Possible symbolism of hair color
Mar. 4th, 2007 06:30 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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criminalxmindsOkay. So I might be reading too much into this. But after reading one too many thought-provoking comments by ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
matociquala, I find myself wondering about the possibility of symbolism lurking in the hair color of our BAU team members. (Yes, I know, I'm odd. I was also an English major in school, so I tend to notice strange things like color symbolism.) So. It's fairly obvious that most of the team is brunette. JJ and Garcia are the only blondes and they're both Different (yes, with a capital D) from the rest of the team, in that they are not field agents, instead performing other roles within the team. Blonde being a fair color, that implies a certain quality of innocence (natch, they're not in the field, so they can have more innocence than the rest of the team), at least from a Western point of view. (Of course, the fact that they're women and blonde adds other possibilities, in terms of symbolism - one of which is immediately contradicted by the intelligence of both women characters - since we have this weird thing in the West where blondeness in women is associated with sexuality and/or status as a sex symbol.) Everyone who's on the team and out in the field, though, is brunette (Morgan's hair might be true black instead of brown/black. It's difficult to tell for sure, because he wears it so short. He'd be a brunette either way, though, since brunette technically indicates dark hair, irregardless of whether that darkness is brown or black), and, as a color, brown typically either symbolizes sorrow/melancholy or neutrality, or else has connotations to/with the earth. Brown also carries another layer of meaning when it's present as hair color (one that shifts depending on gender), of course, but what I'm really interested in is another color entirely: red.
Why red, you ask? None of the team has red hair, you say? Ah-ha, I offer in return. I also offer for consideration the evolution of Elle's hair-color over the course of the show, from a fairly dark, simplestic, almost Prentiss-like brunette to a lighter and much redder tone that approaches territory more rightfully claimed by russet, ginger, ore even auburn, though her hair is a wee bit light for that, by the end. (Rewatch the pilot episode, "Unfinished Business," and "Aftermath," if you don't believe me.) And the fact that, as Reid's hair has lengthened, it has also seemed to gain a slightly ginger-touched chestnut hue. His hair, which simply seems a sort of medium-dark shade of brown in the first few episodes, has become a much brighter shade as it's grown out. One that seems, to me, to have a slightly red undertone. Of course, some of this may simply be due to the lighting on the show. It's difficult to tell with absolute certainty how much of that apparent brightening is actually present and how much of it is due to the lighting, presence or lack of hair products being used, etc.; however, the possibility that our young Dr. Reid may have a little bit of red in hair is intriguing enough that I'm wondering how many others have noticed this and what others are thinking this might say about his character. (I am also wondering if my impression that this brightening might be undergoing a reversal, in the wake of "The Big Game/Revelations," is a product of my imagination, of Reid's generally less neat appearance since the kidnapping, or an actual discernable fact.)
Anyone care to comment?
matociquala, I find myself wondering about the possibility of symbolism lurking in the hair color of our BAU team members. (Yes, I know, I'm odd. I was also an English major in school, so I tend to notice strange things like color symbolism.) So. It's fairly obvious that most of the team is brunette. JJ and Garcia are the only blondes and they're both Different (yes, with a capital D) from the rest of the team, in that they are not field agents, instead performing other roles within the team. Blonde being a fair color, that implies a certain quality of innocence (natch, they're not in the field, so they can have more innocence than the rest of the team), at least from a Western point of view. (Of course, the fact that they're women and blonde adds other possibilities, in terms of symbolism - one of which is immediately contradicted by the intelligence of both women characters - since we have this weird thing in the West where blondeness in women is associated with sexuality and/or status as a sex symbol.) Everyone who's on the team and out in the field, though, is brunette (Morgan's hair might be true black instead of brown/black. It's difficult to tell for sure, because he wears it so short. He'd be a brunette either way, though, since brunette technically indicates dark hair, irregardless of whether that darkness is brown or black), and, as a color, brown typically either symbolizes sorrow/melancholy or neutrality, or else has connotations to/with the earth. Brown also carries another layer of meaning when it's present as hair color (one that shifts depending on gender), of course, but what I'm really interested in is another color entirely: red.Why red, you ask? None of the team has red hair, you say? Ah-ha, I offer in return. I also offer for consideration the evolution of Elle's hair-color over the course of the show, from a fairly dark, simplestic, almost Prentiss-like brunette to a lighter and much redder tone that approaches territory more rightfully claimed by russet, ginger, ore even auburn, though her hair is a wee bit light for that, by the end. (Rewatch the pilot episode, "Unfinished Business," and "Aftermath," if you don't believe me.) And the fact that, as Reid's hair has lengthened, it has also seemed to gain a slightly ginger-touched chestnut hue. His hair, which simply seems a sort of medium-dark shade of brown in the first few episodes, has become a much brighter shade as it's grown out. One that seems, to me, to have a slightly red undertone. Of course, some of this may simply be due to the lighting on the show. It's difficult to tell with absolute certainty how much of that apparent brightening is actually present and how much of it is due to the lighting, presence or lack of hair products being used, etc.; however, the possibility that our young Dr. Reid may have a little bit of red in hair is intriguing enough that I'm wondering how many others have noticed this and what others are thinking this might say about his character. (I am also wondering if my impression that this brightening might be undergoing a reversal, in the wake of "The Big Game/Revelations," is a product of my imagination, of Reid's generally less neat appearance since the kidnapping, or an actual discernable fact.)
Anyone care to comment?
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Date: Mar. 5th, 2007 01:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Mar. 5th, 2007 01:53 am (UTC)blamecredit matociquala for starting me on this train of thought.no subject
Date: Mar. 5th, 2007 01:29 am (UTC)I think Reid's hair has been dirty and dull, at the very least.
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Date: Mar. 5th, 2007 06:20 am (UTC)As for Reid, lately, yes, it has been duller and daker looking and quite disheveled (still parted on the left, though) - rather like his rather rumpled clothes (and I bet he wears extra layers over his arms when at home, where he can get away with it more easily. But that's neither here nor there), of late.
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Date: Mar. 5th, 2007 11:15 am (UTC)Will rewatch the eps you mentioned and have a deeper look at it - maybe I'll come back later.
CU sindee
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Date: Mar. 6th, 2007 03:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Mar. 10th, 2007 06:51 pm (UTC)You are totally right the color changes from that dark-brown into a lighter, nearly red, tone.
That, in conclusion with the other, more obvious, change - her haircut*** - leads me to a question...
Should this express her missing strength to deal with such a job?
And did the writers turn her appearance from a powerful, masculine into a soft, feminine on purpose? (Well, I'm almost sure they did, but had never expected such a "depth" in a TV show...)
***As she returns to the BAU her hair is cut and within the next eps it is getting more and more curly every time.
CU sindee
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Date: Mar. 11th, 2007 08:10 pm (UTC)Sort of like Samson being shorn of his hair? Hmmm. You know, I wouldn't put it past the writers. They like their parallels and their symbolism, on this show . . .
Heh. Reid's hair has gotten wavier/curlier the longer it's gotten, though. I wonder what that says about him . . .