When his identity was revealed and his (shirtless) social media posts went viral, pretty much everyone had the same reaction: Uh oh.
Women are gonna go gaga over Luigi.
Those eyebrows! Those abs! That chiseled jaw!
Luigi Mangione, the suspected assassin of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, is the hottest Italian since Fabio. The sexiest Latin Lothario since Rudolph Valentino. The #1 Italian stallion since a young Rocky Balboa.
Being good-looking is kind of like having a superpower: You can do things mere mortals cannot.
Within every large female group is the gang’s Top Model. When the restaurant is packed and you can’t get a table, she’s the one they send to “talk” to the manager. (And then, with a few batted eyes, licked lips, and come-hither looks, not only do they instantly get a table, but they drink for free!)
Call it “pretty privilege” or “lookism,” but it’s a very real phenomenon.
Good-looking people are more likely to get hired and less likely to get fired. People with above-average attractiveness earn 10% to 15% more than their below-average colleagues.
And if you ever find yourself in the defendant’s seat, you better pray you’re good-looking: beautiful people are less likely to be arrested and/or convicted, and when they do, tend to receive lighter sentences.
Associating beauty with good — and ugliness with evil — is probably a universal phenomenon. When we imagine angels, we imagine something lovely; the opposite is true for devils and demons. It’s a go-to motif in fairy tales: the Disney princess is beautiful and sweet; her hero is handsome and true; and the evil villain is a gnarled, contorted, gruesome monster.
Our brains work via association. We identify characteristics and tell ourselves a certain story. Good-looking people are the beneficiaries of a “halo effect,” where we associate their visual attractiveness with other positive personal traits, such as intelligence, leadership, health, and kindness.
A 2022 study noted that the grades of attractive female students declined disproportionately during the pandemic:
This paper has shown that students’ facial attractiveness impact academic outcomes when classes are held in-person. As education moved online following the onset of the pandemic, the grades of attractive female students deteriorated.
If you can’t tell by my profile pic, I’m not a recipient of pretty privilege. (I kinda look like the offspring of Dwayne Johnson, a Ping-Pong ball, and a vampire.) My general outline is okay, so I look nice in a dimly lit environment, like a dive bar (or a bedroom). But when you get an up-close look at all my sags, wrinkles, and blemishes, it’s frickin’ horrifying.
I’m a “normie” — like most of you. Very few folks are downright ugly, but even fewer are spectacularly good-looking. We tend to vary from a 3 or a 4 when we wake up in the morning and stumble out of bed to maybe a 6 or a 7 (or, gasp, a 7.5!) after we shower, shave, and put on (semi-) fashionable clothes.
But there’s a subsection of women who go crazy for hot criminal guys. They mail love letters to mass murderers. They make marriage proposals. And they’re beginning to fall in love with Luigi:
he’s only guilty of being hot. #FreeLuigi https://t.co/iZdiBFzhkr
— mrs hunter biden (@circlesthots) December 9, 2024
Personal aesthetics matter. It’s why the image of a racist murderer like Che Guevara became so iconic. And it’s why — in an age of social media, vigilantism, and victim-blaming — Luigi Mangione probably will, too.
Related: The Death Cult: How a Liberal Media and a Delusional Left Will Turn an Assassin into a Hero
“Fans” are already casting their favorite actor as the lead in the (inevitable) Luigi Mangione Netflix movie. (Actor Dave Franco was trending because of their resemblance.) Instead of being shocked and appalled by the premeditated murder of a CEO, these people grabbed their popcorn and are eagerly awaiting the second act.
It’s the Kardashianization of our culture. And the worst is yet to come.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member