For extra credit, I'd like you to read this rather lengthy New Yorker piece entitled "The Chameleon" about a Frenchman who spends the majority of his life posing as different people. He is an impostor in every sense of the word. His story is fascinating and should raise particular questions in our minds about identity. Be sure to read your fellow students' comments before engaging in the following questions:
-Who is Frederic Bordin? This question appears rather simplistic, but after reading the article, you will note the difficulty in answering this question.
-How is Bordin able to successfully manipulate those around him? Why are his victims so willing to believe in the truth of his identity?
-Are we ever dishonest about our identities? Do we manipulate our audiences to believe that we're someone that we are not? Can you empathize with Bordin?
-How do you know that any student in any of your classes is who s/he claims to be?
-What has this article taught you about identity?
In addition to answering these questions, please feel free to engage one another in conversation as well as introduce questions of your own. I'll chime in from time to direct traffic, but feel free to comment and will, post relevant links, and engage in a rather fascinating (and professional) debate.
I look forward to reading your remarks.
Frederic Bourdin is whoever he wants to be. His identity revolves around the replication of other peoples’ identities.
ReplyDeleteBourdin is able to manipulate his victims because the kind of people he impersonates are people whose identities no one would want to question. He routinely impersonates, for instance, children who have some kind of tragic background. People don't want to question whether or not an orphan is really an orphan. What if he really is an orphan, and questioning his identity is going to hurt him? When Bourdin poses as Nicholas and Parker wants to question Bourdin, Parker hesitates and wonders: What if this really is Nicholas and I'm doubting him and disrupting his family for no reason? Beverly and Carey don't want to question Bourdin for the same reason. It’s easier for them believe that Bourdin is Nicholas. It’s easier for them to believe that their family is whole again instead of realizing that it never was. Besides the fact that Bourdin impersonates identities that no one wants to question, he's just really good at impersonating. He's very good at gathering information about his subjects and then replicating the behaviors of his subjects and pretending to understand the memories of his subjects as well. He doesn't give people much to doubt.
While Bourdin is a shape shifter in real life I think the internet is a place where many people pretend to be someone else and lie about their identities. I think we may be dishonest about our identities either to fit in or to stand out in a positive sense. While Bourdin routinely impersonates people with tragic backgrounds, I think we try to make ourselves look better than we are. A couple of years ago I couldn't swim, but all my friends could. To fit in, I just told them I could swim. I'm just lucky I took swim gym before they found out I couldn't swim. This was a small lie about a small part of my identity, but the point is that we sometimes are dishonest about our identities either to fit in or to stand out and make ourselves look better. I empathize with Bourdin to a very small degree. I understand that he had a tough childhood and he didn’t have an identity that people could appreciate, so he created other identities. However, the extent that he took it to is what I think was not acceptable. He lied about being someone’s missing child. I don’t think that was right. In his quest for finding an identity for himself he hurt and tricked people to get things his way. He didn’t care about anyone else involved. On a side note, I found it pretty funny how his parents didn’t come to his wedding because they thought he was lying.
I guess I really have no idea if any of my class mates are who they claim to be. It could all be some kind of conspiracy. But then again, it's not practical to question everyone's identity when we meet them. I'd rather just believe that my classmates are who they claim to be.
I think this article has taught me that some people, or even many people to a certain extent, are trying to create identities that others can appreciate. Whether this means being dishonest about your identity in order to fit in with others around you or to stand out from others around you, many people are just trying to find an identity that society deems acceptable. Bourdin started being dishonest about his identity in school when he was young. He told fantastic tales of his father being a British Secret Agent when in reality his father wasn’t even in his life. His tales captivated other students and teachers. He created the identity that he wished he had. I think a lot of us do the same thing to a certain extent. We wish we were something else. We wish we could do this. We wish we could do that. Thus, we sometimes create these identities that we wish we were. Then, when we all lie a little about our identities, there’s this illusion that we are all living the lives that we want, even thought maybe none of us are.
Frederic Bourbin is a man who constantly chooses to change his identity. He usually impersonates real or fictional children.
ReplyDeleteBourbin successfully manipulates those around him as Zafir said, by becoming people labeled as "pure" and "innocent". No one thinks that an abused or kidnapped child would pretend to be abused or kidnapped because we consider children to be good and abuse to be horrible. Abused children tug on our heart strings so people do not want to think they can be tricked into feeling emotional for a fraud. I also agree with Zafir, that it is sometimes easier to believe what someone tells you than to question it. Especially in Carey and Beverly's case when they wanted to believe Nicholas was back home. Bourbin in addition it playing on people's emotions plans out his act carefully. He creates a story of a child he wants to be and adds truth. The truth allows him to avoid confusing himself and thus be more believable in his act. The most important part of his act is remembering his name.
