The Real Luther Blissett
The multiple identity is named after the footballer Luther Blissett, who used to play for Watford and A.C. Milan in the 1980s, amongst other teams. It is particularly popular among Italian subcultural activists and artists, possibly because of the Milan connection.
The reasons why the group chose the name remain unclear to mainstream journalists (e.g. the BBC suggested that Blissett, one of the first black footballers to play in Italy, may have been chosen to make a statement against right-wing extremists in the country). It has also been suggested that, when being scouted by A.C. Milan, the Watford player they were impressed with was in fact John Barnes and they mistakenly bid for Blissett being one of the two black strikers at the club. If this is the case the group may have taken the name as a reference to a red herring.
Since the beginning of the project, the real Blissett has been aware of the 'group' taking his name. However, early reports differed widely in saying whether he liked the attention he received because of them.
Blissett dispelled all doubts on 30 June 2004, when he appeared on the British television sports show Fantasy Football League - Euro 2004, broadcast on ITV. During the whole show, Blissett intelligently joked and quipped about his own (alleged) involvement in the Luther Blissett Project. After host Frank Skinner read a line from the novel Q's prologue ("The coin of the kingdom of the mad dangles on my chest to remind me of the eternal oscillation of human fortunes"), Blissett produced a copy of Luther Blissett's Italian book Totò, Peppino e la guerra psichica ("Toto, Peppino and the Psychic War", AAA Edizioni, 1996) and quoted extensively from it, in the original Italian:
- "Chiunque può essere Luther Blissett, semplicemente adottando il nome Luther Blissett" .
At the end of the show, hosts and guests all said in unison: "I am Luther Blissett!". Two years later, highlights of this broadcast were posted on YouTube.
Read more about this topic: Luther Blissett (nom De Plume)
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