The Same Age Kathrine Was When She Married One Of The Worst Husbands In History - Tumblr Posts
The thing that really captivates me about this performance is the lighting and how it mixes with the choreo of the other queens. They are draped in shadow almost the entire time and their faces are specifically obscured whenever they put their hands on Howard. It gives me two distinct impressions, 1. that the men in her life were never genuine with her and always hid their true intentions to get closer to her, and 2. that this was how those men saw Howard, a faceless nobody, pretty enough to be used for their pleasure and then discarded, because she meant nothing to them. She wasn’t a person in their eyes, she was barely more than a shadow.
Also like the specific placement of their hands. At first it’s hands on the shoulders like a controlling parent keeping you in line, then there’s another on the waist from behind, unable to see who’s grabbing you but keeping you pressed against them, facing outwards like a prize to show off but unable to leave, and then they add the ones on the legs, keeping her from running away. All of them focus on hindering movement. They also remind me of puppet strings, which I find interesting as the only part of her without a “string” is her head. The rest of her body is being used against her will but her mind still remains, despite the slowly forming cracks.
This ties in to the order of the placement too. They take her hands first as a metaphor of them leading her down this awful path via their grooming and also to do some of the less than holy acts she describes in her second verse. Then they take her torso, her body, to use for their enjoyment. Lastly they take her legs now that she’s doubting if this is something she’s okay with, if she wants this, so she can’t run away from it. But again, notice that they never take her head, something she herself remarks on in her last verse. They don’t care if they control her thoughts or emotions as long as she’s doing what they want, those don’t matter. Even if she says no, if she says she’s done with this, they own the rest of her, what she says and thinks has no value to them. They tricked her into agreeing while she was young and by the time she realized it was wrong she was already in too deep.
Well, that was depressing. Ask me if you want more thoughts.
@yourboywitch Do you mind if I ask you to weigh in on this? I’m curious what you think