I agree with Zafir that people pretend to be others on the Internet, but through personal experience I also believe the people tend to be more honest through social media. When they are not surrounded by others and only talk to one person, they tend to act differently and open up. They do not have an image to maintain through messaging because it just consists of a bunch of words. I've known people who are willing to text me important things that they would never feel comfortable saying in person, possibly from fear of face to face rejection. In the same way Bourbin is not comfortable telling people the truth in person, when he doesn't have to. And I agree with Zafir that Bourbin took his act too far by pretending to be Nicholas, because he raised the hopes of Nicholas' family just to crush them. He became the monster he said he would never become.
However, as we discussed in class Bourbin's identity of taking other's identity was shaped by his family and his life experiences. He had no father who raised him. His mother drank, partied, and craved attention. He claimed to be molested as a child. He was sent to a juvenile prison and youth homes. He has a difficult life and his escape was to become someone else. Ironically he impersonated Nicholas, who was very similar to himself. Nicholas was a troubled child, who craved attention who has no connection to his father. Nicholas' mother was a drug addict and Nicholas was almost put into a youth home. This could represent how one can never fully escape their own identity because it will stay with you.
I do not know, as Zafir said, who my classmates really are. But if I start questioning that, then I can start questioning who I am. This leads to skepticism and people don't seem to be comfortable doubting themselves or their believes because it ruins their sense of purpose and existence.
The specifics of identity are complicated but as Zafir said maybe everyone wants to be exciting. Maybe people do what I do sometimes, and imagine a future for themselves or a different past in order to make their lives more exciting.
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ReplyDeleteIt's strange, I'm listening to a podcast and the characters on the show are making jokes about "Catfishing" but both Zafir's and Maria's comments reveal how the catfish phenomenon is certainly a significant trend for your generation. The popularity of the film led to a MTV show. Many are deceived by fake profiles or phishing email scams. Perhaps Bourdin is just a percursor to this internet trend.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious to see how we think the internet plays some sort of role in the masking of one's identity.
Just to respond to the "how do we know if our classmates are really who they say they are" question, like Zafir said that it wasn't practical, I think that there also isn't really a point in doubting our classmates' identities as they present them. If they act as the people who they say they are, then that side of their personality is the person we know and whoever else they might be doesn't concern us. A lot of the time people say that other people are "fake," but what does that even mean? That they have chosen to take on personality traits that other people don't consider to be theirs? Obviously lying about something that is a fact, like how old you are or your past experiences is being fake, but in terms of someone's personality, do people have "real" personalities? I would say there is no such thing, and that people are the way the people they chose to be.
ReplyDeleteI think that the internet can play a large role in masking our identities, and we can either become new people or just be anonymous. There are two sides to this, purposefully tricking or trolling people, or just covering up who we are so that when we interact with others. This way, they don't know too much about us both for security reasons and because we want to interact with them a certain way without them judging us because of who we are in real life. Since interactions over the internet are just images or text on a screen, people can put up what they chose and present themselves however they want to. This makes it a lot easier to lie or manipulate the way others view you, because they can only see this one thing, whereas in real life people are looking at all of the things you do and say and you have much less time to react to everything that is happening.
I agree with Sophie's internet comment, especially with the growth of social media. Some of them, like Facebook, are personal, where you post things about yourself, and it is a way to contact people you know. However, other social media, like Reddit, are more anonymous. You can post your name if you want, but most people choose a semi-random title to give themselves. This allows them to do two things: to be able to do whatever they want without retribution from the real world, and to be able to put on a mask. In Bordin's story, he chooses to be a teenage boy. Likewise, any information on these sights can be different than the user's real info. This causes trouble when a predator, whether a bully or a pedophile, does some kind of harm to another person. These people can't be found, or it takes more than the username to find them.
ReplyDeleteThis idea of manipulating your person is also present in other media. Actors and actresses do this for their living, and they get payed an insane amount of money to do so. Politicians sometimes pretend to believe in certain ideals of their party, and if they drifted from these ideals, they would be disowned by the party. Also, if they talk, or don't talk, about certain problems that our country faces, they can get or lose the votes of the people they are trying to entice. Finally, your work or school personality is usually more businesslike and robotic (bug-like) than your real personality, so that you retain the focused and dedicated personage your boss or teacher would want.
