Rebel with a gappy jaw!
QUESTION false teeth?
Film star James Dean shot to movie stardom in the 1950s with roles depicting youthful disillusionment.
in Rebel Without A Cause, he played troubled teenager Jim Stark; in East Of Eden, loner Cal Trask; and in Giant, surly ranch hand Jett Rink.
in the decade that saw the birth of rock ’n’ roll, Dean became a cultural icon, even though as a child he had been seen as short-sighted, small and skinny.
in the words of his cousin, he was ‘never one to sit still’. He excelled at athletics, basketball and pole vaulting and loved the speed and thrill of motor sport.
it was this constant restlessness that found him one day swinging from a homemade trapeze in a barn at the home of his aunt and uncle.
Dean fell, knocking out his two front teeth. He later claimed he had lost his teeth in a motorcycle accident.
He wore false front teeth in his movies and, in social situations, would cause amusement by removing them unexpectedly. His love of speed and excitement contributed to his untimely death in a car accident at the age of 24. He is unique in being nominated posthumously for two Best Actor Oscars.
American dentists still mention Dean in their online advertisements as an example of how good dental care can set you on the road to movie stardom.
Ian MacDonald, Billericay, Essex.
QUESTION Who coined the term Paris syndrome — the disappointment when a destination does not live up to your expectations?
PROFESSOR Hiroaki Ota, a FrancoJapanese psychiatrist at the Sainte-Anne Hospital Centre in France, coined the term in 1986.
later, physician Youcef mahmoudia of the Hotel-Dieu de Paris hospital found Paris syndrome was ‘a manifestation of psychopathology related to the voyage, rather than a syndrome of the traveller’.
Up to 5 per cent of Japanese tourists are hospitalised each year due to this syndrome, which can cause delusions, hallucinations and an accelerated heartbeat. it can be thought of as a severe form of culture shock.
imagine being told your entire life that there’s a wonderful place in the world where many of the fancy elements of your culture originated, only to then visit and find it is far dirtier and less organised than your own city.
it would be crushing to experience this for those already dissatisfied with their standard of living.
Emilie McRae, Trowbridge, Wilts.
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