Line #42 Main/FingerForcedSmile


1	[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gaston_forced_smile_1.jpg]]]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:PunchedAcrossTheRoom in 3... 2... 1...]]
3
4	A StockPose about a physically-forced smile. This takes on 2 forms:
5
6	* A character uses their hands to force another character's mouth into a smile. In this case, it's usually done to a character that [[PerpetualFrowner does not smile much if at all]], by a character that desires to see them smile. Or by the {{Keet}} cast member to someone who's down.
7	* A character uses their own hands to push their mouth into a smile. This can mean that the character is forcing themselves to smile, which may imply that they're emotionally repressed/cannot express emotions normally.
8
9	Depending on the outcome, this can lead to either WhenSheSmiles or TheUnsmile.
10
11	Compare and contrast HappinessIsMandatory when smiles are forced in an industrialized way with much darker intentions. RubberFace is when a character stretches out another's face comically, not necessarily into a smile. Subtrope of TechnicallyASmile.
12	----
13	!!Examples:
14
15	[[foldercontrol]]
16
17	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
18	* ''Manga/The100GirlfriendsWhoReallyReallyReallyReallyReallyLoveYou'': [[EmotionlessGirl Nano]] and [[FrozenFace Momiji]] give these to each other in Chapter 102 while undergoing maid training due to being unable to smile on their own.
19	* ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'':
20	** When the EmotionlessGirl companion of the main character wants to get emotions across [[http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/323/d/1/yin_attempting_to_smile_by_lilith_zer0-d336dxk.jpg she puts her fingers to the corners of her mouth to]] "[[FrozenFace make]]" herself smile. Because of the specific EmotionlessGirl trope appeal, this was considered [[{{Moe}} adorable]].
21	** July makes himself smile this way too. It's not as cute. It is, however, ''hilarious''.
22	* In the second season of ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'', a flashback shows a young girl who's just become a full-body cyborg after a plane crash. A doctor tries to "help" her smile this way (presumably assuming she hasn't worked out how to smile), but she waves him off (which is the first hint [[spoiler: she's [[TheStoic The Major]] and an even more subtle clue that the boy she's being introduced to's [[FrozenFace Kuze]]]]).
23	* ''Manga/KomiCantCommunicate'': The titular protagonist does this a couple times to calm down a crying baby. Justified because she doesn't emote her expressions much, and when she tries to smile normally she actually ''scares'' the baby.
24	* In the Recort arc of ''Manga/TsubasaReservoirChronicle'', Fai does this to Kurogane, explaining that otherwise he doesn't look "trustworthy." [[spoiler:After all, they're trying to steal a valuable book from a heavily-guarded library.]]
25	* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'':
26	** Nana did this to Toshinori as part of her showing him how to become the Symbol of Peace: if he smiles while helping people, he can instill the feeling that everything will be alright.
27	** Eri can't make herself properly smile, even while tugging her own cheeks, after being rescued from Overhaul, as she's still haunted by his cruelty toward her.
28	* In ''Anime/PokemonJourneysTheSeries'', Marnie does it after her battle with Ash. See also her entry on the Video Games folder below.
29	* In the finale of ''Anime/SmilePrecure'', Candy does this to Miyuki and asks her to smile for her one last time.
30	* In ''Literature/VioletEvergarden'', Violet herself does it when the client she's writing love letters for becomes a bit concerned by her lack of emotion. You can see it [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UN9vEC2wo40 here]].
31	* ''Manga/TheQuintessentialQuintuplets'': The cover of Volume 10 shows [[GenkiGirl Yotsuba]] using her fingers to pull her mouth into a painfully forced smile. This falls into the second type, since [[spoiler:she's trying to hide her pain [[InsecureLoveInterest over feeling unworthy of pursuing the guy she loves]]]].
32	[[/folder]]
33
34	[[folder:Comic Books]]
35	* The [[http://www.comics.org/issue/1261216/cover/4/ "selfie" alternate cover]] of ''Batman/Superman'' #14. Supes is making the Bat smile.
36	* Enforced in issue #2 of ''ComicBook/{{Paranoia}}'', when King is given a "Count-Your-Blessings Intensive Therapy Device". This is a small robot hat with hooks that grab the corners of his mouth; whenever it detects that King is unhappy, it pulls the corners into an ever-widening grin.
37	[[/folder]]
38
39	[[folder:Film - Animated]]
40	* ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'': During the song "Gaston", [=LeFou=] tries to make Gaston smile with his fingers and gets PunchedAcrossTheRoom.
41	* ''Film/OsmosisJones'' does it repeatedly to DaChief after he gives him a second chance to redeem himself.