When I look at Frederic Bordin, I see a man who is bored of being himself; a man that is tired of everything his life has built up to. It would be impossible to piece together the specifics in his life that made him this way, as a police officer claims that Frederic supposedly lies ‘99 times out of 100’. What one can understand about Frederic, however, is his uncanny ability to manipulate the human psych, as he's easily deceives desperate family members with completely fictional backstories, and the families will accept anything as long as the ends justify the means. One could relate to this, as there is always a moment where your identity has to be changed to abide by the situation at hand, such as when being sent to the principal’s office, and acting like a complete saint. Therefore, one can completely sympathize with Frederic, as having an easily changeable identity allows for more excitement in life.
ReplyDelete*Incomplete, but my mother seems to believe that this is a masterpiece for the world to see.
Yes, like when you are sent to Ms. Damesek's office for throwing eggs in the hallway.
DeleteI haven't read the article but I would like to disagree with a point you bring up
"There is always a moment where your identity has to be changed to abide by the situation at hand" -Dr. Sir Kid Jean Billium Werner, Esq.
I think it's not so much your identity changing to adapt to the current situation as different faucets of your personality dominating over others when pertinent. Honorifics galore.
Frederic Bourdin is always himself. No matter what fake identity he claims or who he becomes, Bourdin will always be Bourdin. Bourdin is so impressive at persuading people in believing his fake identity is because he always makes sure that his lies are connected to the truth. Frederic always keeps a part of his real identity into his fake ones. In a sense he believes, "there is always a truth behind a lie." Though Zafir brings up a good point, he is whoever he wants to be, but who he really wants to be is himself in a way. He never gives up his real identity and moves on with new ones, he always goes back to his real one.
ReplyDeleteAlso as Sophie says, our classmates show us who the side they want us to see. Frederic was similar in this sense, he wanted people to see him as vulnerable, hurt and abandoned. He craved the attention and so he showed that to people.
The Internet has provided many people with the ability to become somebody else or hide their true identity. Though this may allow people to be more comfortable with voicing their opinions and providing a more truthful responses about things, it has also produced a negative impact.
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DeleteGood one
DeleteFrederic Bourdin is a person who always tries to live the childhood he never had. Frederic Bourdin never knew who his father was other than his name, Kaci. Bourdin was also seperated from his mother at the age of 2 to be raised by his grandparents. He also "camouflages" as a teenager who was almost always an orphan and/or abused before.
ReplyDeleteFrederic is so effective in making people believe him because he doesn't have to lie about much. Bourdin keeps it simple, as he uses real truths and only adds lies when necessary. He also goes through very meticulous methods to look the part too. He is willing to bleach his hair, inject pen ink to make a make-shift tattoo and learn languages. His victims or "marks" fall for his trick because it is not in our human nature to really question if a person so vulnerable can be trying to deceive them.
Yes I believe that we are constantly dishonest about who we are not only to other people but ourselves. Frequently we try to mask our insecurities about ourselves from the public . This ties in with the classmate question as we only see one side of our classmates when they might have an other side to them that we will never get to know. However, I feel sometimes that even I don't know who I really am.
This article has taught me how easily an identity can be changed and what an impact on one's childhood on their identity can be. I believe that in the end, Bourdin has found what he has spent countless identities trying to find : family. He is now a dad,married, and finally happy. Bourdin no longer needs to change identities because the reason to has disappeared.
Commenting on Maria's statement; she says "people tend to be more honest through social media." I completely disagree with her.For example, in a chat room profile I might put lies about myself because it "might not be safe" to put information online. In a more common example, in Facebook, how many type in our real birthday in that slot? The majority of us don't. Social media gives people an excuse to lie.
ReplyDeleteIf we question the identity of the people around us, we will definetely question the identity of ourselves because our identity is shaped by the people around us and the FAITH that the people/ things around us are what we want to our identites to be/represent. From listening to the podcast of the guy stuck in India with no memory, it's clear that we so readily accept what people tell us is our identity. Which is scary because it's something that most of us feel very strongly attatched to. Which is why i have to disagree with what Crystal said about the identiy of Bourdin: "Frederic Bourdin is always himself." What does that even mean? Yes, he will always be physically Bourdin, but he never really created a stable foundation of what his identity is so we can never really comprehend who Bourdin is under all his layers of fake identites.
