MetaChat is an informal place for MeFites to touch base and post, discuss and
chatter about topics that may not belong on MetaFilter. Questions? Check the FAQ. Please note: This is important.
I think it is a little much to claim his eyes are "cold and dead" -- I don't see it -- but I agree that smiling seems really inappropriate under the circumstances.
I voted for him in the primaries too. I had high hopes for him. I still want to kick him in the shins both for being a bastard to his sick wife AND for risking the election by running while he had such a ginormous skeleton in his closet.
I always thought he was a little insincere with the whole "daddy and the mi-yill" business. What's odd about these pictures is that these people have developed the default reaction of giving a fixed, broad, warm smile whenever a photo is taken - and don't seem to realize that the aesthetics are different for a mugshot.
On the other hand, you can't win. If they stared serious and deadpan that image would be read as a glimpse into their twisted, narcissistic minds. You might as well smile - at least you can control the image.
Agreeing with redvixen's 'stock face for photo-op' comment. It's just automatic, you know, with so many public figures, Hollywood stars, you name it.
Also, Miko is absolutely right, as well. The typical grim-faced mug shot will also be interpreted negatively. You can't win with a mug shot. As Paul Simon said to Mrs. Robinson, any way you look at it you lose.
The local news includes mugshots in crime stories, and the most interesting recently was of a firefighter arrested for assault after an apparently one-sided fight in a bar's mens room. There's something about the "Who, Me?" expression on his face. ≡ Click to see image ≡
Not something I'd recommended for an indicted politician.
photo by splunge
photo by TheophileEscargot
photo by Kronos_to_Earth
photo by ethylene
