Some Thoughts on Gray Man Theory

One of the currently fashionable theorems amongst the military/shootie crowd is what’s called Gray Man Theory - basically, the ability of combatants to seamlessly blend in to the civilian populace, hide there, and come out only for actual operations.

I got dragged into this during a discussion about “what not to wear to show up on the radar as a concealed carrier”. Which led to a lot of “but those brands/clothes are popular among gunbros, so if you wear that combination, you’ll be tagged as one. 

There’s also some good thoughts here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpYWmnKC60E

I’m going to look at this a bit differently. From a theatrical background.  Let’s start with some observations:

1. People will tend to look at you based on what you project. If you’re an Army troop, dressed in civilians clothes, you’re still going to project “troop”.

2. Clothes are costume. But they are not the beginning nor end of a characterization. If you want to project a character, you have to fill the rest of the role too - you have to be that character at a certain level.

3. The challenge in Gray Man theory is that you have to craft an alternative identity that allows you to blend into the civilian population, that comfortably explains yourself, and that provides a convenient alternate explanation other than “soldier”.  

If you haven’t figured out, this is a challenge of characterization, not costume.  Anybody who thinks that the explanation of how to successfully blend in is based on the clothes you wear - your costume - well, they’re a fool.   That’s like trying to hide the identity of a warship in a port by painting it in cruise line colors.  It doesn’t _work_.

To successfully hide (and note that this was Mao Tse Tung’s strategy), you have to change characterization. Your role play - character - the “you” that you emit - has to be that civilian role. So, what does this mean?  Two things.

First, garb is much less of an issue than seems to be commonly held thought, as long as you steer clear of clearly militarized equipment.

Second, the head game in this is critical. You have to live a legend that’s a viable alternate (and non-threatening) story for why you’re set up the way you are. You have to _be_ that civilian.

Because the alternate scenario (a bunch of muscular guys in high-and-tights, all dressed in civilian clothes, carrying military gear) is going to stick out like a sore thumb.

One interesting observation in this comes from a friend. He points out that some civilian garb really is uniform, or is at least tribally identifying.  Which, if you stop and think about it, is a leverageable advantage. It allows you to “be in uniform”, but it’s a uniform that, as I noted above, gives you built-in legend.  

Another point that came up as I was writing this, is that the audience matters at least as much as the actor.  So… plan your role accordingly.

Want to get it right? Work on the legend. Spend some time in acting classes. Talk to your favorite costume designer. Lose the “tactical” gear. Change the behaviors that give you away.