46 seconds into this press conference about the stimulus plan, in the middle of a statement about the people of Elkhart, Indiana, Obama quickly flashes a microexpression that indicates contempt, a smile on one half of your face (captured in photo above). "The people who have lost them [their jobs] have no idea what to do, or who to turn to."
Contempt is an intense feeling or attitude of regarding someone or something as inferior, base, or worthless. The connotation of contempt is repulsive, but a more nuanced definition is "my way is better than your way."
Other examples of microexpressions can be found here and here.
4 comments:
One of the reasons I like Obama is for his fantastic skills with PR. It may all be a bit of a show but it makes his press conferences a hell of a lot more watch able.
Then again, his speech writers have obviously succeeded with me then...
Yeh Obama has great speaking skills. He is articulate and that's why this expression is so interesting to me. The more articulate and better vocabulary people have the less they use body language, because they don't have to.
You and your microexpressions. I doubt he's showing contempt for the people of Elkhart, Indiana -- he's too much of a pro for that. Perhaps he's having a hard time hiding his contempt for their entire unemployment situation, or for the political haters trying to bring him down.
Just a thought. Oh and "Meeee" is me, Lindsey.
i didn't say he was showing contempt for the people of indiana... he is showing contempt though... i mean what he said is condescending on it's own... "they have no idea what to do"... really? really? no idea? i think people in general are far more resourceful than the government.
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