And I don't believe that Bourdin's actions are justified. In fact, what he's done makes him a coward. It's not fair for him to walk into a family's life and pretend that he's their long lost son to save his skin from Interpol. It's not okay to lie to the police and orphanages and waster their resources and time that could be used to help other people. And even though Bourdin has created a family for himself, he still doesn't talk to his mother and immediate family, which seems to be the root cause of that unhealthy identity hopping. Even though Bourdin claims that his identity hopping is over, i feel that this is impossible because going through this adventure has been such a huge part of his life.
Can not having an identity be one's identity?
The scariest part of this article for me is the family who didn't realize right away that Bourdin was not their family. I don't know what I would do, if I was missing and my family allowed some stranger to live my life for me because of their [ignorance]
Frederic Bordin is anyone and everyone. He can take on the personalities, accent, and thought processes of another person.
ReplyDeleteHe is able to successfully manipulate those around him by studying everyone. No matter where he is, he is learning how people interact and respond to different situations and people. For example, as he talked to David Grann, as Bordin spoke with him, he was looking around and examining actions of Grann himself and others as well. People are willing to believe his impersonated identities because through his studies he's learned how to fool others. For example, he acts as a child in distress because people usually don't suspect those in distress - especially children. They would simply quickly try to assist the child. To add to that, he uses truth in his lies. When he chooses his name, he tries to choose a name similar to one he knows because it becomes very suspicious if one doesn't remember his/her own name. He also plans his background story and ideas beforehand, so that he is able to sound like he is easily giving up his information and being truthful when he is approached.
I believe that we are dishonest about our identities quite often in life because sometimes we change our personalities to match others. For example, Mr. Ferencz asked me about my tone in my previous essay. He thought the way I wrote in that essay was too different from the way I would speak generally. I realized his beforehand, but I never thought of it as changing my identity. I simply thought I was taking on a more formal voice. However, by taking on a different voice in my writing, I give a whole different view towards the reader. The reader may imagine me as someone much more sophisticated than I really am in person. We do manipulate our audiences to believe we're someone we're not because we may want the person to think of us in a different way. I can empathize with Bordin because firstly, its always amazing to study the way others act and respond to different situations and people. Secondly, he tries goes through different identities to escape from the judgement of others towards his true identity. I believe that everyone can relate, because there are simply things that we want to hide at times, and we may change the way we act or sound to conceal these ideas or traits. In addition, Bordin changed his identity because all he really wanted was love and family - which I think everyone who does not already have it longs for.
The thing is, I really don't know for sure that any student in any of my classes is really who s/he claims to be. However, what can I really do? All I can do is try to believe them, and act accordingly. I can't go around being suspicious of everyone I meet, because in the end, I'll end up looking suspicious. Although I am not always 100% sure of who my classmates really are, I can always try to learn more about them. Whether their identity is real or not, that is the identity they wish for me to perceive them to have, so I will respect that, as i hope they will for the identity I have them perceive me to have. This shows that I may also fake identities or personalities for others to see, so by questioning others, I might as well question myself.
This article has taught me that identity is a flexible subject and how it can easily be altered to manipulate ourselves and others. People all around tweak their identities and personalities to fit in with others and show how they want to be viewed and less of what they truly are on the inside.
Frederic Bordin is a master con artist who refers to himself as a "chameleon." He uses deceit and trickery to manipulate those around him into providing him a safe and loving environment where he can relive his lost childhood however he wishes.
ReplyDeleteBordin is able to successfully manipulate those around him through carefully thought-out strategies and experience as a master liar. He keeps the core of his identity but forges a fake one by only changing the superficial details. His victims are so willing to believe his identity because he appears to them as a distressed adolescent. People just assume distressed individuals who are in need of help and a home have no reason to lie, thus this is why Bordin is so easily able to manipulate those around him to complete his new identity.
I believe that sometimes, we are indeed dishonest about our identities. I don't believe that we typically manipulate those around us like Bordin does, rather we embellish and create bits of our individual identities. Unfortunately, I cannot empathize with Bordin because what he has done in his life is on a completely different level.
I wouldn't know if any of my classmates are who they claim to be without extensively stalking their facebook profile or something and even then, I would still be uninformed about a large chunk of their identity. I can only perceive my classmates skin-deep, I know nothing more about their personal lives or identity and so I can only assume what I hear from them is true.
This article has taught me that identities can be created or stolen rather easily. Identity can also mean different things for each individual. For Bordin, identity is mostly skin-deep and does not have to include memories or experiences in order for him to assume someone else's. I have also learned that it is far more difficult to create a new identity than to steal another individual's identity because their true identity is already set in stone. Bordin makes creating a new identity seem like child's play.