42	* Happens to the Mayor of Whoville in ''WesternAnimation/HortonHearsAWho2008'' after his concerns of the microscopic society's safety are dismissed by the councilmen.
43	[[/folder]]
44
45	[[folder:Film - Live Action]]
46	* In ''Film/BrokenBlossoms'', poor sad little Lucy has to do this to appease her brutal, vicious, physically abusive father. As the narration notes, she never had a reason to smile genuinely.
47	* In ''Film/{{Hook}}'', the Lost Boys are poring over the adult Peter and trying to ascertain if he's really the Pan they once knew. Finally, one of them pushes his mouth into a smile.
48	--> "''There'' you are, Peter Pan."
49	* In the Creator/BusterKeaton film ''Film/GoWest'', this is how "The Great Stone Face" smiles when he's forced to at gunpoint.
50	* ''Film/Joker2019'': In the first scene, [[NamedByTheAdaptation Arthur Fleck]] is shown forcing himself to smile in this manner. Later, he tries the same thing on a young Bruce Wayne. The ending has him finally succeeding in making a smile that sticks, but now it's a full-on BrokenSmile.
51	* In ''Film/{{UHF}}'', [[Music/WeirdAlYankovic George]] tries to cheer Bob up by making him smile this way, after inadvertently causing them both to lose their jobs at Burger World.
52	* ''Film/TarzanTheApeMan1981'': Jane asks Tarzan, who doesn't understand English, to smile and very tentatively reaches for his face. He grabs her hands at first but gradually lets her touch him and gently force the corners of his mouth up in a smile. He tolerates this.
53	[[/folder]]
54
55	[[folder:Literature]]
56	* A variant in one Creator/ShelSilverstein poem, "The Smile Makers" -- a giant "[grows] tired of his frowny pout" and hires the narrator and a friend to hold up the corners of his mouth.
57	-->''That was last year--and we've been here\
58	Sweatin', strainin' all the while.\
59	Sometimes it sure can be hard work\
60	To make somebody smile.''
61	[[/folder]]
62
63	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
64	* An episode of ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' had Neelix try to make Tuvok smile in this way. Tuvok's response was to strangle him to death. "Fortunately," it was all a holodeck simulation.
65	* In an episode of ''Series/{{The Suite Life Of Zack And Cody}}'', London accidentally loses Maddie's broach and then buys her a new one. When Maddie reacts with a {{Disapproving Look}}, London simply says "Let's turn that frown upside down" and then moves Maddie's mouth with her hands to make it look like a smile. However, Maddie simply grabs her own mouth and positions it back to its frowny place.
66	* In the opening sequence of ''Series/PunkyBrewster'', Punky makes Henry smile like this.
67	* In one ''Series/BroadCity'' episode, Abbi and Ilana both do this after a stranger on the street tells them to smile.
68	* ''Series/TheMonkees'': In "The Christmas Show," Melvin does this when Mike encourages him to smile, as he is seemingly incapable of genuinely smiling.
69	[[/folder]]
70
71	[[folder:Music]]
72	* In Music/MeghanTrainor's ''All About That Bass'', at one point she does this to her Barbie boyfriend.
73	[[/folder]]
74
75	[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
76	* Dieting ComicStrip/{{Garfield}} does this to make himself smile after Jon tells him to cheer up in the [[http://garfield.com/comic/1989-09-25 September 25, 1989 strip]].
77	* OK, Scientific American is no newspaper, but it fits here best and its [[https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/animals-have-personalities-too-mdash-which-fade-away-in-group-situations/ Dec 2016 cartoon]] proves the trope even applies to vaguely anthropomorphic fishes.
78	[[/folder]]
79
80	[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
81	* While not always used in this manner, the illegal holds known as "fish hooks" can be used this way, and they can cause permanent damage, meaning that smile might last the rest of your life if unlucky. (Not to be confused with a fisherman's hook, which is a completely different, legal maneuver)
82	* Gabby Gilbert used said fishhook, as well as involuntary dancing, in an effort to get Mika Iida to smile in REINA.
83	* In her on going effort to prove [[VillainDecay she's still a fearsome wrestler]], [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} space cadet]] Mickie Knuckles forces a smile on the largest opponent she could find at a PGWA event, Miss Rachel.
84	[[/folder]]
85
86	[[folder:Theme Parks]]
87	* At Ride/UniversalStudios:
88	** Happens at the end of the first pre-show for ''Ride/DespicableMeMinionMayhem'', when all three of the girls pull on Gru's mouth to make him smile for the audience.
