The real reason a journalist’s eye-roll captivated China

The ever-reliable eye-roll: a go-to sign for moments of exasperation, sarcasm or general “fed-upness”. And while millions of them are rolled out every day, a deeper understanding of the facial expression’s colourful lineage across Asia is far from commonplace. The eye-roll, along with its slightly more uninhibited cousin, the eye-pop, makes headlines regularly. Indeed, “eyes rolled” or “eye-popping” are clichés in the realm of political journalism. But in the physical world, a well-rehearsed eye-roll is a sight to behold.

WATCH: Chinese reporter’s epic eye-roll

So why all the hubbub over a moving eyeball?

To some extent, we are natural born eye-rollers – the action is a simple way of looking at things we are interested in, or looking away when we are not. But there are deeper meanings to the physical action that are taught, learned and perfected later in life.

Eye-rolls have had these deeper meanings since at least the 16th century, though in those days they meant something quite different. William Shakespeare used the expression in his 1594 poem The Rape of Lucrece to create a moment of heady passion and lust. Much later in Maurice Sendak’s 1963 Where the Wild Things Are, the relishing beasts “roll their terrible eyes” at the prospect of devouring young Max.

The eye-roll’s meaning has changed over time, but what has stayed much the same is its dramatic impact. And when it comes to perfecting the art of eye movement to convey drama, few compare to Asia’s oldest societies. “The eyes are seen to have a powerful ability to express emotion. In many forms such as Chinese opera, Balinese dance, and various forms of Indian dance, eye movements are important component parts of the overall movements, and should be seen in an overall understanding of the forms,” says Rachel Cooper, director of global performing arts at the Asia Society in New York.

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