Peeking

I have an inclination towards voyuerism, but not in a dirty way. I just sort of enjoy peeking at neighbours as they go about their daily lives. I don't actually sit at the window and stare, like Jeff did in Rear Window, but I have a tendency to look over at the neighbours if I'm sitting near the window, and if there's movement I continue to watch. Why do some people have this tendency? It shouldn't be interesting to watch someone doing the dishes or reading a book, but there's something about the secrecy of it, watching someone without their knowledge.

I especially like observing people simultaneously, because you see all these parallel lives going on in different settings. I think that's part of the reason why Rear Window is one of my favourite movies, because the entire movie is set overlooking a courtyard of windows, and in each apartment you see a different character and storyline develop.

Is part of the allure also that we are bored with our own lives and feel the need to watch what's going on in other people's homes? Does this give us the feeling of living vicariously by watching others live? Who knows.

Like dolls in a doll house, the neighbours across the courtyard are not real because you watch them from a distance and you don't know them personally. They turn into characters instead of real people and what you see is more like a silent film rather than real life.