15 Comments

1. AmberStar October 17th, 2009 at 9:45 am

   I’ve seen him face to face at a town hall meeting and as I saw this announcement live I noticed how unhappy and mechanical the entire speech was. It felt like he was miserable.

2. Luke October 20th, 2009 at 3:41 pm

   well he certainly doesn’t show any happiness… in fact he repeatedly gives reasons not to get it.. interesting for sure.

3. Yvette October 22nd, 2009 at 5:25 am

   Looked very unhappy

4. SH October 24th, 2009 at 10:57 am

   anyone else notice the stretching of the corners of the mouth immediately after he says “surprised and deeply humbled”? (~0:36)

   also what stuck me in the beginning of the video was his almost discomfort in telling the joke, the forced smile he puts up immediately after it.

   clear to me in his words and expressions that he doesnt feel he deserve this

5. C. Lewis October 26th, 2009 at 12:48 pm

   I believe he looked unhappy because maybe he felt that he didnt deserve the award himself.

6. Charlotte October 26th, 2009 at 9:04 pm

   Interesting that he talked about his kids putting things in context for him. He only looked happy when talking about his kids. When he mentioned the prize, he looked annoyed.

7. cameron October 27th, 2009 at 9:13 am

   I think the president was happy to recieve this award, However I do not feel that he was by any means “humbled” by it. When saying that he was humbled there was a slight head turn from side to side, this to me is conflict between the verbal and non verbal. There was also a micro expression of contempt directly after the word humbled came out of his mouth as if the idea that he somehow shouldnt have received this award is rediculous. Also when the president says that he does not accept this award in recognition of his own accomplishments there is a slight shift backwards accompanied by a head nod. He also looks at the crowd for an extra long second which i think is not just making eye contact, as he is doing well throughout the speach, but looking for feedback and confirmation of his statement.

8. Kim T. October 27th, 2009 at 7:16 pm

   The minute he started the speech to the end, he seemed really monotone in his speaking. When I first thought about it, I was thinking well maybe he doesn’t think he deserves this award and when I watched the video and he mentioned exactly that, it seems that he is making himself feel this way. I think that he definitely doesn’t look happy and i think that’s because he’s putting himself down and setting low standards for himself. Maybe in time he learn that he deserved it and accept it.

9. yaf October 28th, 2009 at 6:17 pm

   It seems to me that he was very much in touch with the responsibility that this award puts on his shoulders. He seems to speak his mind truthfully - that this does not mark his accomplishments and that there’s a lot of work to do. He also says that he does not feel that he should be in the same league as some other inspirational figures. You could see that when he speaks.

10. N. van Hees November 5th, 2009 at 1:53 am

    He did not look happy indeed, annoyed even. What further I got from his speech, as far as my reading skills go, is that he believes that the United States is responsible for more than he was saying (for example distinct pause and false starts after “is responsible for”) and that he beliefs the United States has a larger role to play in solving several problems than the rest of the world (visible every mention of “the world”). I also saw a micro expression of anger when he spoke of events related to discrimination. And one of contempt when talking about resolving the crisis in Israel.

11. Blake November 11th, 2009 at 3:34 pm

    It seems to me he is befuddled and deeply agitated at recieving the award. A rich anger seems to permeate from him, as if he his angry to have been given such an award prematurely and fearful of unknown implications which may be likely to arise because of it.

12. Astron12 November 11th, 2009 at 7:07 pm

    i think that he may have just been angry about having been woken up too early and in a fog of sleep deprivation. He always looked to the cameras to the left or right of our view point adding to the sense of hostility

13. allie November 13th, 2009 at 5:45 am

    Hmmm…why do I find it difficult to believe?

14. Bryan November 16th, 2009 at 7:07 pm

    To me, it looks as if he feels guilty about something, he is trying to hide his guilt, but when he looks down at his speech, the constant blinking of the eyes says to me that he is guilty, or aware of something not yet known to the public.

    I could be wrong, i’m not a professional by any means, just saw the link on the “Lie to Me” page, and being an avid viewer of the show, thought i would give it a try.

15. Ben November 19th, 2009 at 7:54 am

    I think Blake hit it on the head, he didn’t seem humbled to receive it, he does believe that he doesn’t deserve it. Also, did anyone catch the raised eyebrow when he mentioned our “allies”? It was almost as if he was saying that he doesn’t know who he can actually trust. I’ve noticed that in all his speeches (even before he was elected), he never looks straight ahead, always side-to-side, like he’s dribbling a basketball with his eyes. The monotone speech patterns could also indicate, like a lot have already said, that he feels uncomfortable and even perturbed about having to give speeches all the time. I’ve not heard him just having a casual conversation so I wouldn’t know if there are any actual differences between his normal speech patterns and his public speech patterns.

    I’m like Blake, I’m an avid watcher of “lie to me” and I’m also planning on heading back to school for psychology so I thought, why not give this a try.

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