Frederic Bordin is one who refuses his own identity and manipulates his identity so it suits his desire. This aspect of his personality is evident in many parts of the article. First of all, when he was young he said that "his father was never around because he was a 'British secret agent'. Since he was young, he started to refuse his identity. Also, he started to create his own imaginative identity as a way to escape from his own identity. By creating new identity, he seeks for things that he couldn't have with his original identity/life. By faking his identity as a lost child or orphan, he sought for "perfect shelter" where he could get "love" and "family" that he couldn't get when he was with his mother.
ReplyDeleteBordin was able to successfully manipulate those around him for numerous reasons. First, he was gifted imaginer and persuader. In the article, his elementary school teacher described him as a kid who "had an extraordinary imagination and visual sense." With these talents, he was able to perfectly blend into an identity whom he was faking and deceive people to believe that his fake identity is real. Also, he always faked his identity as a lost child or orphan. As Bordin once said in the article, no one really suspects a lost child for lying. In addition, he described that his motivation for deceit was to get love and family that he couldn't get when he was young. "Bordin again insisted that all he wanted was love and a family." People felt sympathy for him and they couldn't suspect that his was a impostor who faked his identity.
We are sometimes dishonest about our identity and we sometimes manipulate our audience to believe that we're someone that we are not. We all have something that we keep secret to us and hide from other to know. This is because we don't want it to disrupt how other view us. All people want to be good student, good child, good friend, and good person. Sometimes, it is necessary to hide something and pretend that it doesn't exist. I think this is one way how we manipulate other people to believe that we are someone that we are not.
This article has taught me that identity is one way of how individual expresses oneself. For example, Bordin tried to kill off his identity and create new identity because he had love and care deprivation. He wanted to fulfill his necessities through changing and faking his identity. This article gives valuable lesson that understanding identity can be one important way to understand that person.
Fredric Bordin is a very skilled person who can play different roles with ease. He is literally one of the best actors and is nicknamed the “chameleon”. He is somebody who tends to satisfy his own desires disregarding how it would affect other people’s feelings or relationships.
ReplyDeleteHe is able to successfully manipulate those around him by totally immersing himself into a certain act. In the article, he was asked why he didn’t want to become an actor and he answered “I don’t want to play somebody. I want to be somebody.” He would also essentially, study the life of the person he’s trying to impersonate. He wants to be able to feel totally confident against anything, hence he would not rely on lying but instead actually knowing the information that is being asked. His victims are so willing to believe in the truth of his identity because he usuaslly preys on their relationships. For example, in the article Bordin tried to imposter himself as a missing child and even though his disguise wasn’t perfect, the missing child’s family was so relieved to find their long lost family member, their judgment were clouded.
I think we our dishonest about our identities sometimes in our lives. We kind of manipulate our audiences by masking our true self in order to fit with society and to satisfy our own desires. We always tend to want to be in the “cool” group and thus do anything to obtain that title. Even if we are masking our true identity. I cannot empathize with Bordin because I feel like he kind of takes it to the next level. He totally immerses himself as an actual person’s identity which I find just wrong and rude.
I honestly cannot know who any student in our class is claiming for who they are, but it is usually assumed that they are not imposters and are who they say they are. The school also does have I.D’s so it wouldn’t really be that easy to just imposter someone else.
This article has taught me about just how important somebody’s identity is and how much it could affect someone’s life. Some people might feel like just cause they think they know who they are, they disregards other people’s outlook and how much it would affect anyone else.
Frederic Bordin is a person who morphs into the person he wants to be. He is a person himself, but he can also choose to be whoever he wants.
ReplyDeleteBordin is able to manipulate those around him by observing and imitating the behaviors of those around him. His victims are willing to believe in the truth of his identity because they do not think a young child would try to deceive them.
We can be very dishonest about our identities. For example, if someone is jealous of someone else, he or she can change his or her identity to match a desired identity. We use persuasion to manipulate our audiences to believe our false identity. I can empathize with Bordin a little, as there are many changes in my identity that I would like to make, but at the same time, I don't think it is right to pretend to be another person if it will negatively affect others.
I cannot know for sure that students in my classes are who they claim to be, but I take the supposed identity willingly, relying on the small chance that they may not be who they claim to be.
I feel like this article has taught me that identity is not restricted to one personality or label. Bordin transforms into whoever he wants, but he is not changing his identity. His identity is that of a chameleon. He lives to change the way others look at him. In that way, although he adjusts himself to different situations and changes his behavior again and again, he still retains his identity.