Why does it seem that we're always attracted to the bad boy or the bad girl? There's just something about the fantasy of a criminal that stirs a bit of passion, isn't there? Perhaps it's the Bonnie and Clyde complex, but nothing seems to get the internet more hot and bothered than a particularly attractive mugshot.
I'm sure we all remember the incredibly hot felon, Jeremy Meeks. He was a member of the Crips and was arrested in 2014. After the police posted his mugshot online, it went viral and spawned the nickname "hot felon" as well as the hashtag #MugshotBae.
While Meeks served 27 months in prison for felony charges of possessing an illegal firearm and grand theft, due to his internet celebrity status, he became a model after he was released from jail last year. He was recently described by Vogue as a "buff bad boy" after a New York Fashion Week performance.
However, now there's a new #MugshotBae on the block. Marshala Perkin was recently arrested for marijuana possession, but after the internet caught sight of the self-taught makeup artist's mugshot, many were demanding her release so that they could get a beauty tutorial!
Her mugshot has gotten hundreds of thousands of likes on Twitter with many comments pouring in to tell her how gorgeous she looks and others asking the felon to share her makeup secrets.
Perkin explained to Buzzfeed exactly what happened the day she got arrested. Apparently, she had parked her car in a handicap parking space because her mother had a badge and Perkin often drives her around town to run errands.
A police officer approached her car and asked for the badge. Perkin supplied it and the officer walked away only to return a few moments later to say everything checked out. That's when the officer suddenly asked Perkin to step out of the car on account of him smelling marijuana.
Check out the video below to see 10 of the hottest mugshots ever taken:
The officer found two grams of weed, which Perkin confessed she planned to smoke later that day with some friends, and at that point, she was arrested. The mugshot of discussion shortly followed along with Perkin's instant internet fame.
Perkin admitted that she was embarrassed about the whole incident at first, but then later claimed she was pleased that everyone loved her makeup skills so much. She's definitely got talent!
The 19-year-old has now seen her career as a makeup artist take off and she has been constantly being asked to do others' makeup. Numerous requests for tips and tutorials have also been made.
"Someone has reached out to me about starting my own makeup line. It's crazy. My mind is blown," Perkins, who is studying at A&M Univerisity, said. "Now it's turned into something so positive so I'm just going to embrace it and see where it takes me."
I'm sure plenty of us are looking forward to a potential makeup line. And, as requested, Perkins has begun recording tutorial videos to be posted online. Her legions of fans will certainly be happy about this news!
Perkin isn't the only felon with a fanbase. Thanks to the Twitter account Mugshot Baes, plenty of criminal pretty faces have gone viral, and if Perkin and Meeks are proof of anything it's that, on occasion, getting arrested can be very good for one's career. Who would have thought that eh?!
Most of the Mugshot Bae photos get hundreds if not thousands of likes. However, if you don't want the world to know what you did, then perhaps don't do the crime. These photos also list what the person was arrested for and are shared widely.
For example, one mugshot bae is listed as having seduced a minor. Yikes! Not sure that's going to go over well for future career prospects. Marijuana possession is one thing, but not all criminal activity can be so easily overlooked.
What do you think? Would you date a prisoner? While hearing of people having an incarcerated penpal is nothing new, websites like MeetaPrisoner.com, InmatesforYou.com, and GayPrisoners.net have made interaction with an inmate easier than ever.
So what exactly is it that attracts some people to those who have committed crimes? One woman named Georgina Rigby admitted to having previously had a relationship with a prison inmate.
"Thinking about it now, several years later, the letters allowed me to be intimate at a distance. To be my 'best self' without the physical and personal flaws that he'd encounter face to face," she admitted to the Independent. She also added that she just wanted to be "wanted and liked".
Perhaps for others, the attraction is superficial - with beauty being the main factor attracting them to their mugshot baes. And online flirting is nothing more than a little fun at a distance, perhaps similar to that of a crush on a celebrity. After all, these viral mugshots are allowing these people to become celebrities of sorts.
So do these mugshot baes find true love post-internet-fame? Perhaps. Jeremy Meeks, the original "hot felon", divorced his wife of a decade earlier this year. Now he's dating the ultrarich Topshop heiress Chloe Green. Is it true love? Only time will tell.
For now, let's all try to find more legal ways to become rich and famous. In the meantime, we wish Marshala Perkin the very best of luck with her career as a makeup artist. We look forward to those tutorials and a hot new beauty line soon!