Take off that Mask essays

Take off that Mask essays As sad as it seem first impressions often dictate the way people feel about one another. In most cases the way a person looks doesnt at all reflect on their personality. This stigma of the way a person looks goes far beyond being pretty and ugly. All to often people are assumed mentally retarded because of a facial deformity when in fact that person is as able or in many cases more then able to perform and task they are asked to perform. Ironically in this modern society where such stigmas exist, some movies are able change our thinking if not remove the stigmas altogether. The film Mask is a perfect example. This movie shows the stigmas for what they are and at the same time changes our impression of facial deformity. This movie enables anyone who views it look at a person and see them for who they are and not what they look like. The film Mask we see the story of Rocky Denis, played by Eric Stoltz, is a teenage boy dealing with the effects of craniodiaphyseal dysplasia. Craniodiaphyseal Dysplasia also known as Lionitis, is a life shortening disease that causes calcium to accumulate in the skull. The calcium make the head grow to twice the normal size. Rocky obviously does not look like the average teenager. This is an observation we can see right away. Outside of the way Rocky looks his lifestyle is also slightly different from most teens. His mother Rusty, played by Cher, is affiliated with a gang of bikers. She drinks and uses drugs, and although she seems to try and hide these things from Rocky he is well aware of what his mother is doing. The movie is quick to bring some of the stigmas about Rockys disorder to our attention. In two scenes we see how people outside of Rockys immediate family treat his disorder. First we see how the principal of the local public junior high school views Rocky. He tells Rocky and Rusty that, There are special schools for children like Rocky, the principal upon l...