A small spotlight illuminates a yellow drawing pin beside a row of paper figures against dark blue.

Original artwork, not a still

Mae West

I believe that it’s better to be looked over than to be overlooked.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

The speaker prefers being noticed, even scrutinised, to being ignored. The wordplay contrasts being looked over with being overlooked, treating attention as worth having even when it is appraising, while invisibility is the real slight.

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