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| Erik Spraque - Professional Freak. |
My second case study was with Erik Sprague, another example of how extreme body modification can be in terms of resembling specific animals. Better known as Lizard Man who is a sideshow performer with alterations including his tattooed green scales, green coloured lips with sharpened teeth, split tongue and implants under his eyebrows. This is an example of the extreme lengths body modifications can be taken to with no real justifications other than expressing themselves. I began asking Erik whether he felt he had made the right decision to change his appearance and when did he decide to modify his body. He responded in detail to say that “it’s hard to say as there wasn’t a eureka moment or anything” but the transformation idea started when he was about 18 and didn’t begin until he was 21. Reasons for Erik’s need to be altered were purely self satisfaction and expression which resulted in personal gain for his career as well. Erik is famously known as a professional ‘freak’ that performs stunts to entertain others. This falls under Cooley (1992) of the ‘looking glass theory’ which is the version of the self we find in others’ responses. It is evident that Erik receives judgements and evaluations of his behaviour from others and then modifies his behaviour and appearance accordingly. When asked if he would consider further adjustments, he responded with that he was open to new additions or adjustments but is happy with where he is now. He encourages others to “explore themselves in order to find out what makes them happy and receive self-fulfilment”.
