A clown doesn’t have to be a ‘scary clown’ in order to creep us out. They often ‘feel’ insincere and duplicitous — feelings we should always approach with caution.
When a clown’s ‘painted-on’ smile doesn’t match their real mouth — it’s an overt reminder that a person’s spoken word often doesn’t match their true intent. Thus clowns are often perceived as duplicitous and devious — which is scary (life clearly has enough of that).
A person may have no body language expertise or any nonverbal training whatsoever — but clown smiles will always feel unnatural to them.
Whenever you get an “unnatural feeling”, don’t ignore it. Listen to it (not just about false-smiles, but with regards to any behavior that seems ‘off’).
Jim Jordan’s feigned ‘smile’ is a good example of this nonverbal phenomenon. The word ‘smile’ is placed in quotations because it’s NOT sincere. This is one of Jordan’s primary default smiles (false smiles).
And don’t let anyone tell you, “That’s just the way Jim Jordan smiles” — No, it’s not. This is not a smile — it’s a behavioral mask. This is not anatomical variation. This is not physiological. And it’s not idiosyncratic. It’s duplicitous.
Note that none of Jordan’s upper teeth showing — but lower teeth are visible. This is *exactly the opposite* teeth-smile pattern vs that of a sincere smile.
Said another way, teeth need not be present during a sincere smile. Many smiles, in fact, display no teeth. These are either sincere smiles in the initial split-seconds of formation, or more likely, they’re expressing a component of smile suppression.
Of all types of sincere smiling, suppressed smiles are the most common.
However, with true/sincere smiles, when teeth *are showing* they should only be the upper teeth, not the lower teeth.
Jim Jordan routinely displays the complete opposite — with his top teeth covered and lower teeth exposed. This is NOT natural.
(Exceptions: When a person is crescendoing to or decrescendoing from sincere laughter, when the camera [or observer] is positioned higher, when the smiler is tilting their head forward, with facial trauma, or dental malformations — lower teeth may be seen)
Notice too that when Jordan pseudo-smiles like this, it necessarily tightens the tissue above his upper lip and below his nose. This thins-out this “mustache region” and thins-out his upper lip.
A momentary thinned upper lip is correlative with anger, frustration, or anxiety — and increased adrenaline.
Simultaneously, we note that Jordan’s jaw is thrusting forward (toward the camera). This is also highly indicative of increased adrenaline.
During a sincere smile, a jaw is never thrusting forward. So whenever you see this dynamic (sometimes it’s called a jaw jut), ask yourself, “What is the reason for their adrenaline surge?” and “Why are they faking their smile right now?”
In fact, during sincere smiles and sincere laughter the jaw is *pulling backward* with respect to the upper teeth (and of course, the rest of one’s head). This may not always be obvious to you, but it’s there — and it’s a crucial component of a true smile/laughter.
Sometimes (esp. if you begin with trying to ‘smile w/ your eyes’ [an absolute requirement for sincere smiles]), if you then contract your jaw backwards — you’ll find yourself ‘flip into’ (almost like you flipped-on light switch) a deep smile or even spontaneous laughter. [280]
Now try to imitate Jordan’s facial configuration. Hide your upper teeth. Pull up the corners of your mouth. Push your jaw forward. Expose your lower teeth. Doing this will make you feel odd — and will probably make you ‘feel creepy’.
Did you notice in this example how Jim Jordan’s central forehead muscles are contracted upwards? This is also indicative of a highly feigned smile.
Never trust what, at first glance, may seem like a legit mouth smile — but that also has an accompanying elevated central forehead contraction.
People that make such “mouth smiles” with an elevated central forehead contraction *often* (or at crucial times) have an extremely high correlation with sociopathy or psychopathy (collectively referred to as Antisocial Personality Disorder).
SUMMARY: Jim Jordan’s “Smile” is overtly duplicitous and insincere. Sincere smiles *never* display the lower teeth whilst hiding the upper teeth. This pseudo-smile should make you feel creeped-out. Red lights flashing. Sirens blaring.
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This post and others accompanying it, serve as a reference source for the art and science of Body Language/Nonverbal Communication. The views and opinions expressed on this website are those of the author. In an effort to be both practical and academic, many examples from/of varied cultures, politicians, professional athletes, legal cases, public figures, etc., are cited in order to teach and illustrate both the interpretation of others’ body language as well as the projection of one’s own nonverbal skills in many different contexts.
