Smile Even Though It's Breaking
Before the world descended into yet another wave of illness and death, western media was promoting a smiling course offered in Japan.
It proved that everyone was getting back to "normal," even countries with strong masking cultures. If you enrolled in the course, you spent all day practicing for an app that rated your smile.
If you scored below an 80, you failed.
Around the world, our bosses and even our teachers have been pressuring us and our families to take off our N95 masks and "show us your smile." The corporate world has celebrated "the return of smiles," when they really meant the return of mass consumption and retail profits. It's yet another example of how the toxic positivity pervading our culture hides deep cruelty and a reckless disregard for human life.
Toxic optimists have weaponized the smile. If you want to marginalize or silence someone, just call them "negative."
It's highly effective.
We're told to smile instead of criticizing those in power. We're told to smile in…