Caught in Richard’s Web – Spider Not Required

Sunday Times 2006, Promo for “The Impressionists.” Image from RichardArmitageNet.Com

This post, begun at 7:30 a.m. , was  supposed to be completed by 10, after which I was going to begin my Real Life job. The post subject was Guy of Gisborne, and I started out by foraging for photos.

Before I knew it, it was noon, I had made way from R.A.Net.Com through a lot of  Pinterest and on to Tumblr. Thirty  days ago I’d never heard of two of those sites.

The odd thing was, I wasn’t the least bit guilty or anxious that I had let the morning fly by, that my post wasn’t written or that I hadn’t earned a dime. I felt good. Really good.  There was a lightness.  And why not? I’d spent the whole morning smiling and sighing.

Mr. Thornton Surveys His Realm, Courtesy of R.A.Net.com

I realized that for a number of weeks now, I’d been spending quite a bit of time   gazing at photos of Mr. Armitage. I’d given up Spider Solitaire, my substitute cigarette break for the last five and half years, and instead, I spent my “break-time” in the company of the actor. There are over 1,000 images of Richard Armitage on the web, and each and every one has something to delight.

Courtesy of RANet.Com

I was mystified by the pleasure I was experiencing since, so far,  no fantasy takes place when I look at these photos. No fantasy that included me,  at any rate. Sometimes I imagine Marian taking it one step further and tracing a fingernail down his chest when she comes upon Guy, shirtless, in his candlelit bedroom, or I picture him giving in to his primal desires, he being shaken and stirred – he leans in …

Go For It (Courtesy of R.A.Central.UK.Com)

For me, looking at photos of Richard Armitage feels like – pleasure – pure, aesthetic pleasure. I’m looking at something beautiful and it moves me. Not so strange considering our ocularcentric culture – where the visual is pre-eminent. Yet, intuitively I knew there was more to it. I went back this afternoon and looked at more pictures. I selected a few of my favorites.  I have maybe 50 favorites, depending on what I’m looking for- the photos when he’s in character bring to mind the character, and it’s as though I’m watching him act. As it is, I frequently stop and go when I watch him act. I love the beauty shots in the fashion shoots and more sophisticated work, Ascroft, Glamour, Project.

Glamour 2011, Courtesy of RichardArmitageNet.Com

I love the candids best of all, since they’re the most like viewing the real man.
I concentrated on what I was feeling, what was happening. First of all, again, I was smiling throughout the exercise. I felt a little spacey when viewing certain favorite shots. I thought my heart rate might be elevated. By and large though, there was not heat.
If I had to guess, I would have said that my brain was releasing endorphins.

Courtesy of MeandRichard.Wordpress.com

It turns out- I was right. Studies of people looking at beautiful art showed that blood flow to the medial orbitofrontal cortex, the part of the brain associated with pleasure and desire, increased by ten percent— a reaction similar to falling in love. Both experiences trigger the feel-good chemical dopamine.  I see no distinction between looking at visual images someone else thinks are beautiful and images that I think are beautiful, like photos.

Psychiatry has recognized that pleasure is derived from looking at the human form, albeit it’s given the activity a relatively negative connotation. Scoptophilia, a psychiatry term from the Greek, or “love of looking,” is deriving pleasure from looking. It’s the “intermittent desire of gazing at.” Most definitions classify it as a sort of voyeurism, but I’ll credit Wiki here and conclude it need not always have a sexual element.

Photo by Robert Ascroft, Courtesy if RichardArmitageNet.Com

Gazing at Richard Armitage is less fattening than chocolate, healthier than Lexapro, easier than pilates and less expensive than therapy. I’m hooked.

Next up- just what can listening to his voice do for me?