There is something so off-putting about this facial expression

Published: February 9, 2015 at 9:47am

I don’t quite know what it is. Smugness? Self-satisfaction? Private delight? Smirking self-congratulation? Spiteful triumph?

It’s not a man’s face. It’s the sort of expression more properly seen on the face of an antipatiku, much-disliked boy in the schoolyard, who doesn’t give a stuff that he isn’t popular as long as he gets what he wants and spites others.

Am I reading it wrong? Is it plain and simple happiness? No, I don’t think so. My emotional-intelligence radar is not that out of shape that I can’t pick up the fleeting quirks of facial expression, even though I wouldn’t be able to pinpoint quite what they are, if asked.

muscat face




39 Comments Comment

  1. canon says:

    I really hate the hypocrisy of this man. Do you remember how he raised hell when the Nationalist government privatized the dry docks.

    • Gahan says:

      It was on this day when prime minister Alfred Sant removed the Drydocks Council chaired by Sammy Meilak.

      They say that the Nationalists ruled Malta for 25 years.

      In the light of these facts, I am convinced that Dr Sant was Nationalist.

  2. Alf says:

    Ghandu wicc tad-daqqiet ta’ harta: that’s the expression.

  3. pocoyo says:

    ‘ja qatta cwiec, ma tindunawx kif ned nitnejjek bikom’

  4. Theresa says:

    It looks like he is inviting us to bask in his glory. He reminds me of king Julian in Madagascar.

  5. Freedom5 says:

    Smugness or not, it’s the correct economic policy, in a well regulated environment.

    Whatever happened to the MOBC sell off/tank leasing fades in comparison to the Mid Med privatisation where no international expression of interest was announced, but secretly handled by John Dalli.

    [Daphne – This is not a post about the article. It is a post about the photograph accompanying the article.]

  6. Macha Placha says:

    Spot on, Daphne, especially the bit about the schoolyard.

    I feel like tearing the paper to bits whenever his image confronts me in the newspaper.

  7. A.Attard says:

    “Arani ma”

  8. catharsis says:

    Jekk ahna poplu tan-nejk; tini bis-sieq u nghidlek “Grazzi.”

  9. ChrisM says:

    Spot on Daphne.

    Daphne – “Smirking self-congratulation”

    I can’t think of a better way to describe that expression.

  10. Tabatha White says:

    An expression like that from a person like that (won’t call him a man) can only mean that the wily bank account “top-up” – in whose-ever name it is – has happened.

    If it was imminent or about to happen, the expression would not be so saturated.

    The culmination of objective for this sort of person, resides in the money gleaned/ creamed.

    In the getting there we get the ugly “I mean business” expressions: the “zurli min-nofs” type. eg. When he was stopped by the journalist outside the airport and inflated his whole upper body, with nasty twists to facial expression, to deliver the tu quoque involving Simon Busuttil.

  11. J says:

    “the face of an antipatiku, much-disliked boy in the schoolyard, who doesn’t give a stuff that he isn’t popular as long as he gets what he wants and spites others.”

    Spot on, or so I hear.

    I’m told he spent most of his time at sixth form hogging the table-tennis table. Secondary school was mostly focused on dictating what happened with his football (for the younger ones, a football was a significant asset back in the day).

  12. Mila says:

    You have actually touched on a terrifying thought, the combination of expression leakage and feigned emotions.

    The only drawback here is that this is a photo, but the thought returns and gains credence when one watches a video of the subject.

  13. Liberal says:

    It looks like a cross between a bully’s and a nerd’s face.

  14. H.P. Baxxter says:

    I’m sadly familiar with that kind of facial expression, having rubbed shoulders, it seems, with nothing but smug bastards and c*nts.

    It’s the face of someone who’s always had it good, who’s been handed everything on a plate, and who got exactly where he wanted to.

  15. tinnat says:

    One has to wonder what was happening under the table.

  16. herbie says:

    For me it’s a ‘hu go fik’ look

  17. Fred the Red says:

    This kind of know-it-all smirking expression is becoming increasingly common. No wonder we find ourself in such a mess.

  18. Artemis says:

    It’s nothing a good slap wouldn’t put right. He deserves one, especially from me.

  19. Francis Saliba M.D. says:

    If it needs the private sector to rescue the public sector why on earth do we have to pay huge salaries and overheads to Joseph Muscat and his entourage? No wonder our prime minister has such a smug expression on his face!

    “Hudu go fikhom” everyone else.

  20. Observer says:

    Were it not for real wickedness. I would say it is the expression of someone enjoying a Rowntree’s fruit gum.

  21. bob-a-job says:

    Here’s one man who will never admit defeat, who will find all sort of excuses to hide any setback, who will blame anyone even his closest allies in order for him to look invincible.

    The problem with these types of people is that once a defeat becomes inevitable their whole world will collapse and they will do everything to bring down everyone with them.

    Always keep in mind the person who did just that, the one and only person Muscat is really in competition with, Dom Mintoff.

  22. Joe Fenech says:

    Emotional intelligence – a concept light years away from anything the ‘typical Maltese brain’ can possibly process.

  23. Superman says:

    He has this look somewhat similar to Lex Luthor’s face here:

    http://static.tumblr.com/k7vvmmz/daqlus98f/615smallville0196.png

  24. John Higgins says:

    In today’s Times of Malta Joseph Muscat was reported as saying inter alia to his faithful yesterday that the government is going to appeal the recent court ruling on new MPs “because it had the duty to safeguard the voters’ choice”.

    And further down he said that “the court decision set a dangerous precedent because we cannot have a situation in the future which could see the court overturn the people’s decision”.

    It appears that Dr. Muscat is under a misconception as the voters’ choice was to elect two Nationalist MPs and not the ones elected through a blatant mistake which could have been rectified immediately it came to light.

  25. Steve says:

    Uncanny, but you got it right. He apparently WAS that antipatiku, and not liked at school. I have it on good authority.

  26. Makjavel says:

    He imitates an infamous Italian, who ended up in a mess.

    History tends to repeat itself, when we forget all about it.

  27. Joe Attard says:

    All these posts about a facial expression – some people probably need to get a life and come to terms with the electoral result at the last general election. I would opt to criticise his decision making, policies or lack thereof and leadership rather than his posture or smirk.

    • vanni says:

      Catching a person’s facial expression at an unguarded moment reveals what kind of person you are being forced to deal with.

      Anyway, Joseph Muscat’s policies, decisions, and vision leave much to be desired.

      Only people of the ilk of Willie Mangion, Lara Boffa (and her boyfriend), and other similar bazuzli would see anything admirable in Malta’s Joseph.

    • tinnat says:

      Joe Attard, did you ever see such a smirk on Eddie Fenech Adami’s face? On Lawrence Gonzi’s face, perhaps?

      A facial expression is never ‘just’ a facial expression: it tells you tons about the person’s character. Whatever they say is worth nothing compared to what their face is actually saying.

  28. manum says:

    My mother is 85, she can hardly walk due to her ill health. She forgets, but whenever he appears on the news, her face frowns and declares , that she cant bear his sick facial expressions. Wicc ta h*****.

  29. Talking Through their Hats says:

    Wicc ta’ facciol u imbruljun mill-kbar.

  30. Natalie Mallett says:

    Qisu qed jghid “Ara kif ha nbellalkom gidba ohra u tibilghuha sa grizmehjkom ja qatta cwiec. Ha nibqa nitnejjek bikom sal-ahhar”

  31. Direct says:

    It’s that look of “Don’t blame Fido for the turd on the Persian carpet”.

  32. Natalie says:

    How about “I’m f***ing you right and proper, and there’s nothing you can do about it”?

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