89	** An '''''extremely''''' dark variation of this occurs in the 2003 commercial for [[Ride/UniversalStudios Universal's]] Theatre/HalloweenHorrorNights. In the commercial, the icon of that year, The Director, forces a terrified jester to smile by ''impaling two hooks into each of his cheeks'' and then pulling said hooks upwards. The jester's real emotions are made very clear when a close-up shot shows a single tear coming out of his eye. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwol6OZfNas Here's]] the link to the commercial for anyone that's feeling up to watching it.
90	[[/folder]]
91
92	[[folder:Video Games]]
93	* ''VideoGame/EnsembleStars'': In ''1001 Arabian Nights'', Kaoru encourages [[TheStoic Adonis]] to smile more often, causing him to [[https://enstars.info/card/671 self-consciously try to push his lips into a smile]]. Kaoru notes that, as usual for CluelessChickMagnet Adonis, his awkward efforts somehow only make him even more appealing.
94	* In ''VideoGame/GuiltyGearStrive'', Bridget does this to hide the pain she gets from being on the receiving end of Faust's [[MinorInjuryOverreaction Bone-crushing Excitement]] Overdrive. Judging by her eyes and what she says, it probably wasn't very effective.
95	-->'''Bridget:''' That hurt, you [[CurseCutShort SON OF A-!]]
96	* An optional cutscene in ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'' shows AloofDarkHairedGirl Marnie practicing a "proper" smile this way in order to show her appreciation to her fans.
97	* In ''VideoGame/DiscoElysium: The Final Cut'', adopting the facial expression of a true Kingsman leaves your player character stuck making a PerpetualFrowner glare that - due to the nervous system damage it took to make it - your character can only move with his fingers. You can have him do this to Kim, who comments that you have turned yourself into a 'living mask'.
98	[[/folder]]
99
100	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
101	* ''VisualNovel/TheFruitOfGrisaia'': Though we doesn't get to see it, protagonist Yuuji does this to himself in Michiru's route when Yumiko questions him about the frightening expression on his face. Since he was just lost in tought he tries to reassure her this way.
102	[[/folder]]
103
104	[[folder:Web Animation]]
105	* Alastor does this to another character, Husk, in ''WebAnimation/HazbinHotel''. This fits in with his characterization of expecting perpetual happiness from those around him, which could also fall under the HappinessIsMandatory trope.
106	[[/folder]]
107
108	[[folder:Webcomics]]
109	* Inverted in one ''Webcomic/SandraOnTheRocks'' strip, where Sandra, after smiling all day on a modelling gig, goes on a "smile-free dinner" with Pierre.
110	* In ''Webcomic/SkinDeep'', a lady down the bar buys [[EmoTeen Ike Sanford]] a beer, but he's not allowed to drink it unless he smiles first. When Ike looks puzzled, she [[http://www.skindeepcomic.com/archive/hello-goodbye-7-smile-dammit/ demonstrates 'smiling']] this way.
111	* ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent'': After a certain event that has a good reason to make both of them sad, Tuuri decides to take things in stride, while Lalli settles for the "being constantly sullen" option. While Lalli gets away with it with the other members of the crew, Tuuri won't let it happen on her watch, resulting in forcing him to smile with her fingers.
112	* In ''Webcomic/{{Whomp}}'', [[https://www.whompcomic.com/comic/pick-up-artist Ronnie once did this]] [[HandyFeet by using his feet.]].
113	[[/folder]]
114
115	[[folder:Web Video]]
116	* In ''The'' ''WebVideo/MandelaCatalogue'' Vol. 333, [[spoiler: the Alternate that appears near the end to drive Thatcher to suicide has to forcibly morph its face like clay to form a smile, just before it lets out a bout of deranged laughter.]]
117	[[/folder]]
118
119	[[folder:Western Animation]]
120	* A variation occurs in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'', when Ed puts a wire coat-hanger in his mouth in order to force his mouth into a giant smile.
121	* In an episode of The Lion King's WesternAnimation/TimonAndPumbaa titled "New Guinea Pig", Pumbaa is unhappy with his tusks, and, seeing his best friend unhappy, Timon uses his fingers to prop up Pumbaa's cheeks in an effort to get him to cheer up.
122	* In one ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' cartoon, Sylvester comes face to face with an angry bulldog. Sylvester pushes up the corners of his mouth ''and'' his eyebrows to make him look happy and friendly, but the dog just pushes them back down.
123	* [[GenkiGirl Pinkie Pie]] sometimes does this to others in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' (like to Cranky in "A Friend in Deed"), but in her case it's a ''hoof'' forced smile.

Context Main / FingerForcedSmile