Crooked Smile Analysis

Jane has gotten used to cruelty and biased behavior towards her average looks, and develops a miserable self-esteem that believes the only possible way to describe her exterior is “plain”. This self-esteem prevents her from even beginning to recognize that anyone could appreciate her or find her beautiful in any manner. The society’s typical reactions and judgments shaped Jane’s self-esteem, and prevented her from receiving equal treatment as that of a beautiful woman.

The universe is created for society to cherish all God’s creations; it could be anything to admiring nature to loving all animals. The expectations for the world are difficult to maintain, so unfortunately, society often leads to major destruction. There is unnecessary homicides, animal cruelty, toxic waste in the rivers and many more heart-wrenching actions that deteriorates the world. As a society, we have to turn a negative into a positive, but firstly, we have to change ourselves before we help others. Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror”, exposes all of the humanity issues and suggests that we should fix the world by recognizing our flaws first. The theme of the song is about self-improvement and imagery, tone and repetition are the poetic devices that are used in the song.

This paper primarily explores Michael Jackson’s song, "man in the mirror." The song "man in the mirror" is inspirational about making a positive impact and personal redemption in the world. It was released in 1988. This catchy song tries to explain that changing the world is possible (Wallerstein 2). Many sociological concepts are displayed by Michael Jackson in the context of song’s lyrics. The band of the song tries to express their concerns with the actions and views of the world of the present day. Basically, the band reflects upon the world's realism as their question the mentality. This song is surrounded by the

     Sure, some of us have this great confidence within ourselves about looking great, but that does not hold true for everyone. I understand the pain or disgust, or even disappointment one feels when they look in the mirror and say, “I wish I could change this or that about myself”. Although this piece is written about the author’s life, it holds meaning and connects with for many people; one only has to dig deep enough to find one. For me, it was to realize what is important in life can change, adapt and that we must explore our inner selves and find our own path in life.

Society and the media have an enormous influence on an individual’s concept of beauty and bodily perfection. Even the “beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” many people allow the media’s influence into their lives, which is a dangerous thing to allow (Vogel, 2015). According to David Newman, author of Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life, society is defined as the “population of people living in the same geographic area who share a culture and a common identity and whose members fall under the same political authority” (Newman, 2010, 18). The people within a society constantly create and add to the pressure already placed on individuals which can severely alter and harm one’s self-esteem. Self-esteem is

The singer Michael Jackson, also called the king of pop, released the tune “Man in The Mirror” in 1989. The song turned out on the album, “Bad” right after the top-rated album “Thriller.” Many people think that this is one of Jackson's best works. The song's principle thought is a change in Jackson's point of view in the wake of seeing the less fortunate and acknowledging how narrow-minded he had been. Throughout the song, he is requesting that people change their perspectives with him. He uses word choices, personification, figurative language, and imagery to convey that message by relying on pathos heavily.

Many people are so obsessed with fitting into social, beauty, or physical standards, that they do not think to accept themselves, or others, just the way they are. Humans have a tendency to reject or isolate those who are not perceived as perfect in their eyes, while in reality, not one person is absolutely flawless. Those who have more prominent or noticeable flaws tend to be pushed away, and that behavior is not fair at all. In the story “The

The way our society views other people by their appearance will probably never change. In some ways, everyone has it set in their mind what makes a person “perfect”. These characteristics may include personal appearance, wealth and intelligence. One does not always take the time to get to know a person, but make assumptions about people. Two poems, which show different views, include Richard Cory by Edwin Arlington Robinson and Barbie Doll by Marge Piercy. In the Barbie doll, the author writes about a girl’s life. The author starts off by describing her childhood. She was given dolls and toys like any other girl and she also put on some lipstick. This girl

She had a healthy body, she was intelligent. She had an “abundant sexual drive and possessed strong arms and back,” (2, 8-9). She was herself blind to her own positive qualities as she was too busy trying to please others with her looks, “she went to and fro apologizing,” (2, 10). She apologized to everyone for her imperfections. The imagery of, “Everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs” (2, 11), portrays the indifference society felt towards her. She wanted to be appreciated, but she was only seen her for her looks and not her inner self. She had learned from the time she was a child her imperfections made her not good enough or socially

The book “Ugly” by Robert Hoge it is a inspiring, true story about, Robert, a boy who grew up in Brisbane, Australia, with a tumor the size of a tennis ball on his face and two deformed legs. Robert had four other brothers and sisters, who were all older. The story is the journey of Robert Hoge and his life with artificial legs and deformed face, and all the challenges he faced along the way.

An excellent example of how J Cole disregards the opinion’s of others is mentioned in his song “Crooked Smile”. In this song, Jermaine raps, “They tell me I should fix my grill ‘cause I got money now/… I keep my twisted grill, just to show the kids it’s real/ We ain’t picture perfect, but we worth the picture still” (J Cole, “Crooked Smile”). Through these lyrics, Jermaine is disregarding how society wants him to fix his teeth which many think are ugly, sloppy, and unappealing.

Imagine living in a world where receiving acceptance from strangers all around the world would make you feel “normal” and beautiful. Well, it’s not that hard to imagine when we are living right through it. In Michael Lovelock’s article “The Makeover Trap”, published in 2017 on AEON, Lovelock asserts the urge to blend into society and to be accepted by others with open arms is exceeding by the days. Locklock begins by using rhetorical strategies, such as ethos, logos, tone,and appeal to authority to lay out his argument.

He cried on my shoulder that morning in his hospital room when he saw himself in the mirror for the first time. The right side of his handsome face sagged, and he couldn't open his drooping eye. He didn't cry because of vanity, but rather because the image looking back at him represented a lost way of life.

Beauty sets standards for society through appearance, especially in younger generations due to use of social media and picture editing. “Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder” is a saying that has been around for ages (Plato, n.p.). It is an accurate phrase because of contrasting views within particular individuals. Beauty is present in the good deeds of community members as well as the unity exhibited through dreadful events. It is a flower bud breaking through the dirt into the fresh, spring air. To clarify how beauty is viewed, it is often times the exposure of evil accounting for the new appreciation of something beautiful. After recognizing the privileges we acquire, the existence of beauty is revealed and expressed more easily. In current society, appreciating beauty is substantial to

Together, we can lower the numbers of people dying from eating disorders and cosmetic surgeries by resisting the beauty ideal. We can choose “to not participate in the beauty rituals, to not support the industries that produce both images and products, and to create other definitions of beauty” (WVFV, pg. 232). The most crucial and easiest solution is to create other definitions of beauty. Ultimately, it is up to the individual to decide what is beautiful. What if someone decided that the only thing that could contribute to one’s beauty is who someone is on the inside? Wouldn’t our world be a completely different place? Instead of