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In 2005 I hit bottom.
I was in Berlin, and during an episode of blackout drinking, wound up unconscious with
my head split open in the Berlin subway tracks. Left for dead.
Strangers pulled me out of the tracks and gave me a second chance at life.
And launched me on a journey of mind, body, spirit, and art that's become this film.
That journey led me up to Canada to seek out an artist, Rande Cook.
I can't wait till this is actually done, because I have so many other ideas in my head where
I want to bring them to life as fast as I can. It's like, "Gotta get 'em out. Get 'em out!"
He helped me to transform three Kwakwakw'wakw myths of personal significance
into a design for a full back tattoo.
Back down in Los Angeles, I put myself into the hands of the amazing tattoo artist Zulu
who over the course of the next year tattooed this design permanently onto my skin.
It just showed you a strength that you've always had. I think the tattoo just
helped you release it.
Getting the tattoo meant marking my body in a permanent and beautiful way, a body that
I had exacted so much misdirected pain onto in the past.
Alcohol was really only one of a number of substances and practices I used to
anesthetize myself or to gain some sense of control in a culture that really didn't permit me
to be myself as a young gay male.
To me to live life is to be free. And what is being free is getting rid of everything,
it's kind of like opening yourself up to the world and saying,
"I've got nothing to hide. This is it. This is all it's about."
It's like where you can put your arms out and stand in the middle of the street and
scream as loud as you can because you don't give a sh*t what people think.
My name is Brody and I'm an alcoholic.
My name is Dina Brown. I am a female persona.
I'm Dr. Broderick Fox. I'm a professor of film production and media studies.
My name's Rick. I'm a gogo dancer and an *** haircutter.