Masquerade paper faces on parade…

In the musical the Phantom of the Opera the first song in the second half is called Masquerade. This song comes at a point in the musical where the opera company has been closed for the off season and they are having a party to bring in the new season.

That being said… the song itself is a wonderful song about how people are walking around pretending to be something they are most certainly not. The title of this blog is the first line of the lyrics. Masquerade Paper faces on parade Masquerade, take a look there’s another mask behind you…

This struck me as so closely related to our classes. I say classes because both classes have discussed the topic of user identities and how they relate to the person on the other side of the keyboard. In Dmitri’s class we discussed how the users are able to take on a user identity. This identity is like that paper mask. If you already know someone, then you are not likely to be fooled by a paper mask. You see past it, beyond the paper and fill in the person’s features that are obscured.

I think this happens online with user ID’s as well. When you know the person on the other side of the keyboard you are able to fill in and see around the obscured information. You can see how that person really is, but someone who doesn’t know this person, would be prevented from really knowing them at least initially because of the paper mask. The mask creates a step of removal that can at least give the person the illusion of anonymity if not actual anonymity. I know this issue of actual vs. imagined anonymity could be debated but to do so would be beyond the scope of this blog.

The song continues and in true operatic style there are many little side ‘conversations’ that occur to clue the audience as to what has happened while they were out having a cocktail at intermission. This seems to also relate to the behaviors that people display online. In most chat formats, there is a way for people to converse outside the group so they can have private conversations. This behavior provides a more intimate knowledge about the person and creates additional emotional links therefore further investing the person into the website. By the way, in the musical this also creates an emotional hook for the audience to help them to reengage into the story line… the cocktail doesn’t hurt either.

Then there is the Troll, who messes up the whole party. This person comes in to the party and disrupts all the activity that has been going on and redirects all attention onto him… please tell me you know who this is in the musical. Through the use of a much more elaborate disguise, the Phantom is able insinuate himself into the conversations without fear of discovery of his true nature underneath. In the online world this also occurs and it usually takes significant effort to alleviate the original participants of the troll’s interference.

I think this analogy is very interesting and I could probably delve deeper into the psycho-social implications that it raises… but I am out of time and the show must continue on!