WHAT MAKES A FACE EVIL?
A SHARP CHIN
Psychologists at the University of Warwick, in the United Kingdom, presented simple geometric shapes to volunteers to find out if they convey positive or negative emotions. Downward triangles (like in pointy chins) carried negative connotations.
“EVIL” EYEBROWS
Do sharply downwardpointing eyebrows remind you of anything? Like the downward triangle OF DEATH? As one of the Warwick researchers explained, “If we look at cartoon characters, the classic baddie will often be drawn with evil eyebrows that come to a downward point in the middle.”
ANDROGYNY
Male Disney villains such as Hades, Captain Hook and Jafar tend to have their masculine features balanced out by long hair, pronounced lips, arched eyebrows and shadowed eyelids. Females such as Cruella DeVille tend to be drawn with more masculine body shapes, a lack of flowing hair and angular faces. Critics have pointed out that in early Disney films, illustrators seem to be upholding gender norms whereby goodies follow clear gender roles, and the baddies do not.
DARK EYES
Generally speaking, classic Disney villains had brown eyes. Protagonists, meanwhile, were usually more likely to have big blue eyes (like Alice in Alice in Wonderland).
Psychologists at the University of Warwick, in the United Kingdom, presented simple geometric shapes to volunteers to find out if they convey positive or negative emotions. Downward triangles (like in pointy chins) carried negative connotations.
“EVIL” EYEBROWS
Do sharply downwardpointing eyebrows remind you of anything? Like the downward triangle OF DEATH? As one of the Warwick researchers explained, “If we look at cartoon characters, the classic baddie will often be drawn with evil eyebrows that come to a downward point in the middle.”
ANDROGYNY
Male Disney villains such as Hades, Captain Hook and Jafar tend to have their masculine features balanced out by long hair, pronounced lips, arched eyebrows and shadowed eyelids. Females such as Cruella DeVille tend to be drawn with more masculine body shapes, a lack of flowing hair and angular faces. Critics have pointed out that in early Disney films, illustrators seem to be upholding gender norms whereby goodies follow clear gender roles, and the baddies do not.
DARK EYES
Generally speaking, classic Disney villains had brown eyes. Protagonists, meanwhile, were usually more likely to have big blue eyes (like Alice in Alice in Wonderland).
