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Bizarre photo of Adele's face explains the viral phenomenon called the Thatcher effect

The 45-year-old optical illusion is still astounding people.

Credit: Condé Nast (through Vogue Taiwan)

Prepare to get Thatcherized.

Adele has a face that is chiseled into the public's mind. She's been a global icon for two decades with a number of mega hit albums and songs. But this photo might be the most unforgettable of all. Perhaps you’ve seen the image in question previously (it seems to make the rounds every couple of years). But in case you missed it—it’s Adele’s face. Normal, just upside down.

Only it’s not normal. In fact, when you turn Adele’s face right side up, what you notice is that her eyes and mouth were actually right-side up THE ENTIRE TIME, even though the entire head was upside down. So when you turn the head right side up, the eyes and mouth are now UPSIDE-DOWN—and you can’t unsee it. Do you feel like you're Alice in Wonderland yet?

Just wait. Things get even more fascinating. Especially because this optical illusion is over 40 years in the making.

Below you’ll find the Adele photo in question. Go ahead. Take a look at it. Then turn the image upside down.


adele, thatcher effect, psychology Can't. Unsee.scontent-lax3-2.xx.fbcdn.net

Crazy right? And just a little terrifying?

As the Facebook post explains, this mind-boggling image highlights a phenomenon known as the Thatcher effect. Our brains, so much more used to recognizing faces that are right-side up, have difficulty detecting specific changes once a face is upside down.

margaret thatcher, colleage of thatcher photos, thatcher effect Image manipulation illustrating the Thatcher effect. Rob Bogaerts Image manipulation: Phonebox

Seeing that everything is more or less where it should be, our brains don’t notice anything out of the ordinary in Adele’s face until we turn her face back to a normal position.

The Thatcher effect got its name from British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, on whose photograph it was first demonstrated back in 1980 by Peter Thompson, Professor of Psychology at York University.

This demonstration was one of the first to explore just how facial recognition works, and certainly the first to suggest that humans (and monkeys, it turns out) process faces on a more holistic level, rather than by individual components like lips and eyes. There's even evidence that rhesus monkeys and chimpanzees experience the Thatcher effect, meaning it may have deep roots in the evolutionary biology of mammals.

Since its publication, there has been a wealth of research exploring how our brain takes in both subtle and striking facial configurations.


- YouTube www.youtube.com


Funny enough, it was once believed that this illusion only worked on the Prime Minister’s face. But as Adele has proven, anyone can be Thatcherized.

This article originally appeared two years ago.

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Adele moved to tears after a man in the crowd holds up a photo of his late wife

"I see these little pockets of people's lives when I walk through, and it's so beautiful."

@adeleaccess/TikTok

"This is for you, sir, who's showing me a photo of his wife on his phone.”

Adele is an artist who regularly interacts with her fans during concerts. But one particular exchange left the singer in tears.

During one of her “Weekends with Adele” shows at Caesar's Palace in Vegas, the British pop icon began walking through the crowd singing “When We Were Young” when she noticed a man holding up his phone to show a picture of his wife.

Back on stage to sing “Someone Like You,” Adele then said, "This is for you, sir, who's showing me a photo of his wife on his phone,” while smiling.

Only a few moments later, Adele realized there was an additional layer to the man’s story.

After the song ended, Adele took a moment to describe to the crowd what just happened. "When I walk through the crowd," she said, taking a big breath to hold back tears, "I wish you could see what I could see."

She continued, "I know I talk to a few people every night, but then I just see little stories of people happening. There was a man. He's just there—can you see him holding his phone up?"

Tearing up, the “Hello” singer explained, "I think that's his wife on his phone, and I don't think she's here, and it just really moved me."

@adeleaccess A very special moment from Adele’s concert this past Friday ♥️ #adele #weekendswithadele #adelevegas #adelelive #someonelikeyou #whenwewereyoung ♬ Someone Like You - Adele

"It looks like you're here on your own, and I'm so sorry," she told the man. "I'm so sorry for your loss, and I'm so sorry I didn't realize what you were showing me until I was already over there. I see these little pockets of people's lives when I walk through, and it's so beautiful."

People who watched the video noticed that the man had held up his wife’s picture while holding his heart. One person wrote, “crying bc he looked so content even if Adele didn’t notice, like he was happy knowing his wife would’ve loved just seeing what he’s seeing.”

It goes to show not only what a big heart Adele has, but the inherent empathy humans have for one another. Complete strangers can create intimate bonds because, to some extent, we all share an experience of love and loss. It’s a painful part of life, but arguably one that makes life so rewarding.

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A hilarious account of one fan's three gloriously failed attempts to see Adele in concert

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@elenisabracos on TikTok

Look, it’s a sad situation for anyone to hear that Adele will not be gracing the stage any time soon. The beloved singer woefully announced on Instagram last Friday (Jan 21) that her planned residency in Las Vegas “wasn’t ready” due to coronavirus. Half of her crew had been infected, making it “impossible to finish the show.”

But for one fan in particular, who has tried—and failed miserably—to catch Adele live on three separate occasions, the news hit particularly hard. Luckily, her sense of humor proves that any tragedy can turn into comedy gold.

This story, with all its hilarious twists and turns, is quite the delightful saga. And though it doesn’t erase all the gutting disappointments left from pandemic cancellations, it does serve as wholesome entertainment.

