(I started writing this quite a while ago but it turned out to be perfectly timed for @maneskinweek so here we go...)
One of the most interesting things to me about watching Damiano David perform is how self-aware he is about being the object of a gaze. As in, he is extremely aware of when, and how, he is being looked at, and he wants you to know that he’s aware of it.
While they obviously wouldn’t have gotten this far without a ton of musical talent and hard work, I think all the members of Måneskin are aware that their looks, style, and public image of self-confidence and comfort with their bodies and their gender expression are all part of their appeal. Simply put...they’re sexy, they know it, and they’re very comfortable and unapologetic about that being part of their public image.
They all clearly put a lot of thought into how they style and present themselves for public appearances, be it a concert or an interview. But Damiano as the lead singer is the most deliberate about constructing a particular performance of sexiness, and subtly (and sometimes not-so-subtly) nudging the audience into looking at him in certain ways.
In general Damiano is extremely good at catching the audience’s attention and then directing it where he wants. This video is a great breakdown of how he does that. On stage he is frequently the center of attention (although he is also very intentional about directing the audience’s attention to his other bandmates when it’s their time to shine) and he seems to quite enjoy doing things that get a reaction from the audience. They don’t even have to be big, obvious things--one of my favorite Lesser Damiano Moments is this trick he does in a few of the Il ballo della vita tour shows of blowing water into the air after taking a drink. (What is this? Is it sexy? Why is it sexy? How does one even come up with this? In any case, you paid attention to it, didn’t you?) It’s a clever way of taking something as quotidian as drinking water and turning it into a little performance.
One thing he does very frequently--in live performances, in music videos, and in unscripted BTS moments--is acknowledge the audience’s gaze. He is constantly doing things that signal: I see you seeing me, and this is a performance I'm putting on for you.
When he’s performing live, and when he’s performing live for a camera, you can frequently see him pointing, gesturing or making direct eye contact with the audience/camera. There are many examples of this but here’s one from a recent performance:
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I wrote a whole other post about the band’s camera-savviness and how I think that contributed to their Eurovision win, but suffice to say that getting a moment like this just right relies on knowing where the camera is and how it’s moving, and being able to keep track of it while not losing the connection to a live audience.
In BTS footage and other unscripted moments you can frequently catch him winking or doing something raunchy, flirty or silly when he realizes the camera is on him (there are at least 4 examples in this gifset). While these interactions may be unrehearsed, BTS, making-of and slice-of-life footage is produced with the knowledge that it’s for public consumption, and thus absolutely part of the public image the band is projecting. Even the content on the band members’ personal Instagrams is made to be shown to an audience. Thus all of this is fair game for analyzing how Damiano presents himself to an audience.
All of these forms of acknowledging the audience communicate a similar message: a sort of playful, cheeky exhibitionism, signaling that Damiano knows you are looking at him and he is not only allowing it but enjoying it, and maybe about to put on a little show just for you. It draws you, the viewer, into a sort of complicity with him; it’s a way of saying, Yeah, I see you looking. It’s okay. I like it, and I know you like it too.
This sort of invitation or direction into a voyeuristic gaze at him is most obvious in the band’s music videos, where the way the band interacts with the camera has obviously been thought out in advance. My absolute favorite example is this shot from the Vent’anni video:
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By looking directly into the camera he creates the sense that he is checking to see if you are watching before he sensually strokes that mic. (He is particularly, uh, handsy with the mic in general but this is one of the more blatant moments and yes you are absolutely supposed to notice it.)
The Vent’anni video is shot in a style that frequently breaks the fourth wall, and it’s therefore particularly rich with these moments. Here’s another favorite of mine:
Thomas is looking back at Damiano (as much as you can look at someone who’s directly behind you) but Damiano is looking at us, the audience.
And of course, you knew I was going to talk about this:
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Watching the band’s frontman make out with his own reflection sounds like it should come off as insufferably self-absorbed, but the way this is shot and framed (and the way we have been primed to look at it by other shots earlier in the video) creates the effect of something private, intimate and a bit vulnerable being put on display for us.
In the video for Morirò da Re, the camera actually becomes the mirror in shots like this:
So now we are watching Damiano watch himself as he assesses the image he is about to show to an audience. (Specifically, the image of his gender presentation...we’ll get into that more in a bit.)
And when we see the final product later in the video, Damiano is once again watching us watch him:
All of these details really stand out to me because this kind of intense awareness of other people’s perceptions of you is, let’s just say, not the mainstream way most straight cis men are socialized to perform their sexuality. You know who is socialized to constantly be aware that people are watching them and think about the image they are presenting for others’ consumption? Women. (Cue Margaret Atwood busting through the wall with that “you are your own voyeur” quote.) Another category of people who spend a lot of time thinking about the image they present in this way? Queer and trans people. We do it for the purpose of passing--as someone you are (ie. being gendered correctly), or as someone you’re not (ie. not looking “too queer” in situations where it’s not safe). And we also do it for the purpose of signaling to other queer people, hey, I’m like you.
I think this kind of self-conscious recognition of the audience’s gaze, just as much as the makeup, high heels or corsets, is what makes so many of Damiano’s performances read as gnc and queer. Even if Damiano himself is not queer...we see something we recognize.
The crucial difference is that in Damiano’s performances, the awareness of others’ gaze is not something hostile or dangerous. It’s welcome, consensual, playful, intimate and fun. It’s acknowledged with a saucy wink and a confident, sultry look. I think that’s a lot of what makes Måneskin, and Damiano in particular, so much fun to watch, and so sexy in the particular way that they are sexy. Even though we know it’s a performance, it’s a performance of what confident gender and sexual expression could look like without fear.
redistributing every video game to a developer that starts with the same letter as its title. bethesda is now in charge of baldur’s gate, borderlands, and black desert online. nintendo hope you have fun with nier automata. larian don’t worry you have luigi’s mansion now. team cherry you have tf2 you’re welcome. guerilla has genshin impact now (fitting hehe).
