The phenomenon of “the attractive man who gets away with behaviour an average-looking man wouldn’t” is, however, nothing new. Having spent time volunteering in domestic violence refuges, I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve heard the phrase “he was just so handsome and charming, he didn’t seem the type”, despite there being myriad warning signs. We are, as a society, a sucker for a handsome face, often to our own detriment.
Yet Meeks’ case does smack of precedent-setting and therefore raises some unique questions about what we value in the modern man. Speaking to Fox News, Gina Rodriguez, who is apparently Meeks’ “Hollywood Talent Agent” (how one acquires an agent while being held in custody remains a mystery) was keen to point out that there were no convictions of actual harm to another human amongst the numerous charges brought against him. She further argued that public condemnation of Meeks was unfair because we don’t know the full particulars of his life story. The modelling contract, she said, would offer him the opportunity to turn his life around.
As someone with fairly liberal sensibilities, I find it difficult to find fault with the idea of a person who is sucked into a life of gang crime from an early age and now regrets their actions being given a second chance. Except I can’t help but notice the contrasting lack of interest in knowing the “full story” of criminals who, in addition to breaking the law, have committed the rather heinous crime of being less than fantastic looking.
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