homo escapeons

THE TROJAN FACE
The reason that modern Humans, Homo Escapeons, are obssessed with FACIAL RECOGNITION must be due to the fact that our species is primarily a visual creature.

Evolution has programmed us to examine faces for clues and cues about the other person's general health and reproductive prospects. A perfectly balanced arrangement of features will enhance the chances of our genes being advanced and outcompeting others in the struggle for survival.

Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder but this mask outlines the symmetrical, balanced beautiful/handsome face that is universally approved by virtually every culture on the planet.

Since vision is our primary sense, the others are embarrassingly weak when compared to most mammals, Humans rely heavily on visual signals from other Escapeons as the main method to determine their intentions.

We can usually tell if another person poses a threat or an opportunity *wink wink by the expression on their face.

If you want to learn more about this subject I suggest that you watch the series hosted by John Cleese; The_Human_Face.

21st Century Escapeons are bombard with hundreds of facial images every day. The various forms of Media transmit FACES in an attempt to win our approval, lower our guard, and let their message in. This psychological warfare is administered because for better or for worse, we learn to trust facial brands.

Advertisers cheat of course, they still need to airbrush and alter even beautiful people with perfectly proportioned features. At the same time they also use average looking people, sometimes even odd or perceptually plain looking people, to lower our guard.

Either way, they are consciously trying to manipulate our fight or flight responses in their favour and try to get us to buy something from their client.

Modern Newscasters must be handpicked from the test market results of focus groups. Now that News is just another division of some Conglomerate they exist to sell soap ads like any other division.

That's why we are no longer staring at grey haired, wizened, fatherly, figures like Walter Cronkite.

Even more painfully obvious is the fact that the Female Newscasters are not only beautiful, but dare I even say it, sexy!?

I agree with Sting, "they all look like Game Show Hosts To Me."

There are over 6 Billion of us on Earth and most of us live in a country that has millions of people. How do advertisers cut through the clutter?

Face BRANDS.

There are plenty of internationally recognisable celebrities with unique face brands who are being marketed around the globe...to sell Movie Tickets or Cars or Beauty Aids or even Political Ideals. Many Western Celebs sneak off to do Ads in the Far East for huge sums of money...wouldn't you?

The recent Feylin phenomenon during the American Presidential Election was an excellent example of how powerful the Human Face is.

I believe that Sarah Palin's stock went up one million times thanks to the striking resemblence and deft impersonation of her by Tina Fey on Saturday Night Live.

This reminded me of the power of being a Look-A-Like.

Many actors got their first break in the business because they looked like an established actor. Since we had already accepted the facial brand of their predecessor they get a walk to third base. Remember how the Industry poked fun at this with their Looky-Loo scam in Ocean's 12 in which Julia Roberts pretended to look like Julia Roberts?

Have a look at these pretty women, Monica Potter and Julia Roberts.

.

Elias Koteas (rhymes with Coat-tails) got his break in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

He certainly reminded me of a young de Niro..btw I think that Elias is an excellent actor.

Born on third base Actors may become fine actors in their own right, but they undoudtedly received their big break because of their accidental resemblence to the prototypical Leading Man ..have a lash at exhibit A:

Paul Newman,

Mathew McRoll-in-the-hay &

Becks.

Pitt and Redford..is this mere coinky-dink?

Hello!
Look at Cary Grant, Tyrone Power, Rock Hudson and their modern equivalent George Clooney.

Actors like Clooney and Pitt may get their foot in the door thanks to their looks but it usually becomes a handicap because they get pigeon-holed in the Leading Man category which does not usually translate into a nomination for the Oscar in the Best Actor category.

They usually need to take on a roll that downplays or thoroughly disguises their natural appearance. They have to pay a performance penance.

It's a Catch 22.0

Remember when Forrest Gump said,

"Handsome is,

as Handsome duh-uz"?

Even though we seem to have a love/hate relationship with handsome/beautiful it is a powerful primal force. What beautiful/handsome does best these days is make us buy and believe..and not necessarily in that order.

Whether it's political ideals or movie tickets, a face of either sex can still launch a thousand ships just like Helen of Troy. A symmetrical face with all the right ingredients gets you in the door.

Apparently there is a thriving subculture for Look-A-Likes for hire who in theory will add a little pizzazz to your corporate events. Your employees can have their picture taken, after a few, stiff, glasses of liquid personality, with a STAR and they can somehow absorb some of their cache by osmosis?

Look at this company...

LOOK ALIKE USA

You'll notice that some Celebrities are easier to mimic than others. Easy cheats include costumes, unique hairstyles or facial hair...and if the impersonator can copy the voice and mannerisms of their subject then the transformation takes on a life of it's own and our suspension of disbelief is engaged.

That being said our brains can instantly pick out frauds because we can detect minute variations. It's easy to do Michael Jackson with shades and a white glove..even some of the Johnny Depps with his Pirate moustache are passable, but a bona fide doppleganger, dead-ringer, head shot, requires a miracle of random genetic chance or plastic surgery.

The odds of having similar looking individuals seems more probable if you consider that we all have a Genetic Eve. Part of each and every one of us is a copy of a copy of a copy that started 140,00 years ago.

One bright spot on the map of the Human Face is that there is more intermingling of people with varying degrees of melanin and hue thanks to eons of physical adaptations that were environmentally and latitudinally induced.

If you can possibly manage the time, have a peek at the Look-A-Likes...

there aren't really any dead-ringers, but close-enoughs seem to be good-enough?

It's not easy to stand out in a crowd of 6 Billion so apparently, some of us are willing to take what we can get..especially after a dozen drinks at one of those impossibly, tedious, staff functions.

What do you think?