The curious phenomenon of radioactively white and uncanny valley-esque perfect teeth in America continues to disturb, but one image has stuck in my head for two weeks. I can’t get it out of my head.

I wish I could remember his name – I have attempted to find it today but have given it up as a needle finding exercise for the League of Non-Guild Aligned Haystack Workers Union. Sod that.

However, the man’s face? That’s burned into my mind forever. He was a Democratic Party candidate for some southern state – that’s how he ended up on MSNBC anyway – and he had conspicuously man-made looking teeth. They were brilliant white, as if determined to bleach the viewer’s retinas with their fluorescent glow. His skin was orange and his hair suitably quaffed. He’s not the only one with such teeth and hair, but he’s certainly the only one that’s seemingly so proud of his teeth that his lips are permanently twisted into a grimace that, if nothing else, displays these teeth. Clearly he’s very proud of these new teeth and believes that it’s very important to his future career that people see them.

Hmm.

I wonder what the point of all this is, what the cultural significance of this display is, and what the connection between cosmetic dentistry and political ability might be. Then again, I’ve got his hideous face burned into my brain.. so perhaps mission accomplished as far as that politician is concerned. Perhaps this lesson is to terrify people with your appearance, so as to make sure they never, ever forget you.