Abstract:
This article uses the idea and practice of the mask and masking technology
in the popular Mission: Impossible film franchise to critically consider the tensions
between digital and analogue. In the Mission: Impossible films, the masks are a core
component of the films’ intrigue, and they serve the plot dynamics of each franchise
entry while also revealing ever-sophisticated diegetic film technologies that make
these silicone-based masks increasingly hyper-realistic in spy-craft and antisurveillance deception. This article demonstrates how the mask is an identity
technology that qualifies the persona as potentially deceptive and duplicitous as it
relies on a convincing presentation of a character’s self that does not accurately
reflect the interiority of this character, and on a betrayal of trust of the affective
investment of a particular micro-publics. As such, the viewer reflects on facial
representation not only in terms of verisimilitude, but also veracity. Within a context
of techno est ubique, the mask has evident transformative capacities as a temporary
interface with the world and as a remediation technology. However, the mask is also
a precarious technology because it is highly visible and needs monitoring for proper
presentation and error. It is a seamless technology, which evokes further reflections
on photorealism and deepfakes. Additionally, digital comes to denote ‘dead’, and the
digital mask of especially the later Mission: Impossible films – identifiable by its
skeuomorphic qualities – challenges the continued existence of the analogue
(organic face) as mask and related appearance replication technologies come to
replace human faces and bodies entirely.
