Monday, December 21, 2009

Man with Beard

Facial Hair week continues here at OPOD with this picture. The gentleman has a full beard and mustache. Notice he wears his mustache a little fuller than what is normal today, and it looks like he is parting it to grow left and right a little, instead of straight down. Also notice that he is shaving a small portion so that the mustache does not join up with the beard. So, overall not completely different than what you might see today, just a few subtle differences.

OK, I have a question for you all. Yesterday, when I saw the picture of Captain Walsh, I immediately liked him. I knew nothing about him, but immediately assumed that he was a nice guy, and a person I would want to be friends with. Today, I really do not like this guy. In fact, for some reason I despise this guy. Am I the only one? I know you are not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but for some reason I am sure that Captain Walsh was a nice guy. I would conclude this even if he was not in a military uniform. He just looks like a nice guy. The guy above, for some reason, I am sure he is a jerk.

First, do other people have the same reaction or a different reaction than I do to these two people. Secondly, why would we feel this way? Could we possibly be wrong?
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24 comments:

  1. I agree. It's all in the eyes. rwm

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  2. I completely agree -- this guy rubs me the wrong way as well. I think its his posture, the crossed arms, the facial expression. Some definite body language conveying the arrogance and entitlement that seemed to go with being wealthy.

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  3. Yep. Got a "holier than thou" look about the mouth and eyes

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  4. “We first share the life by which things exist, and afterwards see them as appearances in nature, and forget that we have shared their cause”

    R.W.Emerson

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  5. It’s true that this gentleman does not seem as approachable and affable as Captain Walsh. Perhaps it’s his stance or the stern expression on his face.

    Nonetheless, I do not find him objectionable or unpleasant in any way. Just a bit more stern.

    And, I DO like his neatly trimmed facial hair arrangement. I especially like the short, nicely groomed beard.

    I find the long, wispy beards that we saw so much during the Civil War era to be somewhat skanky. Even though I love that era, I always thought those beards were gross - like bug catchers.

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  6. I'm surprised this guy wasn't caught twirling his mustache and tying the heroine to the train tracks...

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  7. I think that his crossed arms makes him off-putting.

    Also, the whole look is a bit of a villain caricature. Maybe it's his hat choice? It reminded me of a character from The Princess and the Frog.

    http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2277477888/tt0780521

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  8. I don't like facial hair on my man. It makes me think they've got something to hide.

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  9. The crossed arms look a little uncomfortable - like he wasn't actually used to crossing his arms like that. Capt Walsh looks more affable, helped by his more natural pose. However, we simply have no way of knowing what either man was really like based on a single photo. As for Elise's comment "arrogance and entitlement that seemed to go with being wealthy." How do we know how wealthy he was? Lots of wealthy people are neither arrogant nor entitles and some poor people are both.
    So many photos of really awful peope look inocuous, even pleasant. Maybe PJM could have a criminal week and we can analyse their criminal personalities from a single photo.

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  10. I still say he is frumpy, and I don't like him.
    PJM

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  11. He looks like he just foreclosed on some Widow's mortgage; while Captain Walsh looks like the fella who will pay it for her.

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  12. I agree that it's the eyes, Captain Walsh's eyes are more inviting, Man with beard has beady, piercing eyes. The captain also has rounder, softer, less severe features overall. I agree again that man with beard resembles Snidely Whiplash, where's Sweet Nelly?

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  13. Is there any specific info on who this man is?

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  14. PJM

    How can you despise a man just from
    a photograph. In my life I've met
    murders, and much worse. Some of them came across very well,
    seemingly really nice people.


    Actually,I thought Captain Walsh looked a bit of a jerk,
    sort of smarmy.

    SmartGirl 1953's reasoning is closer to the way I see it.

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  15. Ray,
    I have never liked people who are arogant and smug. Arogance and smugness really come across in the picture.

    I posed the question to see if other people form opinions based on appearance, and public opinion is running against the person in the picture.
    PJM

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  16. Actually, if you add a pair of wire rimmed glasses, he'd be a dead ringer for the Lord of the Manor. Oh, I DO have a weakness for men with fuzzy faces!

    He does look uncomfortable with his arms crossed, but in a more-or-less full length picture, he has to do *something* with his hands.

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  17. He does have a pair of glasses hanging down under his arms.

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  18. I think maybe if he were alive today he'd work in marketing.

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  19. PJM

    Apologies. I was only answering
    the last part of the three part
    question, to which the answer is
    yes.

    Emerson is right though, which
    really answers all three parts.

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  20. You can say the picture conveys an impression and you IMAGINE the person to be a certain way, positive or negative. But unless we know details about either of these gentlemen, or those bachelorettes, there is no way to determine if the impression is correct.

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  21. I came in to say he has a look like Snidely Whiplash, but I see Sue Z Q said it first.

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  22. Ray,
    No apologies needed.

    My hypothosis is that many times you can determine whether someone is nice or not just by looking at them. I have noticed that some people have a twinkle in their eye, and they are always nice. Hrd to explain what I mean by this, but some people, their niceness just beams through.

    The counter story is also true.
    PJM

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  23. I think a beer and two shots would smooth this square right out.

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  24. I am sure Alfred Nobel probably dressed and looked quite like this fellow more often than not.

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