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Film Characters in Disguise
Monday, July 16, 2012 at 7:01AM 
The summer of 2012 is shaping up to be quite a hit for Hollywood with all of the superhero (such as “The Amazing Spiderman”), action (like “Total Recall”), animated ( including “Brave” and “Ice Age: Continental Drift”) and comedy (such as “Ted”) films playing in theaters. I finally got around to watching “The Dark Knight” this past weekend and now feel prepared to check out “The Dark Knight Rises” when it’s released.
So, this week’s Monday Movie Meme topic is inspired by the man who leads a double life -- working as a philanthropist by day and a fighting vigilante saving lives with tricked out costumes and fancy automobiles at night: Take off your little mask!
Share on your blog or in the comments section, movies featuring characters who wear a mask either intentionally or not. Their mask does not have to be worn during the entire movie but should be noticeable enough to be of some relevance to the lives of these movie characters. Face paint does not count. They must have the option of removing their masks. Here are my selections for this week’s Take off your little mask! meme.
Kingdom of Heaven
In this 2005 action film directed by Ridley Scott, Edward Norton plays King Baldwin of Jerusalem and he wears a gold mask to hide his disfigurement.
The mask is later removed momentarily by his sister Sibylla and although it’s obvious that the cover became part of his identity, all I could think about while watching this movie was “Isn’t he hot under there?!” -- I mean, they’re in the Middle East, for crying out loud and King Balwin’s mask in this film looked heavy as all get-out AND it was silver. SILVER! Since he was a ruler, I could understand if it was real but damn, can a man get some ventilation up in there? I’m just sayin’.
The Strangers
I love me some Liv Tyler and have no objections to getting a view of cute ol’ Ben from “Felicity” but the characters that they play are annoying as a couple. Still, you want to root for them to make it through a horrific evening surrounded by three weird ass masked intruders -- gotta respect the strange trio’s attention to detail in the styles of their porcelain and colorful disguises tho’.
Baghead
Mass hysteria and chaos emerge in this independent film by the Duplass brothers, when a masked person in-question terrorizes a group of actors who are trying to make a movie. Although the mask is efficiently economical and easily accessible, I honestly don’t even know if this particular film counts as a “masked character” movie since an entire paper bag is used.
My guess is that the mask could easily be considered a hood -- which opens the Monday Movie Meme topic up to a lot of possibilities. The paper bag CAN, however, be removed by the unknown subject or any of the other main characters so it could work as a mark. Shucks! Is it a mask or a hood?
Honorable Mention: Man in the Iron Mask starring Leonardo DiCaprio. It’s not a main selection for this week’s Monday Movie Meme because I already talked about it in the context of mask-wearing during the 2012 A to Z Challenge.
What movies have YOU seen featuring people who wear a mask?
Reader Comments (6)
There's the Phantom movie, of course. I guess it would qualify, though the mask is 1/2. Gerard Butler made a perfect Phantom, such a different role than all his other movies.
I also like the character in Boardwalk Empire, Richard Harrow, who wears a partial mask from his loss of an eye and partial cheekbone. Sadly, this series is on hiatus until September. I enjoyed it every week.
The mask theme is romantic for me because it displays an exquisite intimacy when the right someone can remove it, and see the character for who they really are, not the disfigured face. It requires something active on both characters' parts: one has to allow himself to be seen, the other shows they can see beyond the mask.
Lovely.
In the film "The Mask" Jim Carrey wears on mask on and off throughout the film which gives him some sort of powers. One of my favourite films when I was younger.
Other films such as V for Vendetta and even Power Ranger films show characters wearing different masks throughout, although the Power Rangers could be said to be wearing helmets and not masks (I'm not obsessed with Power Rangers, just an observation). Any super hero films include characters that hide behind masks.
I'm thinking of Enigma from Batman or Poison Ivy from Batman or Catwoman, not from Batman but with Halle Berry. But in later episodes of the anime series Bleach, the MC Ichigo sports a mask during fight scenes, some sort of power booster - I think...or not :-)
Oh! How about....
"American Psycho" - Patrick Bateman as a two-faced serial killer
"Kick-Ass" - Comic book geek turned real life vigilantie
"Point Break" - The Presidents of the United States bank robbers
"Donnie Darko" - Frank the bunny
"Nightbreed" - Buttonface. I have a soft spot for this film...
I had tons-o-fun with this oneT :-)
Sharon Hamilton,
Half masks count indeed. Though I never watched the Phantom nor knew that Gerard Butler played the lead role, that movie is a great selection for this week's meme. The title of Boardwalk Empire sounded familiar....until I realized that I was thinking of David Lynch's Island Empire. So this "Boardwalk Empire" is some kind of TV show or mini series? I'll look it up...unless it's a TV movie or related program, weekly television dramas, comedies, etc. don't get any Monday Movie Meme points. It does seem interesting though, based on your description and devotion to watching it :)
Sam,
Hey there man! Nice choice of "The Mask" with Jim Carrey. It was on my mind when I wrote this post. As much as I like Jim Carrey's films and as many times as I watched that silly movie though, I still had "Kingdom of Heaven" in my head since I watched it recently, so that one took seniority, lol. "The Mask" is such a funny, colorful film....in fact, the vibrant colors are one of the things that I liked most about that movie.
"V for Vendetta" is an excellent choice and do you know....I didn't even know (or maybe I forgot?) that there was a Power Rangers movie. OMG, one of my relatives used to watch the TV show all of the time. Go Go Power Rangers!!!! LOL.
Angela Brown,
Your Batman choices come in good time since Dark Knight Rises is being released on Friday. Great picks! Catwoman's mask fits this week's meme perfectly and I like the simplicity of it even though I never watched the movie....Love Halle Berry in many of her films but that was one that I just could not get behind.
Herman,
You list some the BEST picks of the cinematic litter, I tell ya! Donnie Darko is an unforgettable piece and I'll be getting American Psycho one of these days (it's on my rental queue) and am looking forward to watching that crazed movie....masks and all....and ahhh yes...Kick-Ass, I can't believe I forgot about that movie and still haven't even watched it. Point Break is a goodie but may I ask....what in the world is Nightbreed? Sounds like a creeper but now you have me curious about finding out who this "Buttonface" character is. Oh, how my Netflix and Blockbuster lists just keep on growing :)
Great list and idea. I could go with the obvious one like Bane from Batman & Robin. What about Darth Vader from "Star Wars?" Great suggestions Herman.