It's time to get serious and frowny faced

Okay, I have to say that this is something that I have been noticing for a long time. And it's starting to bother me.

You're watching a movie or a TV show, and at some point someone has to do "research." Maybe they're at the library, or they've brought paperwork home from work, or their lieutenant just dumped a a stack of financial records from Evil, Inc. on their desk. Whatever it is.

So then they get serious and start studying. And how do we know this? Because we see a scene in which our hero has a frowny face while staring at a piece of paper, and then they reach out sharply and snag another piece of paper, this one partly hidden by other paper or an open book. And they frown at this second piece of paper.

It's always like that. Frown and stare, reach out, snap, frown and stare.

So here's my question. Do they teach that in acting school or in director school? I mean, is it some kind of universal semaphore for "I'm really studying now, by golly." Snap.

Now, to be fair, sometimes there are little variations. Frown, stare, snap, stare, frown. (See, the second stare and frown were inverted.) Or sometimes they'll attach a little gesture to the end of the second stare/frown, maybe make a check mark with a pen on one of the pages, or even get dramatic with a highlighter. Frown, stare, snap, frown, BIG YELLOW OVAL!

If this seems random and out of nowhere, well, what can I say. At five o'clock this morning my wife and I were watching a grown-up Laura Ingalls Wilder in a straight-to-video extravaganza, featuring her trying to find out who murdered herself in a past life or something, and sure enough, she had some library work to do. Stacks of papers, books, etc. And the frowny face, and the snap of the random sheet of paper.

It's everywhere.

Oh, and another question. Did Melissa Gilbert have a nose job? Just wondering.