3rd Meaning

ob·tuse adj.1.

a. Lacking quickness of perception or intellect.

b. Characterized by a lack of intelligence or sensitivity: an obtuse remark.

c. Not distinctly felt: an obtuse pain.

David Beard states:

"The third meaning... is a "supplement my intellection cannot quite absorb, a meaning both persistent and fugitive, apparent and evasive" (44).  Roland Barthes calls this "the obtuse meaning" (44).

"The Obtuse meaning... Barthes skips, like a stone across the water, across ways of  locating the obtuse meaning. It is bound to artifice or to disguise; it  is bound to emotion.  In the end, it is not articulable in language. Barthes claims that "if we remain on the level of articulated language in  the presence of these images . . . the obtuse meaning will not come  into being, will not enter into the critic's metalanguage" (56).  Finally,  in an effort to locate the obtuse meaning, Barthes locates it within the  filmic, within that part of meaning which is not conveyed by the film,  yet which is integral to its existence as film (58-59).

        If the third, obtuse meaning is located within the filmic, Barthes feels justified in searching for it within the film still, within the  the inside of the fragment (61).  Barthes calls for further study of this  third meaning."

     <http://mh.cla.umn.edu/txtimdb4.html> Roland Barthes, The Third Meaning, 1970.

Roland Barthes searched film stills for "third meanings" but I've found these third meaning punctums in the humor of the parody.  This "Family Guy" clip illustrates my point:  (the video went offline, I will replace it shortly). 

Apparently, Hulu decided to go to a paid subscriber-only service, so my clip is unavailable.  I will work on finding one to replace it.