Something I noticed in people's pictures

[just_me]

Brinybay - SNORK!! Ya call that a smile? That's somewhere between a grimace and I'm thinking about smiling. lol

 

[Not-Bogart13]

As long as we're discussing avatars... Brinybay, yours gets my vote for coolest ever!

 

[KeyGrip]

I like to think I'm smiling on the inside...

 

[DBLIII]

KeyGrip - that hat is stunning.


I smile so little that at work I'm just known as "mean and ugly." So, I generally use a much better looking photo subject, like my buddy, Gus (my avatar).
He smiles if he likes something and pees on it if he doesn't. Otherwise, he's snoring lol

 

[WideBrimm]

SAY "CHEESE"

Why does the photographer usually say "CHEESE" to the subject being photographed? Because it seems most people in any kind of a formal pose are trying to be serious and not funny! If we want to be smiling we need to be reminded! It's just tradition.

 

[KeyGrip]

KeyGrip - that hat is stunning.

Why thank you. Now I'm smiling!

 

[de Stokesay]

There's a grimness to masculinity at all these days, you know. Even just trying to look serious, we sometimes look hard, because seriousness anymore is at least partly a matter of sending signals.

Consider this photomontage I found of three generations of a Marine family.

They all look like ideal, recruiting-poster corporals. But the faces change in important ways as you go from WW2 grandpa, on the right, to Vietnam dad, on the left, to Gulf War son at center.

- Grandpa has an innocent Audie Murphy look. His hat is off his eyebrows, angled a little, with a shock of hair straying out. His mouth is a little open. He has no particular military bearing. Joe Citizen Marine, apple pie still on his breath, giving his all for civilization.
- Dad is the product of a different era and training, with what we recognize as military bearing. His hat is dead level, his face solemn and impassive as George Washington's. He's clean-cut, putting a noble face on in the service of cold war geopolitics.
- Son has the bearing, but that's not all. He radiates myth and menace. His hat covers his brow. His eyes glower. His mouth is tight. The war face. The good guy we believe in because he can be our bad guy. The man on the wall in a world of true believers and cynics and some who are both.

There is no telling who was the better Marine, who loved his country or his buddies more or was the toughest SOB or fought with the most distinction. Let's just say they're all equal that way.

Now ask yourself: What's changed? Why?

If you really want to know what has changed, and why, read Lt. Col. Dave Grossman's book "On Killing - The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society?" Really, this book explains it all and answers your question perfectly. Besides, it is really quite an interesting read.

de Stokesay

 

[DBLIII]

If you really want to know what has changed, and why, read Lt. Col. Dave Grossman's book "On Killing - The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society?" Really, this book explains it all and answers your question perfectly. Besides, it is really quite an interesting read.

de Stokesay

Good recommendation. While I don't always agree with Col. Grossman, actually I agree very little with him, he does hit the nail on the head with this very good book. I think it would well explain why many service people don't smile.

Oh, and I'm still ugly so Gus will smile for me when he wakes up.

KeyGrip - glad you're smiling, you should. That hat looks suspiciously like one on my hat rack.

 

[Feraud]

I think it would well explain why many service people don't smile.

Now that our curiosity is raised...why don't servicemen smile??

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

Here's a shot of me smiling:

And here I am without the makeup:

 

[KeyGrip]

A charcoal grey Akubra Sydney?

 

[celtic]

i AM smiling.

 

[just_me]

Gene - do you use a gun as an avatar to warn people not to laugh when they see you without makeup? lol

 

[DBLIII]

Now that our curiosity is raised...why don't servicemen smile??

I'm sorry, I poorly worded my comment - it was intended toward the book, as in if you've read the book, then the ideas presented would lead the reader to think that someone in service/combat would be tense, since he/she would be fighting an inward battle regarding orders to kill and the unnaturalness of killing (and a lot of other stuff....) so someone in service wouldn't be exactly happy and lighthearted > leading to a stern outward appearance.

I hope I got at least part of that right, it's been a while since I read the book.

 

[Dixon Cannon]

What was it Ringo once said?....

"I'm not really miserable - it's just me face!"
-dixon cannon

 

[just_me]

I'm sorry, I poorly worded my comment - it was intended toward the book, as in if you've read the book, then the ideas presented would lead the reader to think that someone in service/combat would be tense, since he/she would be fighting an inward battle regarding orders to kill and the unnaturalness of killing (and a lot of other stuff....) so someone in service wouldn't be exactly happy and lighthearted > leading to a stern outward appearance.

I hope I got at least part of that right, it's been a while since I read the book.

But that wouldn't explain the differences between the Marine from WWII (who is smiling) up to the most recent picture (very tough/serious) in the ad. They've always had to kill when in war.

Someone also mentioned that cops and firefighters also pose for pictures with a very tough/stern/serious expression (except if they're on one of those hunkey firefighter calendars ). I think it's a sign of the times, which are more cynical, with a hint of machismo thrown in. Some of the action hero movies probably foster this image as well.

 

[Diamondback]

In my case, it's between being grim by nature, and the fact that the price of being one cold, calculating SOB is that you don't get to feel much to provoke a smile--the best I've been able to manage in years is a half-smirk.

 

[Undertow]

In my case, it's between being grim by nature, and the fact that the price of being one cold, calculating SOB is that you don't get to feel much to provoke a smile--the best I've been able to manage in years is a half-smirk.

lol :eusa_clap

 

[Mojave Jack]

Consider this photomontage I found of three generations of a Marine family.

They all look like ideal, recruiting-poster corporals. But the faces change in important ways as you go from WW2 grandpa, on the right, to Vietnam dad, on the left, to Gulf War son at center.

Not too sure about radiating myth and menace, but when my platoon had our pictures taken, our drill instructor had previously prepared us...by taking to The Pit for about 20 minutes right before picture time! Bends and thrusts, push-ups, roll us around in the dirt for a while, turn the platoon around so the guys in the front had an opportunity to get the dirt kicked into their faces, then off for the photos!

We stood in line, filthy from The Pit and sweating, in t-shirts, and one by one were called forward and told to hold our arms straight out ahead. One of our privates (who had to wear gloves because his hands were so dirty) put the fake blues blouse on me, which was just the front and sleeves, with ties in the back to hold it in place, and another private put the white cover on my head. Then we stood in front of the backdrop, the picture was snapped, and the process was reversed. We were never allowed to touch anything, or look in the mirror, and never saw each other, except the privates putting on the blouse and cover.

That, at least, explains why absolutely no one in my platoon was smiling! Oh, and picture time was during Hell Week, which was most definitely that.

 

[Widebrim]

If you really want to know what has changed, and why, read Lt. Col. Dave Grossman's book "On Killing - The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society?" Really, this book explains it all and answers your question perfectly. Besides, it is really quite an interesting read.

de Stokesay

Thanks, de Stokesay, for the tip on the book. I do know that although the men of my father's WWII generation were taught to kill, something did change by the time I reached the military some 30 years later. Perhaps the book will enlighten on that subject.