"Good-looking people with strong, fluoridated teeth get things handed to them on platters"
About this Quote
Pretty privilege, but make it Canadian-lit deadpan: Coupland’s line lands because it’s both obvious and indecent to say out loud. “Good-looking people” is already a cultural cheat code, yet he sharpens the accusation by zooming in on “strong, fluoridated teeth” - not just beauty, but the kind of beauty produced by infrastructure, dentistry, and middle-class stability. Fluoride isn’t glamorous; it’s municipal. By tying desirability to a public-health additive, he turns “natural” attractiveness into a receipt for social investment.
The phrase “get things handed to them on platters” pushes the resentment into etiquette territory: not earned, not requested, just served. It’s a satire of effortless ascent - the interview that feels like a chat, the landlord who “has a good feeling,” the second chances that arrive disguised as generosity. Coupland’s intent isn’t to vilify attractive people so much as to expose the polite hypocrisies that protect unequal outcomes. We like to pretend we’re meritocrats; he points to the cosmetic evidence that we’re also shamelessly responsive to packaging.
Contextually, this fits Coupland’s larger project: mapping late-20th-century North American life where identity is assembled from consumer goods, wellness cues, and corporate-approved “health.” Teeth become a status symbol you can flash without talking, a biometric resume. The joke works because it’s funny, but it stings because it’s true: even our smiles have a supply chain, and the benefits compound quietly.
The phrase “get things handed to them on platters” pushes the resentment into etiquette territory: not earned, not requested, just served. It’s a satire of effortless ascent - the interview that feels like a chat, the landlord who “has a good feeling,” the second chances that arrive disguised as generosity. Coupland’s intent isn’t to vilify attractive people so much as to expose the polite hypocrisies that protect unequal outcomes. We like to pretend we’re meritocrats; he points to the cosmetic evidence that we’re also shamelessly responsive to packaging.
Contextually, this fits Coupland’s larger project: mapping late-20th-century North American life where identity is assembled from consumer goods, wellness cues, and corporate-approved “health.” Teeth become a status symbol you can flash without talking, a biometric resume. The joke works because it’s funny, but it stings because it’s true: even our smiles have a supply chain, and the benefits compound quietly.
Quote Details
| Topic | Sarcastic |
|---|
More Quotes by Doug
Add to List
