The mask slips

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
That photo of trump looking beaten down and miserable.

Is this the mask slipping?

If so, it makes me marvel at how consistently, how perfectly, he's worn that mask.

So that it's always seemed like he's essentially nothing more than what he projects. Nothing more than sheer blustering vanity

I have this same sense with Tim Westwood. He's created a persona that it's easy to assume has become him - and it's therefore difficult to imagine him having real emotions, doing mundane things, having a sex life, etc.

 
Last edited:

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
I've not really made a point here or even asked a question but this is just an area of interest to me.

People who don't publicly seem like people. And how that actually runs counter to the modern trend for people who aggressively advertise their insecurities and flaws.
 

entertainment

Well-known member
Been meaning to read this book called Masks: Bowie and Artists of Artifice. An anthology of articles about identity, consciousness, art, irony and all that, focusing on Bowie, Burroughs and others. There's a contribution by Zizek in there as well.
 

boxedjoy

Well-known member
think this ties in with what was said on other threads about how committment to authenticity and personal brand is more important than the authenticity or personal brand itself now
 

entertainment

Well-known member
What are you thinking of when you think about people aggressively advertising their flaws?

Hard to generalize on that. There are versions of this where you just know it's fake, possibly diversionary maneuvres. There are also certain styles of self-deprecating humour that I find extremely sanctimonious.
 

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
Perhaps "aggressively advertising" is the wrong term to use.

I mean celebrities now openly talking about their depression, therapy, PTSD, etc. I mean YouTube life coaches being open about their failures to live 'properly' — as opposed to some tower of bright-teethed strength like Tony Robbins.
 

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
I think there's less appetite now for masks — unless the masks look like they're not masks.

But you do get these figures like Trump who are walking caricatures, and hide whatever interior life they have beneath a strutting, gurning persona.
 

sufi

lala
That photo of trump looking beaten down and miserable.
I read the Trump body language differently - like his assumption is that he is completely exposed, transparent so that there was no point in hiding his feelings f dejection as everyone was already on his wavelength, a different sort of megalomania and even not far from reality - a normal politician would have attempted to style it out though
i don't imagine that there's any other Trump apart from the public projection
 
Perhaps "aggressively advertising" is the wrong term to use.

I mean celebrities now openly talking about their depression, therapy, PTSD, etc. I mean YouTube life coaches being open about their failures to live 'properly' — as opposed to some tower of bright-teethed strength like Tony Robbins.

The vast majority of these BTS moments are very strategic. In influencer culture they're positioned as some generous 'see, i'm not perfect either' thing but the vulnerabilities are always marketable, designed to boost 'relatability', never damage the brand obv
 

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
I guess there are professions in which it pays to publicly advertise your 'humanity', and there are others where it could leave you exposed to attack.

Thinking of the still fairly hypermasculine world of rap music, here. But then, look at the world's biggest rapper, Drake — artfully 'wearing his heart on his sleeve' (though that is definitely another mask).
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
Really? Always thought he was castrated by his dad
Well he looked pretty normal as a young man before all the surgery started. Although his dad was such an ogre, by the sound of it, that this statement may well still be true in a figurative sense.
 
Top