- 20 hours ago
The eyes are the windows to the soul, and on screen, from blue eyes to brown eyes to green eyes and beyond, the color that adorns those eyes can tell you a lot about the soul within. So, let’s...
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00The eyes are the window to the soul, and on screen,
00:02the color that adorns those eyes can tell you a lot about the soul within.
00:06Color has always played a major part in symbolism,
00:09from literature to film and television.
00:11Color has come to be associated with our feelings
00:13and larger ideas about the world.
00:15We see this play out in choices around hair color, home decor, and clothes,
00:19but eye color has also come to hold a lot of meaning on screen, too.
00:23Your eyes are stunning?
00:25Sometimes eye color is used to signal something specific
00:28about someone's character, or to make clear a battle between opposing sides.
00:33And while for a long time there was a rather rigid hierarchy of eye colors,
00:36thankfully in recent times we've come to accept the beauty in every eye color.
00:41So let's take a deeper look at what each eye color
00:43has come to represent on screen, and how that's changing.
00:47While blue eyes are rather uncommon in regular life,
00:50belonging to only approximately 10% of the global population,
00:54they're everywhere on screen.
00:56The thing that really stood out about this girl were her eyes.
00:58She just had the, uh, most amazing blue eyes you've ever seen.
01:02Because of that rarity in everyday life,
01:04blue eyes became a point of interest for visual symbolism on screen,
01:08a quick way to denote that a character was different in some way.
01:12As we discussed in our video on the blue-eyed girl trope,
01:14this is usually used to denote one of two things,
01:18a character's innocence, or her icy nature.
01:21Big baby blues are often a feature of sweet-girl-next-door characters,
01:25meant to show their innocent and uncomplicated nature.
01:30On the other end of the spectrum are the ice queens,
01:32whose cold blue eyes dazzle and distract from her true calculating character.
01:37That's pretty cold, ain't it, lady?
01:38I'm a writer. I use people for what I write.
01:41In some cases, blue eyes are used to represent a character's clarity of mind,
01:46her ability to see through the bull to deeper truths underneath.
01:50The truth is out there, but so are lies.
01:54Light eyes in general can sometimes come across as a little intense,
01:58like they're piercing through whoever falls under their gaze.
02:01Mad Men shows how, while there might be general stereotypes around eye color,
02:05how you come across isn't set in stone.
02:07It's really more dependent on the full package in which your eyes exist,
02:11and how you choose to engage with the world around you.
02:14Peggy Olsen, Joan Harris, and Betty Draper all have blue eyes,
02:17but they fit into very different tropes as characters.
02:20Betty is more in line with the classic, stereotypical blue-eyed woman.
02:24She's beautiful and knows it, and everyone around her dotes
02:27on her looks above all else.
02:29My mother always said,
02:32you're painting a masterpiece.
02:34Make sure to hide the brushstrokes.
02:36She was really beautiful.
02:38She's used this to her advantage in her life, but as she grew older,
02:41it also led to her feeling empty and directionless.
02:44Because she didn't really have a concept of herself outside
02:47of just being a beautiful woman, she didn't know what to do with herself
02:50once that alone was no longer enough to keep her happy.
02:53Joan is also cherished for her looks, but she more deliberately uses them
02:56as a weapon to achieve her bigger goals.
02:59She isn't content to sit around and let life happen to her.
03:02And though many in her life do try to pigeonhole her based on her looks,
03:05she isn't afraid to stand up for herself.
03:08I can't wait until next year when all of you are in Vietnam.
03:11You will be pining for the day when someone was trying
03:14to make your life easier.
03:15Peggy begins the show as more of an innocent girl-next-door type,
03:18but her true, high-achieving, self-assured nature soon makes itself known.
03:23She has big dreams and has zero desire for her life
03:25to be based around her looks.
03:27She's set on climbing her way to the top of the corporate ladder
03:30based on her brains alone.
03:32I'm the person you need to impress right now.
03:34Brown eyes are the most common in real life by far.
03:37But in the same way that there are many different tones and shades of brown eyes,
03:42they have been used to represent a number of different things on screen.
03:45Because such a large and varied swath of people of brown eyes,
03:49they've been a feature of just about every character type under the sun.
03:52But there are a few main traits that arise again and again on screen.
03:56Brown eyes can denote a sense of inner warmth and a grounded nature,
04:00someone who is filled with compassion and understanding.
04:03Even if the character has a hard outer shell,
04:05we can see that kinder nature brimming out and making itself known in quieter moments.
04:09She may not always be easy to read at first,
04:12but it's clear that she has an inner sweetness
04:14that lights up those that she allows to get close to her.
