Let’s face it: Gentile’s tattoos make literature personal

Mr. Gentile redefining what a teacher looks like with his new face tattoos.

Whether it’s making a flowerpot in Ms. Duncan’s clayworks class, or taking pictures at the football games for Ms. Harney’s photography class, art is a pivotal part of the culture here at GHS. This past week however, art made its way to a particular English class, in the form of tattoos all over Mr. Gentile’s face. 

“I got my first tattoo when I turned eighteen,” English Teacher Rory Gentile said. “I used to be very against face tattoos, but over the years I’ve run out of open real estate anywhere else.”

Gentile is known for his extensive body art, especially for his literature based tattoos, one for every book he has taught. 

“He’s like a walking syllabus,” freshman Skip Classman said.  “At first we thought he had tattooed freckles on his face, but it’s actually the words ‘Piggy’s glasses’ written in braille.”

The design pays homage to his favorite book character, Piggy from Lord of the Flies, whose glasses tragically break, leaving him virtually useless. 

“My wife suggested I get an actual pair of glasses tattooed around my eyes,” Gentile said. “But I didn’t want to go overboard.” 

For his new ink, Gentile went to Authentic Illustrations (AI) tattoo parlor, run by GHS history teacher and aspiring artist Dave Pleuler. 

Pleuler is particularly fond of the American traditional style, whether it means drawing Paul Revere on somebody’s ankle, or sketching George Washington on somebody’s shoulder. 

“I think my style is very unique,” Pleuler said. “I like to incorporate technological elements into my sketches to really make them my own. I’ve experimented with adding extra limbs onto a person I may be drawing, or adding em dashes to the phrases my clients want done.”

According to Gentile, each one of his tattoos holds some meaning to him, especially the baseball, which is his favorite sport. 

“You know he’s a cool guy for sure,” history teacher Phil Cook said. “I just think the baseball tattoo was in poor taste, especially when he could’ve gone for a volleyball design instead, you know?” 

Although some colleagues expressed concerns that the tattoos would become a distraction for students, Gentile has found them to have the opposite effect – his students’ writing skills have improved. 

“When you scan the QR code it actually brings you to the Chat GPT website,” Gentile said. “My freshmen are exploring how Atticus’ character symbolizes the importance of honesty and integrity. When they need help, they just scan the QR code and the chat bot writes the essay for them. It’s great. I mean some overachievers still write the essays, which just makes their lives harder, but they’ll learn someday.” 

In addition to completely altering his face, Gentile is also considering a quirky name change to match his new ink. 

“I think Post-It Malone has a really nice ring to it, and it resonates well with the patchwork tattoo vibe,” Gentile said. “My court date is coming up next week to legally change it.”