The Role of the Passerby in Literature & Film

[myshkin]

Firstly let us establish that the passerby is a kind of hermaphrodite in that the theoretical passerby contains the sexual organs of both genders. When the passerby leaves the shadow world of the theoretical and enters the dimension of the actual, the decision is made in the interests of all to become exclusively male or female and to conceal this hermaphroditical nature. The role of this passerby, having passed from the world of the shadows to the world of the living, is simple; he or she passes by. In literature, which exists in the dimension of language, this could be rendered as follows:

"John sat on a dismal bench opposite the graceless car-park. All three (John, the bench & the car-park) had seen better days and this wasn't one of them. He lit a cigarette in a futile attempt to lend some pleasure to his broken existence. After inhaling however, he let out a groan and clenched his crooked tobacco stained teeth. It felt as though a malevolent spirit was twisting his innards with a pliers, and the sensation was deeply unpleasant.
A passerby passed by. John, immersed in physical and spirtual pain, failed to notice."

In the filmic art, the above could be rendered visually with the option of representing the imagined or perhaps even real malevolent spirit by means of computer generated special-effects.
For reasons that I hope are now obvious it should be understood that the passerby is an important tool in the lending of an air of authenticity to the work of the artist, and should not be underestimated.