Tuesday, February 23, 2021

Personal Space

Last night, while watching yet another episode of Line of Duty (an excellent British series we’ve recently discovered on Amazon Prime), I became distracted by the body language of two of the characters.


Martin Compston plays good guy Steve Arnott and is 5’8”.  I imagine he’s long gotten over his nearly below-average size and is perfectly comfortable in his body. In an earlier life he’d been a professional British footballer and even had a sturdy enough ego to star in a series called The Wee Man.

Craig Parkinson, an actor who I’ve recently seen playing psychopathic twins in another excellent series, Whitechapel, often projects a quietly menacing aura. In Line of Duty he plays corrupt copper Dot Cotton and looms over everyone in the show at 6’5”.

In this particular scene, both were sitting in the squad room staring at computers, but the difference in the way they used their space was interesting.

Compston’s arms were spread across the front of his desk and he sat back, using the whole area around him, while Parkinson’s manner was that of a praying mantis, his long arms tightly compacted by his sides, his even longer legs tucked beneath him.

As I watched, I wondered how much of this was role playing and how much of it was innate in these two men who over their own lives had learned to adapt to the world around them so differently.

 

11 comments:

  1. I suspect you are right and some at least of it is innate to them. I think that body language is very hard to control/alter.

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  2. I have seen Arnott in two other series recently. The most recent was Traces on Britbox. It looks like the series might continue, but I think it was a one-off for him.

    I have mixed feelings about Line of Duty since each season seems to use pretty much the same formula.

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    1. I will agree with you about the similar formula each time. We just finished season 2, in which yet another innocent person is railroaded.

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  3. Interesting observation. I think we are all prone to adaptations like these. I would much rather be a small person than a long and lanky one. :-)

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    1. There are challenges. My son is 6'4". He and his wife acquired a car that he found difficult to fit into once the car seats were positioned for their twins.

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  4. 5'8" is tall in my world, I don't know many men who are 6' or more. I have a brother-in-law who is 6'3", but everyone else is in the 5' to 5'8-9" range. Not just my family, but neighbours and people on the street that I see. We're compact downunder.

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  5. Line of Duty is so good. I binge watched it about a year ago. -Jenn

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    1. With absolutely nothing on network tv, we're grateful for Amazon Prime and are happily binge watching all kind of things.

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  6. We watched "Line of Duty" and loved it! I must say I never noticed the contrast in the way the differently-heighted actors used their space, though. :)

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  7. I'm interested in body language from people in everyday life. Can any straight haired readers explain to this curly lady what that hair flipping at intervals is about? I see it quite a bit and am mystified. Is it like a nervous gesture, like physically saying er um ad we speak? Serious question.

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Thanks for stopping by and I'd love to hear what you think.