I am Conflicted...

Did you hear about this guy, Tommy Muscatello, from Bolton Landing, NY, who has been operating under a pseudonym in London, England? It's a strange, hilarious but somewhat disturbing story... but I'm conflicted on whether I support the guy or think he should be locked up in a padded room.

I may be revealing too much about my age, but it reminds me of an old Woody Allen movie, Zelig. Allen's movie is about a guy who adapts his entire personality and character according to his surroundings, like a chameleon or octopus can change their body color and/or texture to fit their environment. That's what this Tommy guy has done.

Apparently, he was satisfied with his life as an Italian kid from New York and had from a very young age admired the English culture. And he was committed, even then, to his cultural preference. He told his dad when he was young how he wanted to move there, would sometimes speak in an English accent with friends and family and would even use uniquely English nomenclature (like using the phrase “God save the Queen!” as a salutation). So, he did as any young, hot blooded American-Italian boy would do: he moved to London and assumed the identify of an English blue-blooded, Lord-type aristocrat. His new name became Thomas J. Mace-Archer-Mills, Esq. I feel like there should be a “the third” to end his name (as in Thurston Howell III), but that's probably just from my watching too much Gilligan's Island as a child. If you don't get that reference, then you're from another time and place than I...

Anyway, more than just becoming a proper English gentleman, replete with a medal he proudly wears on his lapel, Thomas J. Mace-Archer-Mills, Esq. farmed himself out as an expert in all things Royal. Apparently, he is a familiar face on TV, both in England as well as America, whenever an expert on the Royals is needed. Although his name, accent and medal are all fake, his knowledge about the Royal family is genuine and accurate. By all accounts, he is a true expert regarding the British Royal Family.

So, here's the thing. He doesn't seem to be defrauding anybody out of money, as the information he gives seems to be honest, true and accurate. Just because he does it in an artful way (that is, pretending to be an be-medaled English lord instead of the blue-collar American Italian he was born as), doesn't make him a fraud, necessarily. Imagine, for example, a TV newscaster or anchor who spends their entire on-air existence pretending to be a upstanding, moral pillar of society. But as soon as the cameras are off, he/she/it kicks other people's puppies in the park and spits on old people. Such a person would be detestable, certainly. But as long as the information they presented while on-air was honest, true and accurate, having their secret life wouldn't be considered perpetrating a fraud, would it?

Or maybe it would... I'm conflicted.

We all want to better ourselves (well, MOST of us do I believe) throughout our lives. For myself, I know I am a different person than I was in grade school, high school, hell even from just five years ago. If this guy felt he was meant to be English, how is that different than a person who feels like they were meant to be another gender?

I dunno. My brain says there is no difference. That I should respect the guy for following his guts and becoming what he had always wanted to be. Part of me does respect him.

But my heart wants to say that there is something sad and wrong about this guy. Like I said... I am conflicted.

Here's a clip of him on the Jim Jeffries show, before he was outed, I believe. Decide for yourself if he is to be respected or pitied...or is it just none of our damn business and we should all live and let live?:

(Story source: Wall Street Journal

gothamist )

(Image and Video source: Jim Jeffries Show)