Body analysis and the Fifa Lean

Bit of a weird blip, this one. But here we go...
We were asked in a recent Shakespeare seminar to analyse peoples' bodies, the bodily performances of everyday life and what different body languages signify. I took this to heart and applied it to many things, such as inter-housemate videogaming...

Watching people playing FIFA (a football videogame) can actually be quite interesting using this interpretative lens. Nuances in body language reflect the action onscreen: tightening/loosening of controller grip as pressure mounts and is released, button mashing/big bodily arcs during times of frustration... There are poker-faces, sighs, moans, shouting, swearing and of course, the infamous FIFA lean. You know a game is a big deal when it has its own special posture! Ian on the left is displaying it right now...

"The lean" is a really overt piece of body language. Ostensibly it means immediately reducing the distance between the player and the screen: a tunnelling of vision. It communicates a desire for the "leaner" to up their game, increase focus and dominate their opponent. The opponent can plainly see this though, and may counter with a "lean" of their own, to demonstrate that they too are focussed and competitive... or they may consciously refrain, to try and portray a superiority through apparent relaxation.

This might sound like a really obnoxious analysis, but I've played a lot of FIFA over the years and the "lean" is seemingly universally deployed. It's a ubiquitous and notorious self-motivating technique and ironically, a physical ritual that can make all the difference to a virtual contest. Personally I find it fascinating how a simple act of postural readjustment can have such a significant signifying effect, with many possible outcomes.

Next time, I'll be analysing the body performance of tea brewing and washing machine loading...