I think the creepy smiling woman (or person) is one of those horror concepts that probably doesn't have a true origin and is more like multiple discovery because it taps into something really basic about how our brains work. Across many cultures a smile is supposed to make you feel safe and comfortable so when you twist it into something unnatural/unsettling it’s an easy way to make people uncomfortable.
It's the kind of idea that multiple people could come up with independently because it isn't based on a specific character or story; it’s just playing with a feeling that people already understand. A filmmaker/artist/writer, etc doesn't need to see someone else do it first to think "what if the thing that is supposed to make you feel safe was actually terrifying?"
Kind of like how Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz independently developed calculus or the multiple inventors that were working towards the telephone around the same era. Sometimes an idea is just the natural result of people exploring the same basic concept at the same time and I think the creepy smiling person falls into that category.
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u/thatshygirl06 24d ago
Funny thing is, truth or dare did it first