When I was younger, I was much troubled after seeing a version of the The Man In The Iron Mask ...
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| The Man In The Iron Mask |
.... in which there was a scene when the iron mask, still hot, was forced over the head of the prisoner.
This scene disturbed me enough for me to actually dream about it ..... or rather nightmare about it. Thankfully I don't recall which version of the many films and TV movies made it was, so I am not forced to look for that particular scene again.
Of course, although the character of the man in the iron mask has become eternally mixed up with Alexandre Dumas's, 'The Three Musketeers', because The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later—the final instalment of Dumas D'Artagnan saga included him, he was in fact a real character, unlike the three musketeer's.
He died in 1703, with his identity still secret. His real identity has been much speculated about by many historians and philosophers, ranging from an Italian diplomat who had pissed of Louis the XIV, through to Voltaire's idea that the prisoner was an older, illegitimate brother of Louis XIV (the idea picked up by both Dumas, and the film makers).
Now you might (if you have stuck it out this far) be wondering why I might be wittering on about all this ....
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| The Man In The Hooded Mask |
... Well, I saw this picture a few years ago, and was immediately struck with a flash back to the man in the iron mask. The iron mask dehumanised the real French prisoner, and hid the political prisoner's identity .... and so apparently does the mask that the Chinese police have placed over their prisoner.
As this poor man is almost certainly heading for a 're-education' camp, he effectively will have been as disappeared as ever the man in the iron mask was.
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| The Leather Hood or 'Cap' Was Popular In England And Scotland. |
However, this idea of masking prisoners to try and stop them recognising and talking to each other, was popular in European prisons in the 18th and 19th centuries .....
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| Swedish And Australian Prisoners Masks In Cloth |
So its not a new idea ..... but its disturbing to see it still practised.
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