Upside Down Frown

Jul 25, 2007 17:22

This is the name of a song, by, yeah, yeah, I know, who else, They Might Be Giants. It gave me a strange thought ( Read more... )

psychology, blindness, facial recognition, tmbg

Leave a comment

Comments 19

I want to see the picture now. mothwentbad July 25 2007, 21:45:47 UTC
Oh, how many plastic adults have so many times advised me to turn my frown upside down...

Reply

Re: I want to see the picture now. bec_87rb July 25 2007, 22:06:01 UTC
Nothing I hate more than the Mindlessly Cheerful chiding me for not joining their vast zombie army. :)

Good to know if I really do "turn my frown upside down" it would scare the pee out of the viewer. heh heh heh. {EVil grin}

Reply

Re: I want to see the picture now. mothwentbad July 26 2007, 00:36:01 UTC
Wow, that picture is scary, too. I wonder if I ever look anything like that? I haven't spent much time in front of a mirror in a long time.

**fun fact**
During my most aroused moments of sexual intercourse, my face is creepy. It's true. I have it on a comment card.

Reply

Re: I want to see the picture now. bec_87rb July 26 2007, 13:18:26 UTC
Same guy, same creepiness. Poor man. He looks much better in person.

Comment card? (hee hee hee)

Thank you for choosing to have your sexual experience with us, and we appreciate your feedback as part of our ongoing attempt to serve womankind better. Comment cards are by the door - just fill them out and drop them in the mail postage-free!

Reply


Questions from the audience johnnygoodtimes July 25 2007, 22:26:40 UTC
1. Why would an airline use that in an ad? Was it supposed to be creepy and prove some point about air travel?

2. So are the people whose sight is restored not bothered by the photo because they don't notice anything odd about it, or do they find the image weird but are unable to recognize why?

Reply

Re: Questions from the audience bec_87rb July 26 2007, 14:16:43 UTC
1. Why would an airline use that in an ad?

You got me. I asked the same thing - "Why have your airline associated with the feeling of creepiness?" I notice I do not remember which airline it was, but I did stop to look. Maybe they want to assure you stop and look? *shrugs*

2. So are the people whose sight is restored not bothered by the photo because they don't notice anything odd about it, or do they find the image weird but are unable to recognize why

There's a penetrating question. The bit I was listening to didn't say, but I can see if I can find the author who was talking, since he was the former blind man in question, and noted that he was not alone in this phenomenon. That might help me find better examples of this, if he has a website or something.

Reply


ocular_fusion July 26 2007, 00:31:02 UTC
Oo, could you find that ad and show it ( ... )

Reply

ARGH THAT'S SCARY bec_87rb July 26 2007, 14:10:28 UTC
I'm not having luck finding the ad thus far. :(

I do think that different people have different levels of discomfort with smiles that aren't actual reflections of happiness, pleasure, or appeasement. I find them moderately discomforting, since (I think this is the mechanism) I'm experiencing a sympathetic reaction to the discomfort I imagine is being experienced by the wearer in putting forth one emotion while feeling another more unpleasant one.

In addition, if you grew up with an angry person, being able to correctly read signals of emotion in another allays anxiety, and being unable to is anxiety-provoking. So the discomfort can come from fear of harm? I just think some people aren't bothered as much by fake smiles or faked expressions of emotion.

Reply


ocular_fusion July 26 2007, 00:46:41 UTC
Oh. I was thinking about another kind of smile. The kind you see in movies when a victim is threatened by a more powerful character and a smile is a way to keep the powerful person from harming them. God, I've been into silent films recently and so this movie is fresh "Broken Blossoms" from 1919. The girl in the movie is constantly beaten by her father when she doesn't do what he tells her and in order for him not to beat the crap out of her, she raises the corners of her lips with her index and middle fingers. I think that it was brilliant for Lillian Gish (who played the girl) to do that with her fingers - it really shows the obligation of smiling to people who have authority over them.

Reply

bec_87rb July 26 2007, 14:11:54 UTC
Oh, yes - the appeasement smile - the mouth smiles, but the brow is crinkled?

Reply


ocular_fusion July 26 2007, 00:57:57 UTC
Jesus, I'm sorry to be commenting so much, but I also realized that the human skull smiles too. So, in the end, we're smiling.

Hey there!

... )

Reply

bec_87rb July 26 2007, 14:12:47 UTC
This person had some pretty good teeth, didn't they?

Reply

vovat July 28 2007, 14:33:06 UTC
Probably not a relative of John Linnell's, then. :P

Reply


Leave a comment

Up