Hello! Do you see some vertical and diagonal lines in the picture above? Yes, of course, you do! The diagonal lines (the ropes, the angles of Cat woman's legs) imply that there is some sort of movement happening in the frame. That is because Cat woman is flying (or maybe hanging, not quite sure) on these ropes. The vertical lines, her arm hanging down, for example, add a bit of excitement, as Molly Bang points out in her book "Picture This". The picture is, indeed, exciting, I mean Cat Woman is hanging up in the air only holding herself on ropes; it is night, it is dark, she is isolated, and there is a dark shadow of Batman in the background behind her. All of this happening at once within this one frame is exciting and provokes a sort of tension within the viewer. The darkness of the night and the black-colored shadow of Batman emphasize on the feeling of danger, according to Molly Bang, who explains the meaning of colors in her book.
Another interesting thing that Molly Bang explains in "Picture This" is that "Objects placed in the top half often feel more spiritual". That is interesting because in the top half of this picture frame there are two stars shinning much brighter than the rest of the stars in the sky; when we, the viewers, focus on these brighter stars, we feel a sense of hope.. These stars are like "antagonizers" ( I am making up words now...but you understand) of the darkness and tension that the frame otherwise builds up. That happens because, as Molly Bang has stated, light colors make us feel safe and hopeful. Another detail from this picture frame that antagonizes the danger of the night, is the curvy lines of Batman's shadow. I know it gets a bit ironic since his black shadow foresees a sense of danger at first, but then if we look at it more closely, the tension starts to disappear because his shadow is curvy and "curved shapes embrace us and protect us" as stated in "Picture This". We are reminded that Batman is the good guy so we feel safe with him. But then, there are sharp edges at the end of his curved wings at the bottom half of the picture frame, which brings tension again. This tension, however, is maybe directed towards Cat Woman...
Speaking of Cat Woman, do her curvy body lines protect and embrace us? In context of the comic maybe... but if we go back to the last post that talked about the influence of heroines' body types on the female side of society...now maybe not so much. She is in the center of the frame; she is the most important, therefore her body is the audiences focus. And, of course, her body is drawn to be sexualized, thin, curvy, muscular...unrealistic. Just think for a second about what my last post was about, and then look at this picture again. It definitely promotes females the wrong idea for a "perfect" body image.
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