As I was sitting wondering what to write about this, there were so many directions I could have taken it. I could have talked about how the film helped widen my world views, as I had never imagined someone with Nazi flags as their curtains as he told me about. I also could’ve talked about, which would seem like the more obvious choice, his good deeds, and being a man compelled by tragedy to do something filled with love. But I decided to look at something else-how this man was the epitome of not judging a book by its cover.
Everyone knows the negative stigma with tattoos, it is just a known fact of life. People assume that the class-act man can’t have tattoos, and if women have them they can be perceived as trashy. But Billy is different, when you talk to him you look right past the tattoos. Now I do truly believe that everyone is someone underneath their tattoos, and once you get the chance to sit down and speak to them you realize the kind of people they are.
It’s sad because it showed me my own bias. If I saw Billy just out in the street, my mind would have automatically jumped to conclusions. After seeing his film though, I didn’t do that. I saw him for who he was. I saw him for Billy.
What he is doing is great, covering up hate tattoos is incredibly important and an act of good. However, I believe what Billy stands for is far more powerful than anything he could do.
Billy stands for looking past the cover. Billy stands for judging someone on their character, not their appearance. He shows that in himself and in the work he does. Billy not only forces you to look past his appearance to see the truly remarkable man he is, but he looks past the ink of others, not judging those who have hate group signs on their bodies, but embracing them and helping to create change. While others (myself included) would look down upon these people with the logic of, “They hate others so I am going to hate them for hating others,” Billy does not. Billy digs deeper for the story and the reason for these tattoos, and in most cases, erases the last thing holding them back from their new life.
Billy stands for everything that we should stand for as a nation and as people. To look beyond others’ covers and have depth ourselves. Do good unto others, but also be ourselves. Billy is truly a hero, but to know any of that you need to look Beneath The Ink.