Remember when the number one rule about tattoos was that you weren’t supposed to ask the inked party what they meant? Loaded with personal significance, tattoos typically stood as an enigma, and if we’re being cynical, that’s usually the sort of personal brand that the tattooed individual was hoping to cultivate. Don’t get me wrong, I ain’t no boomer! I’m a fan of ink, but there’s something not quite right with Nicolás Otamendi’s collection here.
In his attempt to capture that pursuit of negative capability, he’s gone ahead and selected three of pop cultures most prevalent antiheroes to showcase his own badassery. It’s a straight up commodification of counterculture.
Maybe I’m overthinking it. Maybe Otamendi isn’t saying anything other than “Hi, I’m Nicolás. Three things I like are Breaking Bad, Peaky Blinders and Vikings. Don’t overthink it, dickhead.”
It is OK to ask Otamendi what his tattoos mean: "This one here? That’s about cooking crystal meth after being a high school science teacher. This one? Raping and pillaging. Oh and this? Brooding with beautiful Cillian Murphy eyes while your brother Arthur loses his goddamn mind for 30 episodes."
Man’s also got a bear and lion on his pectorals.
In the end, it’s your body and you gotta do what you gotta do. Respect that. We had our MySpace profiles to share our favorite movies, shows and music, and now tattoos are the modern MySpace profile. Times change.
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