04:17I want to cook for people and make them happy and give them the best bacon on earth.
04:25That warmth can also help characters still feel connected to some deeper, kinder self,
04:29even when they're making some pretty out there or even negative choices.
04:33Darker eyes can also be used to denote a level of seriousness and focus.
04:38I want to win, and I'm going to win.
04:40The deep color of their eyes symbolizes the depth of their greater understanding,
04:44and the degree to which they absorb everything around them.
04:46They might not get as much attention as others, but they notice everything,
04:50and are constantly taking in even the tiniest details of the world around them.
04:54It's because of all this that so many of the most iconic smart girl characters are brown-eyed girls.
05:00Brown eyes' depth of feeling can go in other directions as well,
05:03sometimes sexy and sometimes sinister, and on many occasions, both.
05:08Hatred burning bright in the brown eyes with enemies for fuel.
05:12Because brown is the most common color, it was long implied that it was less special or interesting.
05:17This dovetailed with the fact that lighter colored eyes are more common in white populations,
05:21to create a feeling of inferiority in everyone with brown eyes
05:25under the restricting umbrella of western beauty standards.
05:28A phenomenon we analyzed in our blue-eyed girl trope video.
05:32But thankfully, there have been major strides in learning to embrace and love the beauty of brown eyes.
05:37You have such pretty brown eyes.
05:40The kind of pretty that deserves to make a big deal about itself though,
05:43you know what I mean?
05:44Brown eyes are no longer just seen as some boring default,
05:47but instead prized for their own inherent charm.
05:50And I like that my eyes are really big and brown.
05:52I love your eyes too.
05:54Green eyes are the rarest of the main naturally occurring eye colors.
05:58Only around 2% of people have them.
06:01This has led to them often taking on an exotic or even mystical feeling on screen,
06:06used to represent that on some deep level, a character isn't like everyone else around them.
06:11From the not-actually-so-wicked Elphaba,
06:13to quirky Phoebe Buffay within her group of more run-of-the-mill friends,
06:16to fish-out-of-water Katie Herron, to Buffy Summers, the teen on whose shoulders
06:21the fate of the entire world rests, and beyond.
06:24Green-eyed characters stand out from the pack.
06:27I may play the fool at times, but I'm a little more than just a pretty blonde girl
06:33with an ass that won't quit.
06:34Green eyes often have a sweet versus icy split,
06:38similar to what we see with blue eyes on screen.
06:40But because green eyes are even more rare, this can be ramped up even further.
06:44The green-eyed ice queens are incredibly devious and calculating.
06:48Those on the sweeter end of the spectrum are often more aware and strong-minded
06:52than the classic blue-eyed girl-next-door type.
06:54They're kind and open, but also willing to throw down when need be.
06:58Green in general has long been associated with jealousy,
07:01and it's even been connected to green eyes in particular for centuries.
07:05In Othello, Shakespeare referred to jealousy as a green-eyed monster
07:09that destroys the souls of those who become consumed by it.
07:12And we can see this fate befall many green-eyed characters,
07:15from Katie becoming overwhelmed by her desire to usurp Regina to Cersei,
07:20destroying her own life and a whole lot of the rest of the world in the process.
07:24You want to rule? This is what ruling is.
07:27Lying on a bed of weeds, ripping them out by the root one by one
07:30before they strangle you in your sleep.
07:32In the same way they combine all of the other eye colors into a unique blend,
07:36hazel eyes often walk the line between the stereotypical brown-blue and green-eye tropes,
07:42generally falling into one of the main brown-eye tropes,
07:45but with a sense that there's something else there,
07:47some part of them that's a bit mysterious, hidden, or even dangerous.
07:51With Booksmart's Molly, we can see how while she does fall neatly
07:54into the classic smart-girl stereotype, there's something bright and fiery
07:58just under the surface waiting to let itself out.
08:01Alicia on Misfits has a strong and sometimes seductive nature,
08:05but has to fight an uphill battle to be taken seriously.
08:08Hayley Dunphy of Modern Family also has to fight to have her own kind of smarts
08:13understood and recognized by those around her,
08:15and to be seen as more than just her looks and air-headed nature.
08:19Hayley, where are you going?
08:20Oh, I was offered a fellowship to the bathroom and I'm accepting it.
08:23Regina George combines parts of all of the different eye color tropes,
08:27the smarts of the brown-eyed girl, the iciness of the blue-eyed girl,
08:31and the jealous wrath of the green-eyed girl,
08:34and uses her special blend of skills to dominate her school.
08:38You're, like, really pretty.
08:40So you agree?
08:42What?
08:42You think you're really pretty.
