January 21, 2002

11:20 PM

English amnesiac may be porn star."Philip Staufen" tried to convince Canadian authorities that he was an English citizen who suffered from amnesia as a result of a beating. As it turns out, he may be George Lecheit, a French gay porn star. Authorities aren't ready to close the case yet, but even his lawyer doubts the amnesia theory. In a previous MeFi thread, a few people took the Canadian government to task for not helping Staufen return to the UK. In light of recent developments, did Ottawa make the right decision?
posted by likorish (8 comments total)

hi
posted by sawks at 1:46 AM on January 22, 2002

What the hell? The man claims to have total amnesia. Some believe him; some don't. It now transpires that he may have been a model in a gay magazine and this additional fact alone leads you to suggest that he merits less help and assistance than before. Hmm. All things being equal, that stinks.
posted by Dan Brilliant at 3:09 AM on January 22, 2002

Um, rethink. Did I miss the point? Are you saying the govt should maybe be helping him to get back to France rather than England (language specialists were convinced he was from Yorkshire I recall)? Or waiting pending more definitive evidence of his origins/situation? Apologies if that's what you mean.
posted by Dan Brilliant at 3:18 AM on January 22, 2002

I don't know that there's overt prejudice here, as much as a recognition that something like this could suggest that there's a past he's trying to leave behind (which is often a common thread in cases of total amnesia). There's a debate as to whether this means the amnesia is an unconscious expression of this desire or, well, a con job.
posted by dhartung at 4:18 AM on January 22, 2002

"Nurses noted at the time that he was in great shape, had a nice tan, and his hands were immaculately manicured. "

I have a feeling those nurses were drawing straws to see who got to give him a sponge bath.
posted by pracowity at 4:20 AM on January 22, 2002

I don't think the idea is that now he's a porn star he doesn't deserve assistance, but that the whole amnesia thing might have been an attempt to put one over and gain citizenship through deceit. If he never really had amnesia and wasn't a victim of some trauma, well, there are ways to enter Canada and gain citizenship that weren't respected here, so he should be sent back (and encouraged to try again through normal channels, if he wishes).
posted by mikel at 6:29 AM on January 22, 2002

Actually Dan Brilliant, my comment had less to do with him being a gay porn star than the fact that he may have lied about having amnesia.

Knickers untwisted now?
posted by likorish at 9:18 AM on January 22, 2002

Whoops. I rarely read MetaTalk sawks, so I missed the previous discussion. To be fair, a search of MeFi archives led me to believe that the story hadn't been discussed yet. My apologies for posting it.

And further apologies to Dan Brilliant. I'm half asleep, and I'm a snarky so-and-so. You didn't deserve my sarcasm.
posted by likorish at 9:26 AM on January 22, 2002