“I also want to go viral with my mugshot”

Normally, you mainly see them in movies. Those mugshots, a.k.a. police photos, that never really turn out charming. The arrested person in question always looks a bit disheveled, but NOT in the case of American Lily Stewart (20).

The student managed to end up in front of the camera at the police station twice in one month. First for exceeding the speed limit, to which she responded that she was unaware of the existence of a limit, and then for a nighttime burglary at the university. Here too, Lily played the part of the wronged innocent, because wasn't the building just open?

Model citizen

Look, I could give a lecture here about her completely brilliant response of total ignorance, which is always the smartest thing to do when you break the law, but I'd rather talk about her mugshot. What did Lily do? Instead of shrinking away from the camera, she plastered the most cheerful smile on her face not once but twice and – yes – she went viral with it.

Suddenly, I want a mugshot too. Not that I would qualify for one in any way. Aside from a minor speeding violation, I’m probably the model citizen of the country. I only break laws under bad influence and then I probably manage to talk my way out of it. So that mugshot remains a ‘just like in the movies’ scenario for me, but one can dream.

By the way, Lily Stewart is not entirely satisfied with the police photos, as they could have been much more charming. Still, her instinct took over when the camera was pulled out, and she smiled widely. I understand that. As soon as someone has a phone ready, I too have the uncontrollable reaction to plaster a smile on my face. That's just how we are programmed. I can almost hear my mother in my head saying ‘cheeeese’.

Sexy mugshot

There’s a chance that student Stewart will gain quite a bit from her cheerful mugshots. Besides the reprimand from her parents. Former (we think) criminal Jeremy Meeks landed a modeling contract from his mugshot that also went viral. He ended up in jail in 2014 and upon his release in 2016, he began his work as a model. Not long after, he followed a career as an actor, and the best man is now good for 1.4 million followers on Instagram thanks to his sexy mugshot.

Look, I don’t want to encourage anyone to commit crimes, but if you look a bit cheerful in a mugshot, it could just lead to something beautiful. Or life in prison, that chance exists too.

Image: © Clarke County Sheriff’s Office