We Wear the Mask

We wear the mask that grins and lies,
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,
This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,
And mouth with myriad subtleties.

Why should the world be over-wise,
In counting all our tears and sighs?
Nay, let them only see us, while
We wear the mask.

We smile, but O great Christ, our cries
To thee from tortured souls arise.
We sing, but oh the clay is vile
Beneath our feet, and long the mile;
But let the world dream otherwise,
We wear the mask!

-Paul Laurence Dunbar

When I first read this poem I was immediately intrigued how something written in 1896 was still so apparent today. Now Dunbar, an African-American from Dayton, Ohio, was not necessarily experiencing first hand what life was like in the South, however through this poem it is evident that he was aware of the circumstances. So, as I said previously, I was immediately intrigued how something written in 1896 was still so apparent today, but I wasn't really referring to racial protest. Instead, I interpreted this poem as something people in general do everyday in our society. We hide any sign of weakness or any sign that we may be invulnerable. We don't want anyone to "count our tears and sighs." We mask our true emotions and situations with smiles, in hopes that there will be no questions asked. But why? And what exactly does this have to do with media? (Since I'm sure you're beginning to wonder...) Well I became questioning why we do this and instantly I thought of the media. How often in Hollywood do we hear of someone doing something good or worthy of praise? Not often. Instead, when the world comes crashing down or even a single tear is shed everyone has heard about it. This in turn showing the whole world that this famous celeb may not be as strong as we all may have expected. Well of course not, they're human. Even with all that glitz and glam life isn't always going to go their way. And although some may think so, I begin to keep in mind that they are wearing a mask as well, maybe even more than we think or do so ourselves. Yet, even though our stumbles won't be on headline news that evening, we still hide behind a mask. And these masks we hide behind aren't just simply smiles. From the make-up to clothing, the media exhibits this persona that with the right look everything else will fall into place. Now, I'm not Dr. Phil here to tell everyone to just be themselves and stop hiding behind masks, because honestly I'll be the first to admit I don't want people seeing me cry. However, if the media was not so influential in how life should be lived, would we peek out from behind those masks a little more than we did before?