Painting with Dots

(for B.)

I'm sorry –
I hadn't learned to look
when I first met you.

I thought all great art
was Rembrandt or Picasso.

You are lovely –
but all I saw before was
the outline of a woman.

I never saw the colours
but then I wasn't looking.

6 April 89

Beauty’s a difficult thing to define, one of the harder ones in fact. I know some people go after the same type over and over again but when I look at the women I’ve been drawn to over the years literally the only thing they’re had in common is their gender. One of my favourite films of all time is The Man Who Loved Women by François Truffaut (don’t get me started on the remake by Blake Edwards) because it made so much sense to me. On the surface it’s about a man who wants to make love to women but that’s not it; it’s not about sex; it’s about being able to see what’s loveable about people; it’s about learning to look. None of the women I’ve found myself attracted to have been stunners. Even the film stars I enjoy watching are not what you’d call conventional beauties. Personality plays a huge part in who I find myself attracted to. Give me Judy Dench over Keira Knightley (who I’m sure is very nice once you get to know her) any day of the week.

2 comments:

Kass said...: When I saw the film, Notting Hill I was most attracted to Rhys Ifan and Emma Chambers. Whether it was their characters or something innate in their personalities, they shown on the screen.; 18 May 2016 at 15:53
Jim Murdoch said...: The nature of attraction is fascinating, Kass. I’ve never made any sense out of the whos and the whats I’ve been drawn to over the years. It feels so arbitrary. I certainly don’t have a type other than female; men do very little for me other than mostly annoy me. As the song goes, you’d always find me in the kitchen at parties.; 19 May 2016 at 04:39

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