I actually like the way British television stars look a great deal more than the way American ones do because they don't fix every little so-called imperfection until they look like some sort of android.

Well, I'm not bothered by most things (just mentioned the DT awkwardness because I'd noticed it and ... it seemed to fit in this post, lol), but the TEETH. I don't know, I've just always been weird and paranoid about teeth.

This makes me think of the thing -- you may have noticed this before, idk, where a "new" actor will be all hot and you'll be like GUH all the time but then they'll show up at an event one day looking all polished and commercial and you're just like "???" and stop liking them. It happened to Orlando Bloom around the time of Return of the King and it JUST happened to William Moseley. It's like they go from being a person to being a brand or commodity. And it's only AFTER that happens that "the masses" start liking them, or whatever, and it's so disappointing. Because they were better before!

Oh god. This is the whole indie-music-attitude bleeding over into other things, isn't it?

I guess living in a poor area where no one can afford cosmetic dental surgery makes me not really give a shit what people's teeth look like? I dunno. I don't see the big deal, so long as they're healthy.

That polished look is why I usually think celebs look better in candids where they don't have a metric ton of makeup on and their hair isn't perfect and they're wearing a t-shirt and jeans. Still, can't do anything about the fake-ness once they get plastic surgery done.

It didn't even occur to me that this issue could have socioeconomic factors until after I had multiple people commenting on this post like, "uh, no, the teeth are fine!" Which possibly goes to show how sheltered I can be in some respects. I just plain don't know many unattractive or overweight people in real life, and I'm not sure I know anyone between the ages of 12 and 60 with crooked notwhite teeth. It's one of those instances where my benchmark for normality is totally different from everyone else's. And it's something that's been brought to my attention before but which I always forget. /fail.

Yeah, socioeconomic status will affect most health related issues, including weight. Just look at both the prices of healthy food (including things like fresh meat/produce) and the time it takes to cook it. Not to mention the time/money cost of gym memberships, personal trainers, dietitians, etc. Psychologically, most things people find attractive are related to health, so status could also affect attractiveness.

I guess living in a poor area where no one can afford cosmetic dental surgery makes me not really give a shit what people's teeth look like? I dunno. I don't see the big deal, so long as they're healthy.

IAWTC. After waiting two months for Medicaid to pay for my root canal when I was 16, braces were not high on my list of priorities...

I have on friend who does have bad teeth, and it never stops being disconcerting. She's really really pretty and smart, but then she'll say something and I'll be surprised again. And she doesn't have the excuse of being British.

Basically, I am with you in shallowness all the way.

(Also, this is Naomi. I don't use my fandom account any more, and got a rename token for my regular one.)

Did I not already friend you back? That was stupid of me because I was so sure I had, lol. I even went to the trouble of figuring out the password to my other journal so I could use it to comment in yours.

But yeah, I just get weird about teeth. I don't know why. I guess the other thing is that I just don't know many/any unattractive people in real life. And I'm not sure I know ANY overweight people. So maybe I'm just less forgiving of these things because my friends/family/schoolmates tend to be of above-average attractiveness?

OH and also, I know you're not in Dallas any more but there's this AWESOME vegan restaurant (http://www.spiraldiner.com/) that's fairly new in my neighborhood (oddly, right by MK's parents' office). I'm not much with the veganness but OH MY GOD I love that place. If you haven't been, definitely check it out the next time you're in town.

I love the Spiral Diner! I went all the way to the one in Fort Worth before that one was finished. It is SO GOOD!

Their vegan hamburgers are truly THE MOST AWESOME hamburgers EVER. No one ever believes me when I say this but... I've eaten a lot of hamburgers. And it is a true story that the Spiral Diner has the best.

Also they have lots of shaggy-haired and adorable waiters.

And last time I was there, there was this guy whose shorts were totally failing because they had this HUGE ass-revealing rip in the back. And times were good.

But British people know there's more to acting than looking good. What if your character has bad teeth? Look at how everyone made fun of Nicole Kidman's prosthetic nose. The thing lots of Americans sometimes fail to realise is looking like a sex kitten does not equate to being a good actor. You have to be believable, and to do that you have to be fundamentally flawed in some way. No one likes a Mary Sue with perfect dentures!

(maybe I'm just being defensive because my front two teeth overlap slightly and I haven't had that fixed. And very very very white teeth that are excessively bright scare me.)

But Nicole could take off her prosthetic nose at the end of the day! (And really, our dear Nicole does not have problems related to "too few cosmetic procedures" ... indeed, rather the opposite sometimes. Though I heart her anyway for being pale like what.)