Eleni Sabracos (@elenisabracos) shared her doomed journey on TikTok, which began in 2016. 

@elenisabracos IM NOT MAD AT #ADELE I JUST WANT TO GIVE HER THESE SHIRTS AND DRINK WHISPERING ANGEL TOGETHER #storytime #ellenshow ♬ original sound - Eleni

Sabracos purchased tickets to see Adele at Madison Square Garden. Fake tickets, it turns out.

“Nobody felt bad for me because I bought them off Craigslist so that was my own doing,” Sabracos declared sarcastically.

Attempt #2: Sabracos bought tickets (legitimately this time) to see Adele in concert at Wembley Stadium in London the next summer. Got a confirmation number and everything.

Deciding to raise the stakes, she even upgraded to the very VIP “golden circle” seat, which would, theoretically, have Sabracos so up close and personal with Adele she’d probably know what perfume she was wearing.

The impassioned “I WAS IN THE GOLDEN CIRCLE!” gets me every time.

That should make up for the previous blunder, right? Wrong.

Just one day before the concert, Adele canceled the show “on medical advice” after damaging her vocal cords. To be fair, Adele did not take this lightly either, and was “devastated” to let her fans down.

Unfortunately, Sabracos had already crossed the pond to see her.

“Mind you I risked my life to be there,” Sabracos exclaimed, “on this cardboard airplane called WOW airlines.” She then pointed to a headline showing that the carrier company had since been discontinued. Yikes.

“The only thing wow about it was that it was surprising the airplane could fly!” This girl is a natural comedienne.

One last twist of the proverbial knife: Deciding to give herself a comfort meal, Sabracos requested an uber driver to take her to a nearby restaurant. That driver’s name, eerily enough, was Adeel. Will this pain never end?!

At this point, Sabracos had become a viral sensation, even making a guest appearance on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show."

She had T-shirts printed, which read “I love Adele like Adele loves Beyonce," and everything.

Cut to 2021, when Sabracos’ brother gave her tickets to Adele’s Vegas show. Third time was certainly not the charm in this case.

adele concert

@elenisabracos's custom-made (and seemingly cursed) t-shirts

TikTok

Already in her hotel room in Las Vegas, Sabracos yells at the top of her lungs “WHYYYYY?” like a thwarted cartoon villain on hearing the news. And then she whispers in a tiny voice, ”I still brought the shirts.”

“Adele is part of the most elaborate April Fools prank ever,” one person commented. And hey, he might be onto something.

This story does have a happy ending though.

@elenisabracos

THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING LADIES AND GENTS

♬ original sound - Eleni

In a follow-up video, Sabracos did in fact get to FaceTime with the British pop queen. And it sounds like there will be a meet-and-greet in the future, complete with wine and shirt giving.

Beware, well-deserved shrieks of excitement ensue.

Though Sabracos has yet to be successful in her original mission to see Adele live, this series of unfortunate events led to having one truly unique fan experience.

You know what they say, it’s about the journey, not the destination.

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Adele helped facilitate an impossible-to-top surprise proposal at her concert

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Quentin Brunson proposed to his girlfriend Ashleigh Mann with the help of Adele and friends.

Last night, Adele's first live concert in four years aired on CBS, and it was a night to remember for more reasons than that.

Held at the beautiful Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, the concert was a star-studded event with gorgeous views of the city. Hearing and seeing Adele sing in a stunning black evening gown while the sun set behind her felt almost indulgent in its perfection, but the night was made even more special with a surprise proposal Adele helped orchestrate.

After Adele told the audience to be "really bloody quiet" and had the lights turned down, Quentin Brunson led his girlfriend, Ashleigh Mann, to the front of the stage. She was wearing noise-canceling headphones and a blindfold and had no idea where she was. When she took them off, she found Quentin down on one knee. She could see and hear the crowd, but it wasn't until after Quentin went through his tearful proposal that Ashleigh found out where she was and who she was with.

Watch:

Can you even imagine? "What is happening? Where am I? OMG, I'm getting engaged! Oh, Adele—HELLO! What? I'm on you're 'One Night Only' special that millions of people around the world are going to be watching on television? Take a seat in the front row, you say? Right here between Lizzo and Melissa McCarthy? UM, OKAY. Oh, you're singing to me now. Am I dreaming?"

How does one even take in such an experience? It was all so beautiful and clever and surprisingly real. Ashleigh's "Oh my god, I've been your girlfriend for so long" and her "In real life?" during the proposal and her simple, "Yeah" that sealed the deal were so dang cute. But her face when she saw Adele was absolutely priceless. And then Adele's cackle—AH HA!

The performance of "To Make You Feel My Love," just iced the cake. So, so sweet. We're all wiping our eyes with you, Melissa McCarthy.

Quentin and Ashleigh were interviewed by Gayle King on CBS This Morning and shared how the proposal came to be:

Ashleigh said she thought they were going to go on a hayride because they had been talking about going to a pumpkin patch. Ha.

Quentin himself didn't even know the surprise proposal opportunity was going to involve Adele herself until a couple of days before it happened. And the couple has had to keep the whole thing a secret since the filming—even from their friends and family—which had to have been torture.

What a fun and memorable night. Even people who aren't fans of public proposals gave props to the surprise. Any proposal that involves Adele singing directly to you in person is pretty much impossible to criticize and impossible to top.

Congratulations to the happy couple!

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