More on Retard Face

It's 2003.

I'm big for my age. Every neighborhood has young men controlling it, checking for affiliation when you walk through.

At home, my little brother got angry when I smiled a certain way- connecting to how much I thought. I realized looking like an idiot meant fewer people wanting to punch me for being a smartass.

This worked in gang neighborhoods and with bureaucrats.

Collective resentment creates the Evil Eye, appearing across cultures.

In South India, they mark babies' faces and put demon faces on buildings—all to reduce beauty and deflect jealousy.