The Last of Esoteric Mesmer
…at least I think it might be one of the last. I promised this posting so long ago, I had almost forgotten about it. But I feel like this will add a little closer to the Mesmer topic. (Yeah, I know, its not you that needed the closure. LOL).
We’ve seen Harry Potter (maybe) and we were either are titillated or slightly offended by the character Snape. Ah, Alan Rickman - what a fine, slightly villainous character you are. But take away the over-dyed black hair, and underneath his pallor is another character - Mesmer.
To my feminine willies, Rickman makes for a sensual Mesmer, more so than I imagined. I guess I have always thought if I were back in the day, there would be something repulsive about Mesmer, something that would make me feel like taking an acid shower to remove the ickiness of the intensity of the experience. However, maybe not (thank you Mr. Rickman for saving me from myself).
In the movie of the same name (Mesmer), I was quite touched by the portrayal, though I believe this movie may be one of the sources for some misconceptions on the reality. But there is one scene in particular that so sums up the occasional disappointment that can result from a hypnosis movement that does not go quite the way a hypnotists might hope. In the scene, Mesmer worked with a group of malady-ridden humans who have demanded healing. This is before the baquet, so he was attempting to cure the group by having them join hands and hang onto magnetized rods. With much sensationalism, he began, but it ended with a whimper, then loud anguished cries of frustration. The experiment failed. Mesmer was devastated.
Anyway, just one of the moments one can relate to when you are hopeful something is going to work, but for various reasons does not. It was extremely well done and handled in the movie.
