Disguises

“A disguise is always a self-portrait”, according to one of the nemesis’ of the mastermind, Sherlock Holmes, who himself was known for dawning his classic urban disguises, which were really more cosmopolitan than metropolitan.  Sometimes disguises are meant to elude, other times to evade, and still others to allow for intimate proximity that was otherwise be attainable, but they are always meant to fool.  A disguise can, indeed, be so overt that it is covert; that is, it is so elaborate and flamboyant that no one would ever presume a disguised person to intend to draw that much attention to themselves.  For example, if one wanted to approach the Pope at a parade, one may as well go ahead and dress as the Archbishop of Canterbury than as a faithful Catholic or even a Catholic priest (though, perhaps, dressing as a bodyguard in a full black suit with a gun may actually afford the most proximity as the Pope is continuously surrounded by eight to ten men with guns at all times in public, even though he ‘believes’ in gun control – ironic on multiple different levels!).  Even the famous, and infamous, Martin Luther, the great reformer, employed a disguise at times as ‘Junker Jorg’ with a scruffy beard and matted hair, to appear as a normal citizen in Wartburg, for a time, to avoid being detained by the powers that be after his pivotal ideological assault on the prevailing authorities of his day.  Chameleons are known in the animal kingdom for being masters of disguise, yet their chromo-morphic capabilities pale in comparison to the mesmerizing mimicry of the cuttlefish.  The best disguises are not ones that are never perceived as such but ones that are never even suspected as such.  It may be an unfortunate reality that cordial smiles, for many, are just so.  Cordiality disguises contempt or disgust, or at best, indifference.  Genuine smiles don’t just involve the mouth muscles (orbicularis oris) but the muscles around the eyes as well.  Perhaps the wisdom that said the eyes are the lamp of the body was even more accurate than we knew.  But if mimicry is the highest form of flattery, mimicry does not necessarily have to be a disguise.