A 1992 Yale University study found that attractive people are perceived to be “more sociable, dominant, sexually warm, mentally healthy, intelligent, and socially skilled than unattractive people.” And that is before you even open your mouth to verify everything her eyes assume.
You think? While this article loves to put the ego on a pedestal, there is a point where self-absorption reaches diminishing returns. I think more people require an existentialist crisis to open their mind to the varying levels of their being’s authenticity when considering suntans from strip malls, digital cameras on city transit, and hipster specialized hair stylists.
It’s this deceptive mindset as parodied in Bret Easton Ellis’ yuppie satire, American Psycho, where every executive is so concerned about his own state in the world to a point where he’s so similar to colleagues that he doesn’t notice co-workers disappearing due to a murderous madman. Dating back to the time period where the book and film were set, we had the Bo Knows advertising campaign.
That even Bo Jackson has often referred to himself as “Bo Jackson,” in the third person, as if his body were inhabited by some otherworldly force that took over when he donned a uniform, has led many to assume that both Bo Jackson and “Bo Jackson” were raving egomaniacs.
“That’s what the marketing world [wanted] you to believe,” Bo says.
Deception is the name of the game when it comes heightening the smugness. The Coen Brothers’ No Country for Old Men, based on Cormac McCarthy’s novel, nearing its end has a minor character state to the main protagonist:
What you got ain’t new. Can’t stop what’s coming. Ain’t all waiting on you. That’s vanity.
Coming to realize you are not in complete control of your domain and accepting that humility define the genuineness of your personality; not going to the gym and flexing for women while searching for a form of social acceptance. Cue my favourite comedian whose main focus was on personal authenticity: Bill Hicks. While ignoring that Denis Leary is a fucking thief (and a Red Sox fan), recall Hicks’ Relentless entry “Smokers” recounting health guru Jim Fix’s death occurring while jogging:
“I’m Jim Fix and I’m dead now… and I don’t know what the fuck happened. I jogged every day, ate nothing but tofu, swam 500 laps every morning, I’m dead. Yule Brenner drank, smoked, and got laid every night of his life. He’s dead. Shit.
I have a reoccurring dream a couple times of year where my adult teeth fall out, reminding me of the permanence of aging, but this mortality and vitality bullshit is not worth a second thought at my age. In modern parlance, the name “Adonis” is frequently used as an allusion to an extremely attractive, youthful male, often with a connotation of deserved vanity. See mewse, the office Adonis. Now a trophy wife, in the parlance of our times, has a certain entitlement, much like a typical Red Sox Nation member, that must be squashed. Service guarantees citizenship. Would you like to know more?
That teeth thing is pretty common.
http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/7720 ? NSFW