Stepford Smiler/Quotes

[inner thought]
Shiny new automobile: check.
Wife cooking meatloaf, taking valium: check.
Monotonus job as a filing clerk: check.
Unbridled inner rage hidden just below the surface of normalcy: check.

—Suburban resident, Destroy All Humans!

With a smile, I'm dying inside
But I know, I'll be just fine

Inside, my heart is breaking
My makeup may be flaking
But my smile still stays on...

—Queen, "The Show Must Go On"

Everyone smiles with that invisible gun to their head.

—Fight Club

What Megaman and my brothers don't know, is this flash is all for show
'Cause inside, there's nothing there, and there's nothing to me,
I'm empty, and I'm hollow...

—Flashman Blue Like You

You was raised without a daddy,
You're really not happy,
You only smile to cover the rain...

—GemStones, Skeletons

You said it made you happy when I smiled, didn't you? But really... I was afraid. I was always afraid.

—Oerba Dia Vanille, Final Fantasy XIII.

Kimahri: Now are dark times. Yuna tries hard.
Tidus: We should help her, then.
Kimahri: If we worry, she tries harder. Do not frown.
Tidus: Don't worry, be happy?
Kimahri: Kimahri try, too.
Tidus: Smile! Let me see.
(Kimahri grimaces)
Tidus: Sad.

—Final Fantasy X

And I've been telling Yuna... Let's go to Zanarkand together! Let's beat Sin! I told her all the things we could... we could... And all along, the whole time, I didn't know anything! But Yuna, she'd... just smile.

—Tidus, Final Fantasy X

That's how the family works. Daddy brings home a paycheck and goes away with his secretary, while Mommy cooks dinner and keeps a brave face on things. All the while, her heart is breaking. Where are my pills...

—Jan Brown, Vice City Public Radio panelist.

Although I laugh and I act like a clown,

Beneath this mask, I am wearing a frown.

—The Beatles, "I'm a Loser"

I'm smiling now...right?

—Wolfgang Grimmer, Monster (manga)

"And they say She's so lucky, she's a star,
But she cries, cries, cries,
In her lonely heart, thinkin':
If there's nothin' missin' in my life,

Then why do these tears fall at night?"

—Britney Spears, "Lucky"

Lying tears hurt others; lying smiles hurt only oneself.

—C.C., Code Geass

"Buried deep as you can dig inside yourself, hidden in the public eye
such a stellar monument to loneliness.
Laced with brilliant smiles and shining eyes,
perfect makeup, but you're barely scraping by.

—Dashboard Confessional, The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most

Frigga appeared the perfect caregiver. She walked through the castle, gave comfort where it was needed, and did not let her face slip.

—Narration, "Enduring", a Thor fanfic

Plus, humor was a good way to hide the pain.

—Leo Valdez (narration), The Heroes of Olympus

At first when I see you cry
It makes me smile
Yeah it makes me smile
At worst I feel bad for a while
But then I just smile
Yeah I go ahead and smile.

—Lily Allen, "Smile"

No, Orson Hodge isn't exactly the guy I'd have picked to head my family, but I'll give him one thing... he's got the smile down cold.

—Rex Van de Kamp, Desperate Housewives

No, no... I shouldn't be laughing. Nothing's funny.

—Laughing Octopus Metal Gear Solid

"[The Misha you know is different from the one I think of, when I think of the time we first met. Even though I think she looks better cheerful and smiling, that isn't how she typically is.]"

—Shizune Hakamichi, Katawa Shoujo

"You walk out the door, you see someone that you know and they ask you how you are, and you just have to say that you're fine, when you're not really fine, but you just can't get into it because they would never understand."

—Katy Perry, in a 2014 interview for The Project (turned into a meme)