The Trickster

 

The Trickster is the human equivalent of the Snare.

Maybe it is time to look a little deeper into the cues that enable us to read another’s emotions,

and cues which trigger our own.

 

Some, those identifying children, are well known

And are referred to as Kinderschema:

compared to an adult, a child has a

 

bigger head,

flatter face,

bigger eyes,

bigger, domed forehead,

a smaller nose,

rounder cheeks,

and a smaller, more receding chin.

 

That many cues suggests that responding sympathetically to a child

is not something nature wanted to leave to chance!

 

All these kinderschema cues may be seen clearly in Hummel figurines.

In addition there are simple cues for the emotions these little figurines want to convey.

The head may be tilted or not, twisted or not, there may be a smile, or not.

A matrix can be drawn up reflecting twelve combinations

of these factors alone:

 

        Head tilted                     Head twisted                       Smile                         Emotion

No              Yes                       No      Yes                    No        Yes      

            Up        Down

 

*                                               *                                   *                                   Wistful

*                                               *                                               *                       Friendly

*                                                           *                       *                                   Concerned

*                                                           *                                   *                       Shy pride

            *                                   *                                   *                                   Confidence

            *                                   *                                               *                       Self-satisfaction

            *                                               *                       *                                   Challenging

            *                                               *                                   *                       Amused disbelief

                        *                       *                                   *                                   Surprise

                        *                       *                                               *                       Shyness

                        *                                   *                       *                                   Sorry

                        *                                   *                                   *                       Bashful pleasure

 

It seems that tilting the head

(looking down your nose, or submissively upwards) affects

perception of confidence/seeking approval.

 

Twisting the head on the other hand, denotes questioning

(this is common to many mammals – my dog would do it every time he thought I said something like ‘walk’).

 

And a smile denotes joy rather than sorrow or shock or disgust.

The combinations these variables alone offer is amazing,

but the position of the eyes also has semantic function.

 

We saw in Luxo Junior how the direction of the face denoted something as the subject of the emotions.

Looking at it – the direction of the eyes rather than the face - also has the same effect.

But the face does not have to point in the same direction as the eyes,

and this can create mixed messages.

Looking at something sideways is complex – it may denote that you

are still mostly paying attention to the person your face is pointed at,

but that something else is distracting you.

 

At the very least, you risk offending the person you are talking with,

 but there is a further danger that you may trigger the ‘Trickster’ response.

This is particularly the case if the sideways glance is made surreptitious by being brief,

or by squeezing one’s eyes to make them less visible.

 

     

 

Compare, for example, these two walking figures – the Happy Wanderer,

chin up, confident and cheerful - and the Truant,

looking sideways, quizzically, over his shoulder, as if to check

if his departure was being observed.

The smile and the wide eyes suggests we should respond in a playful way,

so his mischief seems not malevolent, but charming.

Narrow the eyes and lose the smile, and he

would be a lot less charming.

We might even dislike him

and move him from the Rascal slot

into the Villain one.

 

Similarly if we look above a person’s gaze,

and point our head below it, or vice versa, we are giving a mixed message.

Are we scorning the person while pretending to be sorry, or are we

sorry, but making it clear the other person is still not

our social equal? Mixed messages are the mark

of the Trickster… looking sideways, sneaking

a peek through narrowed eyes…

 

  

 

A masterly study in sly villainy can be seen in Peter Pan,

when Hook is trying to get information on Peter’s

whereabouts, from Tinkerbell:

 

 

So would you trust these smiles??