Hand shots

[pav]

Anyone here knows about/practices lucid dreaming?

As we all know, there are *lots* of hand shots in NGE. (including the infamous shot of Shinji's hand in 25' ) The scenes of people looking at their hands look are just like that popular "look at your hand" reality check.

(probably Anno didn't mean that, but still... well it's just a thought)

[Defectron]

One scene I've always wondered about the meaning was the scene on the bus where Shinji is doing his hand excercises and the little kids laugh at him. I think the symbolism in this might relate to the scene in end of eva where reis voice asks "then why do you have your hands?" after Shinji says it would be better if everyone died.

Another thing it might symbolise was shinjis rising confidence and how reality doesnt always match up to ideal. When Shinji was doing his hand excercise on the bus for one of the few moments in the series he seemed pretty sure of himself. But of course a little later he falls in the durac sea.

[Dave]

Never heard of this "look at your hand" reality check; I never had any problems telling if the dream was real or not, and it never posed a problem when trying to 'become' lucid during the dream.

[Mr. Tines]

I'd not encountered the "hand check" in association with lucid dreaming. I know when I'm awake because doing that thing that makes me fly doesn't work :(

The pervasive "Shinji flexes his hand" shots through the series did mean that I missed the details of that first shot of his hand in EoE, first time through.

[Crazyman42]

could the hand symbolise the power that Shinji has? I mean look at it, it is the same hand that Shinji uses to kill the angels and it may be his decision wether to use it or not, referring back to Shinji running away.

[pav]

The "look at your hand" RC (link to wiki) usually means looking closely if your hand is different than in real life, or counting you fingers. It's a very reliable reality check for many people.
As for its popularity, I'm not sure, I know it's very well known among the ld4all community.

I thought about the reality check because I look at my hand at *exactly the same way*, so for me it's a symbol of wondering 'in which world' I am, when something seems unreal. I'm not sure how well that fits in scenes of NGE though.

[Toilet Duck]

try this quote on for size: "i know that i have hands, but i don't know that i am not a (handless) brain in a vat." the "hand-check" thing seems like a form of self-scrutiny to me.

[sadsadshinji]

i make sure i'm out of my dream by making sure i can feel the rest of my body
a hand check wouldn't be reliable (i would think) seeing as my dreams often involve me...

[ObsessiveMathsFreak]

The "hand thing" seems to be about Shinji gathering confidence, or bracing himself. When the hand is a fist, he's resolute, when it's open or limp, he seems meek and complacent.