Welcome to the whimsical world of Mr. Wannabee! The man who knew too much and was too many!
If you’ve never seen the fictional account of Frank Abagnale, you may want to watch the movie version of “Catch Me If You Can”, starring Leonardo Di Caprio as Frank Abagnale and Tom Hanks as his nemesis, FBI agent Carl Hanratty Jr. While it’s well beyond the scope of this book to provide a movie review, suffice to say that Frank Abagnale was a master con artist who discovered the immense value and power of perception at an early age. While Frank’s expertise lies in counterfeiting just about anything that can be converted into cash, his most fascinating skill was his ability to create a number of identities that allowed him to hone his craft to the tune of millions of dollars.
The fact that con artists use multiple personae in their scams should come as no surprise to anyone. Every skill or technique that creates an opportunity for self-improvement and success can equally be used in less honorable ways. My personal fascination with Frank’s ability to invoke multiple personalities at will is the ease with which these can be applied.
Some of Frank’s most infamous characterizations came in the form of a Pan-American airline pilot (fortunately he never completed the transformation by actually flying a plane), a U.S. Secret Service Agent, a medical doctor (complete with a forged Harvard Medical School degree) and a lawyer who was actually working as an Assistant Prosecutor after passing the Bar Exam in Louisiana. The characters created by Mr. Abagnale are all legitimate examples of creating a perception for the purpose of deception.
Mr. Abagnale sees to it that there is no room for error in the way he perceives his “characters”. His intended audience is completely taken in by the ease and sheer bravado with which he performs his cons and adapts to the roles! The major flaw with the many personalities that Frank Abagnale created was that they were all disingenuous at their core. Instead of being a haven for desire, they were a harbor for deceit.
© 2014 Allan N. Mulholland, CPC
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