Sunglasses are powerful symbols in the movies – embraced by heroes and villains alike.
The biggest thrillers, spy movies and heist movies seem to all share one common denominator: sunglasses. In fact, films have spawned trend after trend when it comes to designer sunglasses. Sunglasses are simply perfect shorthand to convey a variety of emotions. For villains, sunglasses can signify emotional distance and an emotional coldness. Tom Cruise in Collateral expresses a cold, steel cruel streak wearing blacker-than-black sunglasses with his grey-flecked hair. In the famous Paul Newman movie, Cool Hand Luke, the prison guard wears large reflective sunglasses making him emotionally unreachable. It isn’t just the threat of steely emotions sunglasses convey, it’s the disconnection – the inability to make eye contact. Take any sniper, assassin or random bad guy in any number of thrillers and nine out of ten times, they’ll be wearing sunglasses.
Sunglasses as Emotional Shorthand
Sunglasses are also about mystery and concealing identity. As well as the thriller genre, the spy-flick is riddled with sunglasses. Daniel Craig sported a pair or two in Quantum of Solace, and TV-spies seem to permanently have an ear piece and a pair of sunglasses fixed to their heads. Sunglasses as a concealing device are blatantly used in the Kevin Spacey film K-Pax. In it he plays someone who may or may not be an alien…for the first half of the film, Spacey wears sunglasses permanently. Actors act with their eyes, which is why sunglasses can be so effective at conveying emotional distance, coldness or an air of mystery.
The Future’s So Bright…
The fact that sunglasses look so cool however can have negative effects. In Australia, an armed gang were caught who modelled themselves on the thugs from Tarantino’s film Reservoir Dogs. The criminals wore black suits and shades, imitating the well-known image from the film of the gang walking nonchalantly down the street. The Armed Offenders Squad in Victoria, Australia, said the armed gang regularly beat up rival criminals wearing the suits and sunglasses : “Squad members became renowned for wearing black suits, white shirts, dark sunglasses and a team-issue black tie,” The police report said. Life imitating the movies hit the headlines with the movie The Matrix, where long black coats, wrap-around sunglasses and flip mobile phones became hip.
The use of sunglasses to denote villainy, spies and cool heroes shows how enduring shades are in movie history. Sunglasses have always been associated with film and movie stars, on and off the screen, as shades are used not only to accentuate a look but to hide or mask identity and fuel an air of mystery.
Find Designer Sunglasses At Sunglasses Direct
Sunglasses Direct stock the leading brands of designer sunglasses at great prices. You can find Ray-Bans, alongside Prada, Versace, Tom Ford, Oakley and Roberto Cavalli sunglasses online. With free delivery to the mainland UK, why not take advantage of our great service today? Visit our site or call us on 0115 958 2888 to speak to an advisor.