Cultural Artifact

I really enjoyed the Gaga Presentation. I thought I was already a pretty open-minded person. I am in the sense that I have already realized 'normal' is a very abstract term which people try to attach a definition to even though it cannot be defined. However, I never would have thought that a music video with crazy outfits and dark scenes was trying to say something about normality. So thank you for the presentation.

The mask in phantom of the opera is a cultural artifact which shows that something is abnormal about the protagonist. At surface level, the only apparent abnormality is the fact he is wearing half of a mask on his face. However, since the 'phantom' lives at an opera house, the mask is not as weird because he is in a place where everyone is in costume. This is ironic and probably intentional by the phantom in order to be more normal. Later in the film, the audience comes to find the mask is actually covering up a deformity on a large portion of his head to include part of his face and scalp. The phantom is extremely protective of this part of himself and does not want anyone to look at it. It is the most personal and secretive aspect of himself. He calls himself a monster and ugly because his scars make him different.

This mask implies that 'normal' must include smooth skin and a full head of hair without scars. It shows how not having these must mean one is invaluable or somehow unworthy to live within society because the phantom secludes himself in tunnels under the theater. It is interesting that the mask's sole purpose is to be aesthetically pleasing. The purpose is not, however, to aid his condition by actually changing his appearance. It is an assistive device only to help others see him as more normal and for him to see himself as more normal.

From the reading by Thomson, the phantom should be categorized under the visual rhetoric of realistic. The story portrays him as normal because it shows his feelings, his hardships of unreturned love and of lonliness. Anyone could relate to these feelings, so naturally the audience begins to see him as a person like everyone else. It is not until later that his 'abnormality' is truly revealed. This is interesting because the audience is led to have feelings and empathy for this character as a normal human being and then they realize that there is something wrong with him. At this point, the audience only feels more attachment to him due to his struggles, including his lack of self worth. The author probably did this on purpose to show that the 'disabled' are people too, who are capable of giving and receiving love.