Why are ugly people bad?

by confusedjw 41 Replies latest jw friends

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  confusedjw

  When I was a pre-teen I became aware of how someone?s looks at birth made such an impact on their lives. First by the fact that all the bad guys in movies were ugly and the good guys were handsome. I would wonder why ugly people were bad or was it that bad people became ugly?

  It then became easy to notice that if you are attractive you are treated with more respect, kindness and courtesy. When you are treated this way you can only feel better about yourself and end up with more confidence and self esteem. Certainly there are exceptions, but on a whole I think this to be the case.

  Back then I thought it would be ultimately fair if our looks truly reflected our personality. Like some "magic spell" being case so that as someone treats others with respect, kindness and courtesy that their own features would change and they would become beautiful on the outside - as they were on the inside. And vice versa.

  After all what could be a better motivator to be a good person? As you see yourself being a jerk your features would become more monstrous and as you changed your approach toward people, it would change.

  I know this is corny. But why are the bad guys ugly? Would you like to see a ?magic spell? cast so that whatever people were on the inside is what they look like on the outside?

  ( I think this is one reason why BB like this are great, we see each other more from the inside. )
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  FlyingHighNow

  Sometimes bad guys aren't that good looking, like say Ray Liotta in Good Fellas. But, Ray has such a good personality that he becomes handsome. Women love Ray. I loved him in Corinna, Corinna.Christopher Walken plays bad guys. He's not too shabby but then he isn't a classicly handsome man either. Sometimes evil women in movies or TV are very beautiful. Watch any soap opera for example. It's true of movies, too.

  I believe it is truly the shallow, petty person who judges solely on looks.

  Flyin'
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  Elsewhere

  Granted, it is not far, but humans are instinctively draw to beauty and repulsed by ugliness.

  I saw an experiment on Discovery or TLC where they took a beautiful model and secretly recorded how strangers treated her on the street. Almost everyone, even other women, were willing to bend over backwards to help her with any difficulty she had. They then put her in a "fat suit" and had her do the exact same routines where she needed help from a stranger and everyone averted their eyes and ignored her.

  I saw another interesting experiment where they tracked the eye movement of infants who were a few months old and showed them two pictures, one of a beautiful person and one of an ugly person, and the infants always chose to look at the beautiful person.
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  FlyingHighNow

  They then put her in a "fat suit" and had her do the exact same routines where she needed help from a stranger and everyone averted their eyes and ignored her.

  Yep, being fat or ugly or fat and ugly since being fat is not equal to being ugly, is a good way to screen out insincere, petty people. True gentlemen open the door for beautiful. True gentlemen hold the doors open for ugly, fat or elderly women. Self absorbed boors don't.
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  dh

  I know this is corny. But why are the bad guys ugly?

  i don't think that's entirely true, it's just that good looking guys/girls can get away with a lot more than people who aren't (physically good looking), and i think that getting away with certain things, and letting them go unchecked leads to bad habbits, and bad behaviour, and possibly bad overall character.

  Would you like to see a ?magic spell? cast so that whatever people were on the inside is what they look like on the outside?

  don't forget, in the bible the devil is the most beautiful of all the angels. i think as a rule though, in the development of people, it's the outside and outward appearance that defines how the inside is going to be, not the other way around.
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  pettygrudger

  "Shallow Hal" anyone?

  Seriously though, I think a person who most might consider "unattractive" can become beautiful very easily due to their personality. Some of the most beautiful people I know aren't exactly "10's" on the attractive scale. "Beauty is as Beauty does" truly does mean something.
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  Xena

  Would you like to see a ?magic spell? cast so that whatever people were on the inside is what they look like on the outside?

  I think there is...haven't you ever noticed that? You initially meet someone and your first impression might be attractive or unattractive, but after getting to know them better it subtly changes? The more you like them the better they look to you...and visa versa.
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  confusedjw

  Xena - you are right. Once you know a person more, and like them, it doesn't matter does it? Good point.
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  Mary

  Elsewhere said: I saw an experiment on Discovery or TLC where they took a beautiful model and secretly recorded how strangers treated her on the street. Almost everyone, even other women, were willing to bend over backwards to help her with any difficulty she had. They then put her in a "fat suit" and had her do the exact same routines where she needed help from a stranger and everyone averted their eyes and ignored her. I saw another interesting experiment where they tracked the eye movement of infants who were a few months old and showed them two pictures, one of a beautiful person and one of an ugly person, and the infants always chose to look at the beautiful person.

  Yep, I saw that one.......it was amazing. They also hooked up electrons to John Stosel's frontal lobe and then flashed pictures of both beautiful women and not-so-attractive women before him. The brain was most definitely stimulated more when it showed the beautiful women. They figure it's hardwired into our brains to be attracted to beauty. Is there anyone here who isn't struck by the beauty of a Hawaiian sunset? You don't get the same feeling looking at pictures of Afganistan.

  I was born with physical attractiveness, but unfortunately I have low self-esteem, so it's never done me a damn bit of good being good looking. What's really bizarre is that I'm overweight (but I've lost 25 lbs. recently!!) and I STILL get men hitting on me. However, I've never been one to somehow think I'm better than someone who's not so attractive---that's just stupid, narrow-minded and egotistical. Come Judgement Day, it's not going to matter one bit what we look like on the outside, but only what kind of person we are on the inside that counts.
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  myauntfanny

  You don't get the same feeling looking at pictures of Afganistan.

  I prefer pictures of Afghanistan because I love the desert more than anything, so maybe it's all relative? I don't know. I don't understand that study at all. I've heard that the Japanese find Caucasions really ugly, because we're too big and too coarse. Maybe if they did the study with Japanese people it would come out differently. Maybe the baby's response is to someone who looks like the people he's used to, rather than some abstract concept of beauty. I think you have to take these studies with a grain of salt, and check them very carefully for hidden assumptions.