Summary Of Crooked Smile By J. Cole

Looking in the mirror, the first thing that I always notice are my abundant freckles and moles. They are prominent on my cheeks and my jawline. These imperfections have been with me since the day I was born. At one point, I even thought about whether I was adopted because neither of my parents had freckles. Growing up, I hated these “dirty spots” on my face and constantly got annoyed by the endless comments about my skin. People even said I didn’t look Korean. I remember one instance when a classmate said my skin looked like a chocolate chip cookie. That day, I went home and attempted to remove my skin lesions by rubbing my face until it got red and applied a mixture I made from some “how to get rid of your moles” website. My obsession to be rid my imperfections and the ever growing self-consciousness devoured me.
Every year I struggled with accepting myself as I was until I came across a song called, “Crooked Smile” by J.
Cole. The overall message of the song was accepting oneself and those imperfections that make one unique. I learned that J. Cole’s imperfection, his crooked teeth, made him self-conscious and insecure during his childhood. Despite the criticism and advice to change his imperfection, he refused to give in and just accepted who he was. This inspired me to do the same, realizing that the ugliness and the way I negatively perceived my moles and freckles were all just thoughts; thoughts that could be discarded in order to focus on more important things like family and success. Soon after, I became more accepting of my imperfections and ceased to care about other people’s
opinions
In fact, I point out that my moles and freckles actually reflect my personality and attitude. For example, the first thing that people see of me are my few bold, dark brown moles. Like these eye-catching moles, my enthusiasm and wild personality are usually the first thing that people notice. I would always be that guy cracking corny jokes or doing something stupid just to see others smile. Being a huge believer in positive attitude brings positive energy, I’d always try to transform a depressing, gloomy environment to one with happiness and smiles. Aside from my easily noticeable moles, my freckles are barely noticeable from afar. Like my freckles, my contemplative personality is something that few people know about. My enthusiastic and loud personality overshadow my very deep and thoughtful mind. A good part of my day is typically spent thinking about deep, philosophical and controversial issues. Most of these thoughts are but not limited to race, the future, and what it means to be human. I reflected back on how people told me that I didn’t fit the typical Korean standard. Comments such as “You have a lot of freckles and moles for a Korean” and “Are you sure you’re Korean? You look more Chinese or Filipino.” come to mind. The way society portrays Koreans as fair skinned with no skin imperfections conflicted with my dark skinned, freckled face. I knew I was different but I refused to fit that stereotypical image. I wanted to stand out and show others that you didn’t need to satisfy the way society portrays you, but only yourself. My facial imperfections reflect who I am as a person and my beliefs. It represents my triumph of self-doubt and embracement of my imperfections. This is who I am and who I always will be. Never will I try to perfect these imperfections, for that will make me another imperfection who couldn't accept myself.