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Our first sight of Susan
immediately communicates her strangeness, one that has already been alluded to
by her teachers. Susan appears in shot listening to some pop music on her radio
and dancing in a strange and fluid fashion. It is her movement that immediately
illustrates something strange and mysterious about her nature. We watch her as
she performs these eerie dance movements absorbed in the music. This is a very
powerful image, one that cements the idea that there is certainly something
‘unearthly’ about this young girl and prompts the audience curiosity about the
cause of this strange behaviour. The strength of this visual introduction to
Susan, combined with her teachers’ observations, makes her a character that we
immediately want to know more about. Even before we meet her, through her
teachers, we learn about her advanced intellectual abilities, Chesterton even going
so far as to comment that Susan ‘knows more science than he will ever know’. The
mystery surrounding her address, or rather non-existent address, adds to the
enigma. All these doubts and queries weigh upon us when that classroom door
opens at Cole Hill School,
and there is Susan dancing her ‘Unearthly’ dance. |
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