the individual lose a sense of the world around them.
ReplyDeleteGreat analysis of the reading. I always associated touch with comfort, but I guess that's because I always assumed a person had the ability to voluntarily touch. But I guess the only comforting thing about touch is the ability to touch back in a mutual act of companionship. Without touch, I can easily see how a person would lose touch with reality and therefore be more willing to confess to things that may not have actually happened. I guess for the torturer it's a stroke of genius, but for the victim, it must be so hard to keep any sort of resolve without having something to ground reality in.
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