This week’s lecture was about disguises utilized in a wide array of cultures and religions. Here in the United States, we usually associate disguises with Halloween, which has long lost it’s true meaning of remembering the dead. Each year children and even adults don costumes of characters and figures from pop culture to go trick-or-treating or to attend parties. However, masks, costumes, and props play a big role in many societies all over the world. Disguises are used in religious and cultural ceremonies, theater, art, fashion, and even sports. In several countries, masks are made in the form of deities in order to pay their respects during ceremonies. In theater they are used to transform the actor and support the story in order to further immerse the viewer. In sports they are used as mascots in order to boost morale and of course to distinguish the opposing teams. In this week’s reading, “The World of Wrestling”, Roland Barthes compares wrestling to theater. The wrestlers themselves become characters, often split between good and evil. Barthes explains that wrestling is not a sport, but a spectacle filled with emotion. It is not about winning or losing, but the emotions of the wrestlers and the story. Wrestlers will exaggerate facial expressions, turning their faces into masks and conveying to the audience the story they are telling. In the reading. Barthes gives us an example, “Sometimes the wrestler triumphs with a repulsive sneer while kneeling on the good sportsman; sometimes he gives the crowd a conceited smile which forebodes an early revenge…”. The lecture also briefly talked about wrestling, specifically Mexico’s Lucha libre. In Luche libre, unlike the wrestling Barthes writes about, the wrestlers wear masks and costumes meant to represent specific gods. They believe that this gives them both physical and spiritual strength when wrestling. I’ve always found disguises, particularly masks, interesting because they conceal the wearer, but can tell so much more. Combined with the wearer’s movements, they are able to tell stories.
