Monday, February 21, 2011

Behind These Masks We Wear

Okay, time to stop moping.  If M really is gone, there's nothing I can do.  And hey, I am his self-proclaimed successor, aren't I?  So if he's not giving advice, I guess that's my job now.  So let's resume with a discussion of masks.

I hear quite a bit about masks.  M (*tear*) thought that masks acted as an eye to keep him rooted to this plane.  Maduin thought that they became aids for "taking on a role."  In reality, there's some weight to both of these theories.

M's masks are something that are, at the very least, worth trying out.  I tend to not carry a mask around with me, just because I'm not exactly on the run, and I'm trying to remain fairly inconspicuous when I'm out and about.  While a mask may hide my identity, It gets me funny looks from everyone around me.  While a literal mask may stop the Slender Man for a bit, I'd prefer to avoid him completely by masking myself with other people.  Blending into the crowds.  So no, I don't use M's masks.  However, I do have one that I keep around if need be.  It's one of those Guy Fawkes masks, so it's not all that suspicious.  If I ever need to become a bit more Anonymous, I'll just slip it on.  I've never tested it (never needed to when I had the chance, and never had the chance when I needed to), so I don't know if it works, but it sounds like it holds enough weight.

As for Maduin's masks, I think that it's a great idea.  Again, I'd recommend not trying it out if it gets you weird looks, but it sounds like it works well for steeling your mind.  When you put on a mask, you become an actor.  When you become an actor, you take on a persona.  When you take on a persona, even if it's just another aspect of yourself, you become more focused, because you're thinking about the persona and not just you in general.  A human is a vast concept.  A jumble of thoughts.  A miserable pile of secrets.  A soul endlessly seeking to understand.  Hell, I know next to nothing about myself.  A persona, on the other hand, is much more defined.  It is, essentially, a mask in personality form.  When you're in a particular persona, you're much more focused.  So I'd highly recommend associating a mask with a persona, and then becoming the mask every time you put it on.

That's why it's important to chose an avatar carefully.  Frap, for example, fairly recently changed his avatar from coffee to a knight.  He said it fit his mentality much more.  This is exactly what I'm talking about.  Choose your online persona carefully.  I, for example, chose the pair of Greek masks to represent that I laugh, but only because it keeps me from crying.  Alternatively, I'm blending my comedy into this tragedy.  I chose Jekyll because of his "mad scientist" sort of ways that I'm trying to emulate a bit.  In reality, he and I are both quite meek.  Of course, now everyone's convinced that they both mean that I have a split personality (I don't, and I never have).  But it's too late now: that's the persona I've chosen, and its the one I'm the most comfortable with.

So, in short, masks are most likely a good thing.  I can see how they might help, but I don't see how they'd hurt...unless, of course, you use them to symbolize giving up your identity and becoming "faceless."  Hmm.  Well.  Yeah, I can see that, too. 

Let's rephrase a bit: masks are good if you're using them to become a particular identity or to ward off the Slender Man.  However, if you're simply taking on a mask to give up all identity, that's bad.  Shift identity, don't relinquish it.

There, that should do it.  I'll see you all next time.

11 comments:

  1. WHAT MASKS ARE GOOD FOR IS SNEAKING INTO PRIVATE PROPERTIES AND SCARING PEOPLE'S BRAINS OUT OF THEIR EARS...I THINK THAT LARSSON'S "MENTALITY" IS MORE LIKE "NONEXISTENT" THAN KNIGHT RIGHT NOW. BUT AN INTERESTING FEW THOUGHTS HERE. THINGS TO REMEMBER.

    ReplyDelete
  2. With all due respect to Mr. Larson, his mentality has been "batshit fucking insane" from the start. It was merely an example of how an avatar change reflected a change in his persona at that point.

    ...okay, I'll bite, guys. I'm not sure if I'm talking to Mr. Larson himself or the things inside his head.

    ReplyDelete
  3. ACTUALLY, IT'S HIS CAPTORS AND TORMENTORS YOU'RE SPEAKING TO RIGHT NOW, LARSSON IS BUSY AT THE MOMENT. PERSONALLY I THINK HE WAS MOSTLY LEVEL-HEADED, THOUGH.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I've always found it ironic that so many of the people opposing a faceless monster seem "faceless". I can understand not wanting to give out your identity, but a blank profile and lack of avatar seem a little...foreboding. And, other than their blogs, that's all that some of the more prominent members of this community have.

    I, personally, love your avatar. The first thing that came to mind when I saw it was a connection to the meanings of comedy and tragedy: joy at the continuity of life, fear of the inevitability of death. Which works pretty well with what you're trying to do here.

    Masks also work as a metaphor for the metagames being played, but that's another subject entirely.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Aimee makes a good point.

    But so do you, Jekyll.

    Hell, I've had an obsession for masks for as long as I can remember for the reasons you stated.

    ReplyDelete
  6. @Aimee: I remain as anonymous as possible because, like I've said, I don't trust people much. Revealing my actual face might make it possible for someone to track me. So I wear that "mask" for my own protection.

    Like I said, using a mask to completely relinquish your identity is a bad thing. If you're becoming the mask, at least make sure that the mask is mostly you. In reality, I'm not Jekyll. But Jekyll is definitely me, if that makes any sense. Jekyll is part of my identity--part of ME. He's one aspect of my personality, but he's not the full me.

    So yeah, that's why I wear that mask. To conceal, yes, but just for my own protection.

    ReplyDelete
  7. That makes perfect sense, Jekyll. I guess that comment made it sound like I was against the use of anything but someone's real, physical face to represent them - believe me, I'm not. I'm both a theater student and a Batman fan. I understand that masks are useful, both for concealing and creating identity.

    I'm just wary of people that seem to have no identity outside of what they write on their blogs. (Slightly more wary, that is. I'm well aware that anyone telling their own story can be an unreliable narrator.)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Yes! Yes, it's great of you to take up a mantle another left. We need more people like Jekyll who will pick up where another leaves off.

    By the way, it looks like Runners experimenting with stick on their blogs is coming back into style. Behold: http://searchandreveal.blogspot.com/

    Pete is a lot like Frap was. He has no memories predating about a week back, but woke up to find stick peering in his window ont he second floor in an abandoned house. So he can use all the help he can get.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Ron. Please. Call him the Slender Man. Not stick. ...y'know, instead of explaining why, I think I'll just whip up a post on it. Expect that later today.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Interesting view on online avatars. Pick them carefully. Well, I actually see a lot of that going around. Ron's avatar is a fox, as in foxhunt. He's being hunted in an enclosed space he can't escape.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I prefer to use my real face. It helps to remind me of how real all this is. Of course I no longer look like I do in the picture I use, but its me just the same.

    ReplyDelete