The new Samsung advert

'Now she's really going to get her own back on her fun-policing mother by … owning an energy-saving washing machine'


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"Mums: they do That Look really well", muses Miranda Hart, who'd know, seeing as her own on-screen mother does a mean line in judgmental. But even she's not a patch on Samsung's twisted idea of the everymum, whose Disapproving Face possesses nigh-on mythical powers. All she has to do is walk into a room – eyebrows slightly raised, eyelids retracted – and her daughter will immediately cease any wrongdoing. Whether she's playfully tussling over a doll or just wearing a short-ish dress, over the years That Look has unfailingly transformed her into the perfect child: submissive, with just a hint of despondency about her.

Anyway, the girl apparently survived adolescence despite all Those Looks, and we catch up with the pair in the present day. Downtrodden daughter invites her mum over. She's caved to the dress code – high-necked cardigan and sensible beige slacks – but that's merely in order to lull Mrs Disapproval into a false sense of security. Now she's really going to get her own back on her fun-policing mother by … owning an energy-saving washing machine. Oh yeah, that's rebellion without a cause. Unless you count climate change as a cause. "Now you can do That Look!," Miranda triumphantly pipes up. Yes, but does it count when your mum's still doing That Look regardless? When you've become a mirror image of the woman whose very eyeballs extinguish joy wherever they go? What about when your current levels of smugness are based solely on a household appliance? Oh, maturity and its accompanying consumer goods fixation: less "such fun!", more what I call depressing.

Contributor

Rachel Aroesti

The GuardianTramp

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