Mr. T is That Dude

“That Dude” is a series here on Michelle-Huxtable.com. In case you aren’t familiar with what exactly “That Dude” means, Urban Dictionary defines it as, “The person that everyone is trying to be like or looking up to. He influences the crowd and girls love him.”

I know. You’re wondering where I’m going to go with this post. Is Mr. T the man because he pities fools?  While that empathy is admirable, that’s not the reason. Is it because he has not changed his image at all in pretty much his entire career? Not really. Is it because of that killer Mohawk and gold bling? Actually, yes.

To preface[1] this I spend more time than I care to admit perusing[2] through Wikipedia pages. One day I’ll make a list of the most interesting Wikipedia pages I’ve come across. Mr. T’s would have to be number one, though. Assuming everything on that page is correct, because it would crush many of my hopes and dreams to learn that they weren’t, Mr. T is most definitely that dude.

First, some background. He grew up in Chicago, got a scholarship to a university, joined the army, and became a bouncer. One reason why he’s That Dude is because he’s freaking innovative. Those gold chains and rings he rocks? People who got in fights at the bar or club he was a bouncer at would frequently lose jewelry so he rocked them publicly. That way, if they came back and were banned from the club there he was up front outside with the jewelry so that they could claim it. Genius? I think so. As you would imagine, a lot of people didn’t come back so his collection got pretty big.

That’s all good and well but the true reason Mr. T is a) much more deeper than you could ever imagine and b) That Dude is because of the following two points. Warning: I’m about to blow your mind.

1) I’m just going to full on rip this from Wikipedia word for word:

While reading National Geographic, Mr. T first noticed the unusual hairstyle, for which he is now famous, on a Mandinka warrior. He decided that adoption of the style would be a powerful statement about his African origin… Occasionally, he slept with the heavy neck chains and bracelets on, “to see how my ancestors, who were slaves, felt.”[3]

Go ahead and reread that. Mr. T should be the litmus test for ‘That Dude’ from now on. When was the last time you changed your hairstyle to reflect your origin? That Mohawk wasn’t just a fashion statement! The gaudy gold that he wears so much? He was doing in-the-field cultural research! He was conducting empathy social psychology experiments. Okay, so it may not have gotten that deep but really, that’s pretty amazing.

2) We should praise him for his wearing expensive estimated $300,000 jewelry right?! Just when you think you figured Mr. T out he pities you for being a fool.

In 2005, Mr. T stated that he would never wear his chains again. He arrived at this decision after seeing the effects of Hurricane Katrina… Mr. T donated a great deal of clothing and money to Katrina victims.

Mr. T does wear some of his jewelry for promotional events like commercials and stuff but still… wow. This man took his signature gold jewelry and just gave it up. You don’t understand. Branding is everything. And he just gave it up so easily because he realized his money could be better spent. If he’s not That Dude I just don’t know who is.

[1] Do you say pree-face or preh-fuss?

[2] Were you aware that the word peruse actually means to examine carefully?

[3] Source