Amanda Knox and the Strength Behind Her “Good Face”

A 'good face' is one that is open and which projects decency and honesty. It is synonymous with what I would call 'adult innocence'. This is not naivety. Not all all. It is a sign of inner strength. Knox is a good person I'd say.

Amanda Knox appeared in the papers again this week — not for anything to do with her long legal ordeal in Italy, but because she’s performing stand‑up comedy at the Edinburgh Festival. It’s an unexpected career choice, but it reveals something important about her character. Knox has always had a face that people read as open, honest and fundamentally decent. What’s striking is that this impression has survived everything she has been through.

A “good face” isn’t about prettiness or symmetry. It’s about the absence of bitterness, the lack of emotional armour, and a kind of adult innocence that comes from strength rather than naivety. Knox’s expression has always carried that quality. Her eyes are unguarded, her brow relaxed, and her overall demeanour suggests someone who has not been twisted by trauma. Many people who endure far less end up looking permanently wary or compressed. She didn’t.

Her decision to turn her own story into comedy underlines that resilience. Stand‑up is one of the most exposing art forms. You stand alone, with no script to hide behind, and invite strangers to judge you in real time. Doing that with material drawn from the darkest years of your life requires emotional clarity, not denial. It shows that Knox has processed her past rather than being defined by it.

Comedy also allows her to reclaim the narrative. For years, the world projected onto her whatever it wanted to see: guilt, innocence, seduction, naivety, cunning, victimhood. On stage, she sets the frame. She decides the tone. She chooses the meaning. That’s not just bravery; it’s psychological sovereignty.

What makes Knox interesting today is that her face still reflects the qualities people sensed in her before the media storm: openness, steadiness, and a lack of hidden malice. It’s the look of someone who went through hell but didn’t let it corrode her. That combination — adult innocence plus emotional strength — is rare. And it explains why her return to public life feels less like reinvention and more like a continuation of who she always was.

This is not a good video but the opening image shows her 'good face'! 😎😃

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins. Also, sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. And, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable. Finally, (!) I often express an OPINION on the news. Please share yours in a comment.

Refined, thoughtful King Charles versus clumsy thoughtless 'King' Trump!

At the end of the recent visit by King Charles III to the White House, President Trump told reporters that the USA needed more people like Charles as US citizens. Trump loves Charles's accent and his intelligent refinement. Charles was Oxbridge educated (Trinity College, Cambridge 1967-70 - see below) . He is not super-intelligent. Not at all. But he is industrious, very thoughtful and sensible. And sensitive to others. He has integrity (which occasionally lags as is the case for all humans).

Charles likes to gently take the piss out of Trump. He does it in a way which is entirely acceptable to Trump because it is refined. You can't criticise Trump or insult him. But Charles ribs Trump is a sophisticated way making it acceptable.

Kind people are seen as more physically attractive than unkind people

A study has come to the conclusion that kind people are seen as more physically attractive than people who are unkind. There are nonphysical factors which can influence the way people look to others in terms of their attractiveness or unattractiveness. It isn't just about physical features and what society deems to be attractive or unattractive which is another story because these will be conventional viewpoints.

Obviously character does have an impact upon whether others perceive a person as attractive or not. And money can have an influence as well! But that's another story. This research's objective was to "unpick some of the non-physical factors that lead an individual to be perceived as good-looking." The quote comes from The Times, the source of this article.

The researchers came to the conclusion that "being thought intelligent or funny can increase an individual's aesthetic appeal. But being perceived as generous and altruistic beat both of those traits in boosting attractiveness."

Dr. Natalia Kononov, of Tel Aviv University, Israel, who led the research, said: "We discovered that people who are kind to others are judged as more beautiful. So beauty really isn't just skin deep. Being a good person can make you look better too."

The research was based upon 10 experiments involving more than 4000 participants. The results were clear according to The Times report. People considered to have "prosocial" traits i.e. kind, helpful and generous, were consistently judged better looking.

The study worked like this. The participants were first given a verbal description of a person. Let's call them Person A. One group was told that Person A had volunteered at a soup kitchen or helped package food for the needy. A second group were told that Person A lacked prosocial elements.

The participants were then introduced to Person A physically and asked to judge their attractiveness on a scale of 1 meaning not beautiful at all to 7 meaning very beautiful. Those who had been described as prosocial were consistently ranked more highly in terms of looks. They scored about 10% higher than those who had been described as funny and about 7% higher than those that were described as being clever.

Sidebar: here is Cilla Black singing about being kind! I love this song as do millions of others:

Dr. Natalia said: "We did expect to see a connection between prosocial behaviour and attractiveness, but we were surprised by how consistently the effect held across both men and women, whether they were the ones being judged or doing the judging."

She added that, "Being helpful, generous and cooperative is beneficial in social and survival context. These traits signal that someone could be a reliable, long-term partner."

And on that basis, they become more attractive because they are a better partner and someone to live with and more likely to survive and live a better life.

The results were published in the British Journal of Social Psychology.

They decided that "This finding opens the door to a broader question about which traits people prioritise when evaluating others. While our study doesn't directly answer that question it does suggest that at least when it comes to beauty evaluations kindness carries more weight than we might have assumed."

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins. Also: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. Also, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable.