﻿Today we are going to be talking about Maddy, played by Alexa Demie, from Euphoria and her
‘Siren Eyes’ as well as other facial features that lend themselves to her
role. The ‘siren eyes’ tiktok trend depicts the sultry allure of the eyes. That transition from
a ‘doe’ eyed look to ‘siren’ eyes is simply going from innocent and vulnerable to a more strikingly
seductive appearance. There have been many different tricks & techniques circulating on how
to pull off this look, but they all try to achieve that same ‘bedroom eyes’ look. The two are pretty
much synonymous, but with slight differences. Bedroom eyes usually just refer to any captivating
eye area; this usually includes darker brows that are closer to the eyes, almond eye shape,
upturned brows, and moderate upper eyelid exposure. ‘Siren eyes’ typically allow for more
upper eyelid exposure and scleral show(or whites of the eyes). In short, bedroom eyes are probably
more exclusive and hard to naturally achieve, while Siren eyes have a similar seductive effect,
but are more of how you carry yourself than pure eye morphology alone. What characterizes
the ‘siren eyes’ look that Maddy has is a lax eyebrow and eyelid position as opposed to an
alert one This change of expression from doe to siren eyes affects emotional indicators in the eye
area by altering cephalometric markers in eye morphology. When the eyes are widened,
the eye width to height ratio also similarly the eye aspect ratio becomes smaller,
in effect rounding out the eyes and making them look more innocent and bambi-like. ‘Siren’ eyes
lead to higher eye width to height ratios, and more striking eye shapes; it basically
achieves the same effect of squinting the eyes or having an angry expression, without the emotional
baggage of a brow crease. It is that ‘blank’ allure that makes siren eyes so captivating. In
the same breath, Siren eyes also look tired and uncaring. When you relax the lid and brow muscles
there is more upper eyelid and sclera exposed; it is trying to replicate what you look like when
you are tired. The reason your upper eyelids feel heavy when tired is due to the fatigue
of the levator muscles. This contributes to the ‘bedroom eyes’ look, whereas Bambi looks like he
is always awake. A simple trick like tilting the head back can make the eyes appear more tired
and less alert. Some tiktokers are pointing out the hilarity of this trend and how it is just
people exaggerating their head position and trying too hard to pull off the ‘look’. When we give
attraction indicators, we typically do not stare at people with widened eyes like a sociopath;
there is some kind of seductive technique or ‘gaze’ that accompanies sexual interest. If your
eye shape is naturally ‘siren like’, then you will appear to have that look as a baseline. Everyone
has a different baseline. You can squint your eyes or lower your brows to try and copy that ‘look’,
but it won’t ever be exactly the same as someone like Maddy who effortlessly pulls it off.
This ‘look’ certainly applies to the nature of her character in Euphoria. Her eyes carry along an
unwavering, uncaring, and constantly seductive aura. Maddy Perez is exactly that; she is involved
in toxic relationships including with the school jock Nate. She is that popular girl that has an
intangible sense of who she is. With her well above average features and dentofacial growth,
her facial attractiveness also lends itself to her role. She constantly uses her looks to
manipulate others and her ‘siren eyes’ only help in seducing, cheating, and stirring jealousy.
Her‘siren eyes’ make a statement that says she doesn’t care what the outside world thinks. Maddy
freely expresses herself in most cases; this is in contrast to Lexi, who has a more passive,
spectator-esque nature. Her eyes and overall facial appearance also represent this, with ‘doe’
eyes, and weaker dentofacial growth. That contrast in jaw shape and facial structure put Lexi into
the ‘nice girl’ or ‘girl next door’ archetype. Maddy’s ‘look’ is less trustworthy and likable
due to her darker hair and brows, more defined bone structure, and ‘siren eyes’. A study by
Mitsuhiro studied the role of eye characteristics in facial attractiveness, beauty, and likeability.
Of particular relevance were the measurements of eye size, measured as the total area of the eye,
and eye roundness measured as the eye width to height ratio. While eye size does not correlate
well with beauty, attractiveness, and likeability, the proportion of iris to the whole eye and eye
roundness correlate well with all three. “In particular, facial likability was correlated with
large eye size, which reflects childishness or cuteness. These results suggest the possibility
that likable faces, rather than beautiful or attractive ones, are considered familiar or
safe ``. It makes sense why Maddy and Nate’s eyes are not overly round; these are not meant
to be the most likable and childish people. In fact Nate has an abusive and dark personality.
With an eye width to height ratio of approximately 3 to 1, Maddy does not have ‘rounded’ eyes. Lexi
on the other hand would have a ratio approaching 2 to 1, meaning the eyes are only two times wider
than they are vertically tall. These ‘Doe’ eyes, along with Lexi’s fairer hair and brows
compliment what the directors had in mind for her initial character’s archetype. We’ve
touched on in past videos how typecasting does not necessarily limit a character to their stereotype.
Instead, it sets up the foundation of what a viewer would associate with a character’s ‘look’.
Then, as the seasons progress, it gives room for a character to grow out of their shell. Typecasting
just helps keep the audience guessing at the end of the day; without it, we just wouldn’t
feel the same character attachment. Maddy’s jaw is also sharp, with a more acute
gonial angle than lexi. This is pretty typical for the popular kid stereotype as it generally
leads to a more attractive face and plays into the ‘halo effect’ discussed in scientific literature;
higher jaw angles produce rounder, less striking, and less dominant jaw shapes.
Maddy’s jaw still has a feminized morphology, but it is certainly more attractive and angular than
average. Nate fits this trend with a typically masculinized jaw and prominent dentofacial growth.
Lexi, on the other hand, has a round jaw without much definition or angularity.
Usually the less trustworthy, manipulative, and popular characters are portrayed with
above average facial attractiveness; this comes in the form of jaw angularity, cheekbone prominence,
striking eye-shape, and darker coloring, not to mention the character’s attire. While attractive,
usually those typecast into a high schooler role won’t be hyper attractive. It just wouldn't look
right. Jacob Elordi who plays Nate is also a model, but he does not have the same striking
facial appearance as top male models. The same thing can be applied to Maddy, where she does
not have extremely high cheekbones or prominent forward growth. Her zygomatic bones are prominent,
but the most protrusive part of the ogee curve indicates she has low-set cheekbones. Her
casting needs these physical ‘differences’ because we’re not going for the striking
modelesque look but rather a believable, high schooler who would have less facial leanness than
a starving model. This is not always the case as some shows like the vampire diaries go all out and
use hyper-attractive actors, but I suppose that plays into the appeal and exclusivity of vampires;
they are not your normal high schooler. A big component to this ‘siren eyes’ look
has a lot to do with eye tiredness, or giving off that ‘I’m falling asleep’ or ‘I don’t care’ vibe.
In fact, a study by Ahad et al. studied a thing called the tiredness assessment. This assessment
integrates things like eye width to height ratio into the somewhat complex Eye Aspect Ratio
formula. But in simple terms all the eye aspect ratio is trying to measure is how ‘awake’ the eyes
look. It is interesting how certain cephalometric markers affect even how tired our eyes look. Their
study essentially measures eye closure time and blinking ability to assess tiredness. To do so,
the eye has to first be fully opened and that is where the eye aspect ratio comes into play.
A lower eye aspect ratio indicates more open or rounded eyes, while higher ratios indicate less
opened eyes. To be able to set a baseline, the eyes have to be fully open. This is why those with
siren eyes look half asleep, because their eyes are probably not at baseline levels of openness.
Even if they are, it gives off the appearance of tiredness when compared to someone with a higher
Eye-Aspect-Ratio and more alert eyes. The study ended up showing a blink rate reduction as the
day went on; a normal person usually blinks 10 times a minute and 4-6 times is classified as
drowsy. Among drowsy people, the blink rate reduced from about 6 times a minute in the morning
to 3 times at midnight. Without even putting Maddy up to that test, her eyes just give off the
appearance that she is too tired to blink 10 times in a minute. Add on the fact that she has upper
eyelid exposure and scleral show underneath the iris and her eyes become even more sleepy looking.
It is these traits that separate a traditionally modelesque eye area, or ‘bedroom eyes’, from that
‘siren eyes’ look. Siren eyes would best be summed up as seductive tiredness. This means eyes with
attractive properties like orbital bone support, eye upturn, and dense brows, but also some unique
traits that play around with emotional indicators as well as apparently, sleep indicators.