Module 6

Aztec Masks

Having seen all the Aztec masks in the powerpoint I noticed that all these masks have a sense of superiority to what the human being is.
Like these masks we all wear different masks each day. Such masks may be for example the student: which we use to fit into the role that society has made acceptable for someone to be considered a student. There is also the son/daughter, friend, spouse, mother/father, even further on to having masks that fit carrers such as a doctor, teacher, politician, religious leader. When wearing one of these masks we tend to fit the role society expects and wearing the masks gives us a certain amount of power. For the Mesoamerican dead kings we see how these masks they wore in their tombs had a sence of some superiority, although the masks that we have seen made look all similar expressing some point of uniformity. Perhaps our masks are made to fit what society wants while the Aztecs saw that masks were to remind them that their gods held the power that as humns they owed them.
These masks, as I see it, help us fit perfectly into this world we try to be our best and often these masks are also ways to not show fear. Seeing the Aztec mask of the god Tezcatlipoca (Smoking Mirror) or the mask representing both Quetzalcoatl (feathered serpent)/Tlaloc (the rain god) show some fear that they had to the superior power. Masks like the ones that we see super heros wear are because it helps us hide our real identity to allows us to do extraordinary things that we wouldn't do normally.