The first thing that came to mind after doing the Zoot Suit readings was the image of Jim Carrey in a bright yellow suit. Why, you may ask, is this pretty disturbing image coming to this girls mind after reading about an important political fashion movement? Well, The Mask happened to be one of my favorite movies growing up and that banana yellow Zoot Suit will, unfortunately, never be too far from my mind. Besides the unfortunate elements to this vivid memory, it got me wondering "why" exactly the costume designer chose to put the character in a Zoot Suit as the iconic image for his transformation from "ho-hum" to "ho-my-god-WHO-the-hell-IS-that-guy?” Often taken for granted, costumes are actually extremely important in creating a persona for a character in a film, and oftentimes costumes can actually take on a personality and message of their own. This concept holds true off the silver screen as well. As we discussed in class, the whole idea of the Zoot Suit movement was to claim an attitude and send a message, simply by the clothes one wore. Where Zoot Suit culture in post-WWII America was trying to claim dignity, masculinity and space, I'm afraid the message Jim Carrey's suit was trying to send wasn't so noble.
Stanley Ipkiss is a mild-mannered, shy and generally pretty lame bank clerk who happens upon an ancient mask floating in the bay. The mask ends up being inhabited by Loki, the Norse god of mischief, so when Stanley puts the mask on, he is completely transformed into the exact opposite of himself. Loud, outrageous, flamboyant, wacky – are just a few words to describe the green-faced character Stanley becomes when the mask takes over. Along with his skin color and attitude, Stanley gets a wardrobe change as well. Instead of his usual brown suit, white shirt and tie, Stanley as “The Mask” dons a banana yellow exaggerated Zoot Suit. The jacket is extra long, lined with white and black polka dotted fabric with a matching pocket square, his tie is a flamboyant black and white geometric/circle pattern, he wears a yellow fedora style hat with a black stripe and a large yellow and black feather and of course, black patent dancing shoes with white spats. Stanley becomes a suave suitor, a smooth dancer and extremely cocky. The choice to use a Zoot suit in a modern film as the image for this powerful persona, says a lot about the importance and reputation the Zoot suit had, and still has, associated with it.
On the other hand, one could argue that although Stanley does become more confident and finally goes after the girl of his dreams (the one and only Ms. Cameron Diaz) and this gives the Zoot suit a positive image, a negative image can also be generated and perceived. As “The Mask”, Stanley is out of control, goofy and overly cartoonish. He also is shown in green-face, which is all extremely reminiscent of the stereotypes of African American culture. Drawings of African Americans were always exaggerated and cartoonish, with overly big lips and bug eyes. Stanley’s green face while he is “The Mask” can be linked with ideas of blackface minstrelsy. Since the Zoot Suit culture was so closely associated with African American culture, all these stereotypes put together can create an extremely negative view of “The Mask” character as Stanley’s “Black” side.
Do you think there is any validity in the idea of Stanley having a “Black” and “White” side? Do you think this movie gives the Zoot Suit a more positive or more negative image?
No comments:
Post a Comment