The interesting panel is “reflexively arranging my face so it’s somehow acceptable” when he looks in the mirror. I think that’s accurate. Maybe it’s a built-in safety mechanism so we can live with our appearance even if vanity might dictate some distress otherwise. I have always wondered whether Abe Lincoln, called “an ape” and “ugly” his entire life (then “old and ugly” by the time he was 50), ever looked in the mirror and thought “I look OK to me.” Actually, he was once posing at a studio and watched over the photographer’s shoulder while the photo developed. As the new image finally emerged, the president said aloud “well there he is — the animal himself.”
The interesting panel is “reflexively arranging my face so it’s somehow acceptable” when he looks in the mirror. I think that’s accurate. Maybe it’s a built-in safety mechanism so we can live with our appearance even if vanity might dictate some distress otherwise. I have always wondered whether Abe Lincoln, called “an ape” and “ugly” his entire life (then “old and ugly” by the time he was 50), ever looked in the mirror and thought “I look OK to me.” Actually, he was once posing at a studio and watched over the photographer’s shoulder while the photo developed. As the new image finally emerged, the president said aloud “well there he is — the animal himself.”