Desperate Housewives S05 Ep11: Body Language

Susan Mayer

Susan can hear her neighbours having an argument outside. She instantly looks up and within seconds is standing by the window. She is already bending down and then bends down further to get a better view. Her facial expression shows she is focussed on trying hard to listen to their argument. All this demonstrates her more inquisitive nature as she is known to be quite a nosy neighbour.

She then comes outside to talk to her neighbour. Her body language is quite animated and less controlled compared to other characters in Desperate Housewives. This is why she is clumsy and known to be a klutz. As her neighbour walks away from her she runs after him with her body leaning forward. This reflects her more needy nature, which becomes apparant in her relationships with men she has been with. She also comes across as very dependent in the conversation as she begs Lee to let her come clubbing with him because no-one is home. After she has stopped running her hands continue to sway showing how she can easily be clumsy.

Throughout the conversation her movements are over-exagerrated as she nods her head and bends down slightly and this fits with her nature as she is a bit of a drama queen. She also uses her hands a lot as she speaks making her body language quite animated. She shrugs a lot and at the end of the conversation gives him the thumbs up as she tends to exagerrate her emotions. Her facial expression is generally easy to read and so the audience can always tell what she is thinking and feeling. She does not try to hide her emotions. Therefore her character is frequently used to add humour to the episodes. At the end after Lee tells her to wear more make-up as drag queens get free drinks she puts her hands to her face and her expression shows she is perhaps not sure quite what to make of that comment or that she is not likely to do so.