08:44But she's also able to use her combination of skills
08:46to figure out how to move on and find real,
08:49genuine connection and success in her life.
08:52On screen, we often see eye color used to denote a separation
08:56between two battling women in a way similar to hair and clothing colors.
09:00Generally, the character with the lighter eyes is the more naive and sweet of the two,
09:04while the darker-eyed character is more abrasive and self-confident.
09:07Their different eye colors represent some apparently innate rift between the two,
09:12but often in these cases it isn't framed as something that's impossible to overcome.
09:16In fact, just the opposite.
09:17While these characters may start out at each other's throats,
09:20we often see them grow closer and come to deeply appreciate the different skills
09:24and ways of thinking that the other brings to the table,
09:27and go on to form a lasting friendship.
09:29Do you ever notice how Callahan never asks Warner to bring him his coffee?
09:33Well, men are helpless, you know that.
09:37I know, Warner doesn't even do his own laundry.
09:39Though other times, the light versus dark eye battle is framed as something
09:43that just can't be overcome.
09:45Their opposing eye colors indicative of world views and behaviors
09:48that will just never truly mesh.
09:50While Euphoria's Maddie and Cassie were the best of friends,
09:54Cassie's willingness to push everything else aside for the attention of men,
09:58even to the point of hurting herself and those closest to her,
10:01passed the point of no return when she went after Nate,
10:04Maddie's ex who had treated her horribly.
10:06Maddie is not a perfect person, by a long shot,
10:09but one great thing about her is that she will not put up with disrespect from anyone.
10:13It hurts her on a deep level to be betrayed by her closest friend,
10:16but in the end she realizes that she can't let that pain hold her back forever
10:20and instead starts building a new way forward.
10:22There are also a whole host of other colors that are either exceedingly rare in real life
10:27or not actually seen at all that pop up on screen.
10:30Most of these more rare and or unrealistic colors are typically used to denote something
10:35inhuman or even evil about a character.
10:37Yellow eyes often appear to signify a great power within a character, for better or worse,
10:42while the Sith's yellow eyes symbolize their fully giving in to the power of the dark side.
10:47On the boys, Annie's glowing yellow eyes are a sign of her harnessing her own power.
10:52Red eyes do exist in the real world,
10:54though they're very rare and mostly found in people with albinism.
10:57On screen, however, red eyes, usually glowing red eyes at that,
11:01are pretty much always used to signify an inner rage or evil.
11:05Black eyes also pretty much always have sinister connotations,
11:08from demonic possession to pure evil.
11:10Purple eyes, surprisingly, do exist in real life,
11:13though are only found in a small percentage of people with albinism,
11:16and so are especially rare.
11:17On screen, purple eyes most often appear in fantasy and sci-fi settings,
11:21either to signify that a character is supernatural in some capacity
11:24or just to make them stand out from everyone else around them.
11:27And then there are white eyes, with the whites of the eyes
11:30appearing to fully overtake the irises, which sometimes comes with possessions,
11:34but is often used to visualize a character's psychic abilities.
11:37While eye color can represent so much, it can also sometimes be a little confusing.
11:42Since eye color can seem to shift depending on light and setting,
11:45it can sometimes be hard to pin down exactly which eye color someone even has.
11:49He has green eyes like me.
11:51Beautiful, beautiful green eyes.
11:54He has blue eyes, Martha.
11:55Green.
11:56Blue, Martha.
11:57There are also certainly already people in the comments telling us
12:00that actually a certain character has a different eye color,
12:02and it's also just not always something you really register about someone
12:06when other things are going on, despite how much importance
12:08other people might place on it.
12:10People say I have beautiful blue eyes.
12:12You're beautiful.
12:14You have beautiful eyes.
12:15I have brown eyes.
12:17The prevalence of colored contacts also means that,
12:19just like with our hair, we're no longer stuck with what we were born with.
12:23We can change things up wherever we feel like it.
12:25All of this really just highlights how, while it might be useful
12:28for on-screen symbolism and fun to think about,
12:30your eye color doesn't actually indicate anything specific about you,
12:34or your character as a person.
12:35Every eye color is beautiful and can mean whatever you want it to mean,
12:39or nothing at all.
12:40Our eyes are the windows to our souls,
12:42and it's much more important to be concerned with who we are on the inside
12:46than anything else.
12:48That's the take.
12:49Click here to watch a video we think you'll love,
12:51or here to check out a whole playlist of awesome content.
12:54Don't forget to subscribe and turn on notifications.
12:57And make sure to subscribe to our Patreon for exclusive new videos.
Recommended
2:34
20:50
0:58
1:18:24
13:32
Be the first to comment