Masked

Heyo everyone, this weeks blog is about anonymity, and how our actions change when we no longer take their repercussions head on.

Mask: a covering for all or part of the face, worn as a disguise, or to amuse or terrify other people ~ the dictionary (googles dictionary, to be specific.) A mask is one of the parts of modern society that plays a large role, yet no one really pays much attention to. They contribute to entertaining things, such a pulling pranks or Halloween, yet also are fundamental on a much more serious level, being used in crime and war. Throughout pop culture, the idea of a mask is used to emphasize that the true purpose of a mask is to hide ones identity. Superheroes like Batman and Spider-Man (bear with my short sentence long nerd talk) wear masks to hide their identity, with the intention of a) protecting those they care about and b) so they dont get arrested for illegal vigilante purposes. Yet a mask isn't something that just a  superhero puts on. For those who haven't read Lord of the Flies by William Golding and plan on doing so, the following few sentences contain mild spoilers. Golding develops that a mask, whilst originally used as a method for camoflauge and hunting, develops into a device in which the wearer feels no remorse, regret or responsibility in committing something as serious as cold hearted murder. (End of Spoilers). Whilst we as humans naturally feel responsible and accountable for our actions, masks have a near mystical ability to give the wearer a boost in both confidence and a lesser fear for consequence.

This is something I've picked up on during the last several parades. During my time as the parade Buddha in the last few years, people always exclaim "Thats creepy" or make other similar comments. It's not me they're talking about, its the paper mache mask I'm wearing that they see. As far as the parade watchers were concerned, I was never in that parade. The same way a puppeteer works off stage to manipulate the puppets and is never seen, I manipulate the mask and rope and was never seen. I kinda like it that way. Wearing the mask, I can skip around and approach people and wave and be all out there. Doing the same without a mask, people think "Hm. I guess he finally lost it." So why are masks ok? Why is it ok to hide who you are?

For our case, it's very simple. The mask represents an all knowing Buddha, who plays a key role in the lion dance. We don't use it to hide our identity but to rather represent something else. In some case's such as the use of a mask for crime or acts of war, we view it as wrong, and not ok. But we have our views just as everyone else does. There is no right or wrong way to use a mask, and there's no right or wrong to wearing a mask. But it is something to ponder about.