Friday Funny Faces
Do you live behind a Mask?
Jim Carrey & Robin Williams are by far my favorite comedian-actors. I never tire of their antics and have often been deeply affected by their raw interpretation of humanity.
As actors and comics, these two creatives embody and simultaneous manipulate the Mask. What is the Mask?
According to Carl Jung, the mask or social mask, is the persona we present to the outside world.
“This arbitrary segment of collective psyche—often
fashioned with considerable pains—I have called the persona.
The term persona is really a very appropriate expression for
this, for originally it meant the mask once worn by actors to
indicate the role they played. If we endeavour to draw a
precise distinction between what psychic material should be
considered personal, and what impersonal, we soon find
ourselves in the greatest dilemma, for by definition we have
to say of the persona’s contents what we have said of the
impersonal unconscious, namely, that it is collective. It is
only because the persona represents a more or less arbitrary
and fortuitous segment of the collective psyche that we can
make the mistake of regarding it in toto as something
individual. It is, as its name implies, only a mask of the
collective psyche, a mask that feigns individuality, making
others and oneself believe that one is individual, whereas one
is simply acting a role through which the collective psyche
speaks.”
(https://jungiancenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Vol-7-two-essays-on-analytical-psychology.pdf )
Jim & Robin truly illustrate/illuminate the Mask through their incredible plastic faces and full body acting. Their skill has us believe they are that Persona. And, yet, they are just like us, they have to balance the totality of their psychic material. Despite their great talent at masking themselves, they still have to live with the interplay between their conscious and subconscious.
There is one very crucial distinction between the two actors. One of them became trapped inside his mask creations, and one has chosen to reveal the inner workings and torture of the Mask.
Sadly, we all found out about Robin’s decades long battle with depression when he committed suicide in 2014 at the age of 63. What a shocking and surprising loss! But was it truly a surprise? In hindsight we can see that while Robin had perfected his outward directed persona, he did not publicly share his true inner demons. And those destructive thoughts finally consumed him.
Jim, on the other hand, chose to share and process his inner demons, namely his long term depression. In 2004, at the height of his acclaim he confessed to the world about his struggles.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/carrey-life-is-too-beautiful/
Since then, he has routinely talked and acted out this struggle. Youtube is full of video clips of him discussing his inner demons and life philosophy.
In 2017 he presented us with a masterpiece, “ I Need Color”, about this journey.
I find this an incredible work of art. Please enjoy it!
When I began developing the idea of this podcast, the genesis was in my desire to share and comment on the amazing wisdom and knowledge I have collected in my personal and professional life. I didn’t want to reinvent the wheel, just add extra twists and turns.
I don’t think we appreciate how important sharing our experiences is. The effect is amplified when the person is a public personality. As we learn about the inner workings of a “famous” person, it deepens our own understanding of life. It is why all human societies have stories and myths. We are a symbolic species and need to find meaning in life around us. It’s a natural extension of this to create fame and infamy. Paparazzi and gossip rags are not a modern invention, they are part of our human psyches. We know everyone wears a public persona mask and thus we are very curious about what lies below the masks of others. In the process, we externalize our own personal-subconscious struggles by projecting the ones of famous people.
Here’s hoping that exploring the inner life of Jim Carrey will help you understand your own mask and allow deeper integration of your being.
Peace, Light and Love,
Bill