But having straight teeth isn't the same as looking like a sex kitten! Plenty of highly unattractive people still have straight white teeth. It's just... I don't know, having straight white teeth by the time you're 16 is just something I'd always taken for granted. It's like shoes. Most people think, yeah, if you're going someplace, you put on shoes. And it's just normal. But there's this guy at my school who NEVER wears shoes and people are always TOTALLY SHOCKED. Because it's part of our culture to wear shoes when you're walking around outside and in public. And I apparently thought straight white teeth were like shoes in that way. It's less to do, I suppose, with them being ACTORS than it is with me just not really having ever seen people with weird teeth past whatever age it is people get braces.

And I'm pretty sure what you're describing with your teeth is not what I'm talking about. Like, Gwen from Torchwood has this epic gap between her front teeth that doesn't bother me, but there are other people where it looks like their mouths got BOMBED or something. And I agree that EXCESSIVELY WHITE teeth are scary... my dentist says they should be the same color as the whites of your eyeballs, so that's always been my guide.

And I understand being defensive about teeth... when I was in elementary school I got made fun of for not having teeth as perfect as everyone else's, and I'm pretty sure it's why I ended up so militant about all teeth needing to be straight and perfect.

*hides behind Mohinder*

I'll come out when you stop yelling at me please :(

And I understand being defensive about teeth... when I was in elementary school I got made fun of for not having teeth as perfect as everyone else's, and I'm pretty sure it's why I ended up so militant about all teeth needing to be straight and perfect.

I suppose that makes sense. Gwen's teeth in Torchwood bother me, I'll be honest. It's just not in their culture to visit the dentist like it is over there. Even down here, there's a dentist in every public school and some people still don't fix their teeth.

(for the record I never got the - very hard to notice - overlap fixed because we moved around many countries when I was that age and my mom couldn't be bothered finding a good orthodontist all the time.)

hahahaha failboat Europe! I was at a funeral today, you should have been there, lovely examples. These women who wear nice clothes and diet excessively and still manage to go out with yellow, brown, enamel cracking teeth! I am not even exaggerating.

I have nice straight and clean teeth, but they're not white white. I still haven't got around to professionally whitening them (the five hundred euro price tag may have something to do with that).

Also. Please look at this picture. (http://pics.livejournal.com/stephanometra/pic/000gk48x) Second from the left, such spindly hands! NO I'M NOT TRYING TO INCULCATE YOU INTO BANDOM ... WHY WOULD I DO THAT? REALLY, I JUST HAVE NO ONE TO FAIL WITH. SO SAD.

I was at a funeral today, you should have been there, lovely examples.

Ahahaha, this sentence is an example of why I love you.

I totally think we had a conversation about tooth-whitening before. I shared with you my stories of PAAAAAAIIIIN. But it's pain that's worth it! (And FIVE HUNDRED EUROS? Outrageous!)

I'm supposed to be looking at the second from left in that picture? All I can see is the second from right and his AMAZING FACIAL EXPRESSION. And colorful bracelet. lol I think I had a bracelet like that when I was about five. Bandom entertains me, but I don't like the music from any of the bands so I'm not sure I'll ever be "into" bandom beyond reading your fic/fic you recommend and browsing the pictures that inevitably cross my flist.

On the subject of spindly hands, I have a friend who INSISTS that if you play guitar your fingers get longer. I keep telling him that it is LIES, but he won't relent! It's so ridiculous though, y/y?

And without even trying, too! :D

We did, I've been meaning to ask you more about it. Like: if I phone up the dentist, what should I be asking and what should I expect? (In terms of aftercare etc.) It may not be five hundred, but it's certainly not cheap. So I don't want to be ripped off and/or have all my teeth fall out.

I think the reason 'Europe' - especially Britain/Ireland - holds to the notion of natural beauty or lack thereof is the fundamental difference between our attitude and America's. America says: don't ever settle! Don't be satisfied! Go for all you can get! Including plastic surgery. Europe says: life is the way it is, anything else is sophistry and illusion. (I prefer the American version. And I made all that up, btw.)

BRENDON AND HIS PLASTICINE FACE! Oh, he's so cool. I am much in want for his bracelets myself. Such a fan of colour, me.

Haha, I'd say it's physically impossible ... but then I look at Ryan's hands - he's a guitarist - and I wonder.

OOH JAMES MCAVOY.

Welcome to the joys of socialized health care (what Hillary and Obama are pushing so hard for). The main reason people in England have such poor dental health - and I'm talking gingivitis, broken teeth, discolored teeth, missing teeth; not just crooked - is because there are so few dentists and they are constantly over-booked. It can take months to get an appointment for a root canal... MONTHS. I'd hate to think what the wait for an orthodontist is. Sure, there are dentists who take non-NHS patients, but they are expensive and considered to be for the "posh." And the Brits pay outrageous taxes for this "free" service.

/rant sorry