Drew Barrymore fascinates me.
Okay, so her life so far has been quite outside of anything most of us have experienced. On 60 Minutes last Sunday, Drew spoke of first trying cocaine at age twelve, being in rehab at age thirteen, and having a family of film crews instead of her own flesh-and-blood family.
Managing a meteoric film career in the midst of such instability would have done most people’s heads in.
Around the web at the moment, media sites have picked up on her stating that she’s ’still not sober’ (apparently meaning that she still uses substances to ‘balance’ her life.)
But all of that is not what fascinates me.
It’s the fact that there’s something about Drew that still comes across as child-like and down-to-earth – despite all the wild adventures, wealth and fame.
She’s got the girl-next-door look even though she’d come last as an actual contender for a real-life girl-next-door.
Drew Barrymore’s engaging uneven smile
When Drew starts talking, one side of her mouth her mouth rises into a kind of lopsided smile, and her teeth look natural (at least, her teeth don’t have that perfect Hollywood look that can only come with veneers and caps.) There’s her unusual chin, for which she has never sought the services of a cosmetic surgeon to ‘fix’.
The lopsided ‘naturalness’ is very attractive.
You don’t notice the lopsidedness so much in publicity photos. It’s more when she’s talking or being herself.
I’ve been looking at teeth a lot in the week, which probably explains my focus on Ms Barrymore’s teeth in the 60 Minutes story.
A backflip into the world of cosmetic dentistry
My teenage son did a backflip in a pool at a pool party last Saturday night, and snapped off almost half his front tooth. The nerve inside the tooth was slightly exposed, and suddenly we were exposed to a whole new world inside dentistry – root canals and crowns.
We’ve seen whole photograph albums of repaired teeth in the dentist’s office and lots of before-and-after shots of whole sets of teeth with shiny new veneers online. We’ve spent the last three days at the offices of a dentist and endodontist.
Fortunately (touch wood) a specialist said there’s a chance of the nerve staying alive and he may not need to go down the road of a root canal and crown. He’s young and has excellent teeth, so at the moment we’re just waiting and hoping – with the aid of a temporary cap over the missing part.
What makes a great smile?
Online, all those photos of repairs for damaged or decayed teeth were amazing, especially once the veneer (or crown) goes over the top.
But the photos of ‘afters’ when the ‘befores’ looked perfectly fine (even if they weren’t ‘Hollywood perfect’) were disturbing.
If people like the look of perfect teeth and want that for themselves, I don’t have a problem with it. The disturbing part is when the ‘before’ picture is labelled as ‘Good smile’ and the after picture is labelled as ‘Great smile’.
A great smile doesn’t require perfect teeth, perfectly-shaped lips or a perfectly-even mouth.
Just look at Drew Barrymore.
I think she’s gorgeous – and REAL!
Absolutely love Drew!
Julie Parker´s last blog ..Teens Seek Cosmetic Surgery
Ms. Barrymore has smoked multi-packs a day for a very long time (early teens). Her habit of talking out of the side of her mouth has the appearance of someone who smokes waaay too much and has gotten used to blowing the smoke out of the side of her mouth. So used to it that she can’t help talking that way in a normal conversation. It’s not a lisp. Its a learned habit. The byproduct of smoking. To me… its extremely annoying and I have trouble with her movies for this. A shame really that a talented person as herself would yield to a habit to the point that it affects her in such an obvious manner.