“I’m a normal guy.”
Once upon a time there was a man known as the Black Alien Project who would prowl the streets of Barcelona making everybody who walked past him look twice.
I used to see him out and about when I’d be standing on a street corner. I’d take one look at him and go: “Bloody hell.”
It’s a striking image. Not the sort of thing you see every day. But everybody I knew who had taken the time to get to know him said that he was genuinely a really nice guy.
Well, that man who goes by the Black Alien Project name, is really called Anthony Loffredo.
He’s a Frenchman who has undergone hours upon hours of extreme body modification procedures.
He’s had almost the entirety of his body tattooed in black ink including his eyeballs, he’s had his tongue split, he’s seemingly had his ears removed, part of his nose removed, part of his lips removed, and it sure looks like he’s had some fingers removed too. Whatever floats your boat, I suppose.
Speaking on a recent podcast, Loffredo said that as a result of his pretty extreme bodywork, he finds it hard to get a job and is judged just about anywhere he goes.
Appearing on an episode of the Club 113 podcast, Loffredo said: “I can’t find a job, there’s lots of negative stuff. It could be positive because you feel better, but you have to know there’s also a dark side.”
Loffredo also opened up about what it’s like to deal with the way strangers react to him every day, saying: “It’s a fight everyday, because everyday you find new people who don’t understand, who want to judge.
“It’s life, not everyone understands everything. Like me, I don’t understand lots of things about lots of people. You can’t judge someone, no one knows what’s inside someone’s head, why they’re doing that, you need to talk with this person.”
Ultimately, Loffredo insists he’s just a normal man who wants to be treated like one.
He said: “I’m a normal guy, I work, I have a family… I like being looked at like a normal guy with a job, with a family, who has a friend, girlfriend, all of that. That’s what makes me normal.”
And you know what, fair doos to him. It’s only ink. It’s his body. Do what you want Loffredo. Who are we to judge?
