Narrative Machines, Episode 4: Masks All The Way Down challenges the notion of identity as a singular, stable essence, instead presenting it as a recursive performance—an interplay of masks, personas, and shifting narratives. From roleplaying games to professional personas, from instinct to artifice, we examine the idea that there is no final, unmasked self—only layers of performance. If identity is constructed through repetition and context, what does that mean for agency? And just as crucially—who is shaping the stage?

The episode begins with David Bowie’s prescient reflections on the Internet and anonymity, framing a broader discussion of aesthetic performance as a force in modern political and cultural life. From there, we turn to Yukio Mishima, whose work and life exemplify modern nihilism’s entanglement with theatrical self-creation, foreshadowing the existential crises of the 21st century. Future episodes will explore their respective artistic and ideological trajectories in depth, treating them as case studies in self-mythologizing and narrative control.

For now, we take a wide-angle approach, positioning these ideas as a warning against reducing ethics to aesthetics—a concern amplified by AI, social media algorithms, and deepfakes eroding the boundaries of authenticity. The case of Anonymous and their use of the Guy Fawkes mask illustrates how symbols, once fixed in meaning, can be repurposed to forge new collective identities. This phenomenon encapsulates the episode’s central argument: in a world where narratives are weaponized, understanding the layered performance of identity is critical to reclaiming agency.

Listen to Weird Studies episode 70 for an extensive conversation about these themes.

Topics Covered:

The Vulgar Nihilism of Our Age:

Examines the shared existential void as explored by artists such as Bowie, Mishima, and 20th-century society.

Critiques the reduction of ethics to aesthetics.

Weaponization of Narrative and the Collapse of Truth:

Discusses how propaganda, disinformation, and media manipulation erode a shared consensus reality.

Uses the metaphor of ideological “glasses” from They Live to illustrate filtered perceptions of reality.

Technology and Narrative Manipulation:

Explores the role of AI, social media, and algorithms in reinforcing biases and echo chambers.

Highlights the threat posed by deepfakes in blurring the lines between fact and fiction.

The Mask as Identity’s Core Symbol:

Analyzes masks as representations of the constructed, performative nature of identity.

Alternate Reality Games, Roleplaying Games, and a new age of disinformation.

Details the reappropriation of the Guy Fawkes mask by Anonymous as a tool for collective narrative.

Identity as Performance:

Argues that all identities are performances shaped by intersecting social, cultural, and personal narratives, with no singular “true” self.

Critical Engagement with Narratives:

Calls for a heightened critical awareness in an era of relentless narrative manipulation.

Offers strategies to resist control and reclaim agency by scrutinizing the stories that define our reality.

Visit Jamescurcio.com/narrative-machines or ModernMythology.net for additional affiliated projects and podcasts.

This episode argues that the commonly held belief that myth is dead - a relic of the past replaced by modern science and reason - is itself a framing myth of modernity. Instead, myth is alive and well, but often hidden within mediums that lack the traditional aura of the sacred.

The Sacred and the Profane:

The tension between the sacred and propaganda, arguing that the sacred cannot be manufactured or controlled.

The transformative power of the sacred.

The relationship between myths and meaning. We argue that meaning is not inherent in myths but is rather a by-product of our engagement with them, and caution against attempts to codify the meaning of myths, arguing that such attempts are often driven by a desire to appropriate the power of myth for personal gain.

Myth is not primarily about conveying meaning in a literal sense.

Building on Episode 1's discussion of strange attractors, Episode 2 highlights how myths, like strange attractors, can drive cultural evolution toward specific values and structures.

Myth is not something separate from our construction of reality but is rather an integral part of it.

The episode begins to examine how myths can be used for political purposes, both for good and for ill, paving the way for further analysis in subsequent episodes. We will explore this much more closely in subsequent episodes.

It cautions that authoritarianism, fascism, totalitarianism, etc can exploit the power of myth for their own ends.

For more, visit Jamescurcio.com/narrative-machines or ModernMythology.net for more affiliated podcasts.