Did I strike an optical nerve with this caption? Les yeux sans visage!
A few weeks ago, I found this picture and figured it to be for Maxine on the Haven. I placed it in a caption setting and even named it "seewhatyouwanttosee" as that line was running through my head as I looked over the photo. Finally got a chance to come back to it today and flesh it out.
And what it gave me was how perceptions shade the colors in for whatever we are looking toward. It is no wonder that angry people "see red" or envious neighbors seem "green with envy" and when we need to be positive, we try to look through "rose colored glasses". I believe I've used each of those sayings in a TG caption at some point, though I'm not quite sure about "seeing red" yet.
In Pulp Fiction, Tarantino used the briefcase as a macguffin, but also never tells you what is inside it, figuring that we would fill in the blanks. Some people even think it's Marsellus Wallace's soul.
Anyway, my point here was pretty much that no matter what something is, it doesn't really change, only the perception of it is mutable .. and with hypnosis and other conditioning . we can get Matt to see something he didn't want to see before, based on what he was looking at in the mirror.
A few days before, he could've seen the suitor as a brother in arms, ready to help him escape and capture the enemy, or take him down once he realized his alliances. At the time of the caption, he'd see an evil man that spends millions of dollars to buy a wife made specifically for his whims. In a few minutes, he'll see himself as the damsel in distress tied naked to a chair,and see the suitor as a handsome Prince Charming, Knight in Shining Armor, rescuer here to defend her honor. He is the same person in each scenario, and the only thing different is his/her perception of herself, the suitor, and the situation.
DISCUSSION QUESTION: When it comes to perceptions in TG captions, do you like it best when YOU have to fill in the blanks and see it with your own eyes, or do you want the story to bring you along for the ride with the protagonist's perception? I guess it might fall somewhere in between the narrative and ambiance. What is the happy medium, or do you fall to one side of the other?