“The masked girl” on Netflix: What other iconic masks on the screen do you remember?

From tribal masks – for hunting purposes or a mythical-religious meaning – to the KN95 that spread throughout the world in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. This is how these enigmatic accessories have been attached to our faces since time immemorial: the Greeks used masks in their theater, the Venetians in their carnivals, the Egyptians and the Mochicas, the samurai and the Mexican catchascanists.

The motivations for hiding one’s face are diverse. And that’s why movies and television have used the resource a lot, with memorable characters not because of their features, but precisely because of how they covered them. The horror genre, for example, abounds in masks that accentuate the occult, the grotesque, or pure evil. Impossible to forget are the masks of Michael Myers in “Halloween” or Jason Voorhees in “Friday the 13th”.

Another slasher classic like “Scream” and its Ghostface, later parodied in “Scary Movie” is not far behind: its white and elongated mask has been left in the swampy terrain between comedy and horror.

Different is the case of Dr. Hannibal Lecter in “The Silence of the Lambs.” Although we know the face of the disturbing cannibal –the unrepeatable Anthony Hopkins–, the muzzle he wears to contain his hungry impulses only enhances his terrifying appearance.

On the other hand, in “V for Vendetta”, the protagonist is an anarchist who wears a Guy Fawkes mask, symbol of the English Catholic conspirators of the 17th century. The ironic gesture of the mask, with its thin mustache and beard, has transcended so much over time that it was also adopted by members of the ‘hacktivist’ group Anonymous.

It is not possible to recount this without mentioning “The Mask”, a well-remembered fantastic comedy starring an actor who seems to have been born with a mask of flesh and blood: Jim Carrey. Beyond its grace, the film is interesting for what it represents, since the mask not only takes possession of the face of the person who owns it, but also shows a curious ambivalence: sometimes it serves to turn us into others, and sometimes to be able to be one. himself, no holds barred.

HIDDEN DRAMAS

Everything said serves to talk about “The masked girl”South Korean miniseries released a few days ago on Netflix that has quickly become one of the most viewed on the platform.

It tells the story of Kim Mo-mi, a young girl loaded with complexes about her appearance who she decides to show her true self as a ‘cam girl’; that is to say, selling the most sensual facet of her image on the Internet, although hiding her face with a mask.

The mask used by the protagonist is quite simple, which emulates a smooth skin and without too many additions. At times she refers us to the mask of “The Eyes Without a Face” by Georges Franju, a masterpiece of French sixties terror. But it also seems to allude to certain obsessions of recent Korean pop culture, so dominated by aesthetics without imperfections.

“The Masked Girl” may not present anything too new in its premise, but it becomes more interesting when it does not focus only on the protagonist, but is dedicated to observing other characters who also they choose to disappear or hide behind physical or imagined masks. Thus, its plot is twisting and confronts us with our own concerns: How much of the face that we show to the world is really the one that identifies and defines us? It’s worth asking.