personality

I chatted forever with my hairdresser: He told me about the car accident he got into around when the time changed. One minute he was driving and the next he was being shaken awake by a good samaritan wearing thick glasses and chunks of his brain were on the side of the road. He was told that after he regained consciousness he was furiously walking around holding two cigarettes between consecutive fingers smoking them both at once. He acted this out for me. Now he can only hear vowels and gets tired easily and randomly. I like him because he says crazy things that are filled with truth and we often see eye to eye. He talks sporadically and nimbly leaps from one topic to the next. Sometimes when he notices himself in the mirror he stops talking altogether. He takes his hands off my hair to touch his own. He gingerly fluffs the curls of his perm.

He said that physical violence underpins all interactions between men and that is why they are simple, why the so-called patriarchy rules in terms of crime and violence and law and order and retribution. Women rule in much more powerful, covert ways that have to do with emotional manipulation and psychological warfare. A man’s dignity, too, comes from his restraint, how he knows he is capable of physical harm and chooses to mostly abstain. And how he can be counted on to dole out harm and favor when called upon. A woman’s, well, comes from a much darker and more magical place. 

We spoke of the power of personality, which is something that has personally interested me as of late. I told him that I recently watched iron claw, which charmed me despite how much it descended into melodrama. Zac Efron’s grotesque muscles and superhuman jaw, each of their hideous hairstyles and spandex suits, and the fraught psychological dynamic between father and sons made the cast of characters very visually appetizing and emotionally delicious, a freak show fit for Nightmare Alley, for which I’m a glutton. 

In it Zac explains to Lily James that though their fights are meticulously choreographed, those who win are deservéd because they proved their athleticism, agility, and strength of personality before, during, and after their matches. And we come to understand that the latter part is most important when a younger brother is deemed more fit for success than the stronger and more disciplined eldest because of his oratorical skill. He more skillfully crafted image, and so became more successful as a wrestler. After all a wrestler’s persona exists all the time in the ring right beside his powerbomb or jackknife. One makes the other more magnetic, more exciting, and ultimately more valuable in either case. And yes athleticism and agility are impressive, though charisma and magnetism is what makes one more, what makes one great.

I told my hairdresser that I think The crafting of a compelling or interesting or magnetic persona is much more socially valuable than what the person behind said persona actually creates or adds in any artistic or intellectual or even political capacity. He agreed: One goes to war for the sake of image, and people are executed in its preservation, ie. communism. This is why such figures like Marina Abromović, Rick Owens, Marc Jacobs, and Terry Richardson, who are true artists with true tastes and possess true senses of what makes one alluring, are kept close by those in power, celebrities and politicians alike, because they understand that their influence hinges on public perception, and such a thing is fickle unless you know how to command its sway and more so make it work in your favor. Image is paramount in any public arena, and its cultivation must be undertaken with great seriousness and with the help of great expertise. Such has always existed within royal courts, oracles, advisors, and first ladies; and within all of these official and unofficial groups of power players, the artist, who is schooled in the creation, composition, and manipulation of image, is always paramount.

I spent four hours in the salon chair and only got a partial. My hair is kind of brown now.