Everyday when I make my commute to Aogaku, I pass what seems to be an Italian tourism bureau three-quarters of the way up from the bottom of the valley. Sitting in front is a near-full size replica of the Bocca della Verità (the Mouth of Truth), a circular sculpture with a man's face on it. The Mouth was said to be a lie detector that would bite liars' hands off. I remember, visiting Rome as a young child, seeing the original in all its glory and being afraid of putting my hand in the mouth lest it be bitten off (so naïve!). That's not the point, though.
People who took the Introduction to Global Literary Theory course on 3rd period Friday would remember that we watched small excerpts from the 1953 romantic comedy Roman Holiday to analyze the cinematography. At one point, we see Hepburn's and Peck's characters loitering in front of the Mouth. Joe Bradley, Peck's character, shoves his hand into the mouth and then acts as if he lost his hand and Hepburn's, Princess Ann, falls for the trick. What most people see as nothing more than a small gag here is actually an important indicator of Her Highness and Mr. Bradley's growing affection for each other.
Now, every time I pass that face, I think back to the time I put my hand in the original Mouth and the scene in Roman Holiday. Sometimes I can't help but grin at what it means to me.
