Prepared by \ HEURISTIX
Laurie Blass and Pam Elder
Instructional Designers


"The Masks" - Synopsis

BACKGROUND Writer: Rod Serling; Director: Ida Lupino; Cast: Robert Keith, Virginia Gregg, Milton Selzer, Alan Sues, Brooke Hayward, Willis Bouchey, Bill Walker; Original air date: Fifth season, 3/20/64.


Knowing that he has only a few hours to live, the ailing Jason Foster summons his family, daughter Emily, son-in-law Wilfred, grandson Wilfred Jr., and granddaughter Emily, to his home in New Orleans during Mardi Gras. He knows they are anxious for him to die so they can inherit his wealth. However, Foster has a final wish that they must fulfill before they can receive their inheritance: Each must wear a Mardi Gras mask until midnight. Foster states that the masks represent the opposite of each person's true nature. In fact, however, he has had the masks specially made to represent exactly the evil qualities he feels each of his relatives truly possesses. At first they object, but overcome by greed, they agree to wear them. At the stroke of midnight, Foster dies. The family members take off their masks, and are shocked to see their faces transformed. They now possess features that reveal their true natures: avarice, cowardice, vanity, and cruelty.


Focus: Greed

Discussion

Before viewing "The Masks", discuss the following in small groups: 1. What is greed? What makes people greedy?
2. How important are the following motivations to you, personally? Rank them according to the following scale:
1 = not at all important 2 = somewhat important 3 = very important

• Money
• Power
• Popularity
• Fame
• Love
• Expensive or rare objects, such as a car, a fancy home, jewelry, a rare collectible, etc.
• A hard-to-realize goal or position, such as being a sports star, getting a part in a movie, winning a political race, having a book published, etc.

3. Under what circumstances would you compromise your values for money, power, or something else that you greatly desired?

ACTIVITIES

During Viewing:

Think about the following: 1. As you watch the opening scenes, make a list of adjectives that come to mind as each character is introduced. Sum up their personalities in a few words.
Jason Foster: _______________________________________________
Emily Harper: _______________________________________________
Wilfred Harper: ______________________________________________
Paula: _____________________________________________________
Wilfred Jr.: __________________________________________________

2. Describe the charactersą feelings toward each other. What does Foster think of his family? What do they think about him?

3. How does the family react to Fosterąs Mardi Gras plans?

4. Serling foreshadows future events when he has Foster tell the family that "an old Cajun" made the masks. What might this suggest to the viewer about the nature of the masks?

5. How does Foster get the family to wear the masks?

6. What functions do the masks have, in the end?


After Viewing:

1. Find examples of greed in American society. Look in newspapers, magazines, and on television, as well as in your own community. Bring your examples to class and discuss them. What motivated the greedy behavior in each case? Did the greedy person or group profit in the end?


2. In small groups, find out just how avaricious people can be. Create a Greed Questionnaire that elicits the point at which a person would compromise his or her values for money. Have ten people take your questionnaire. Here are two ways to design your questionnaire:
1) Present a scale of amounts of money for which your informant would perform an unusual, silly, or embarrassing feat; or
2) Present a set figure, such as a billion dollars, and ask your informant what he or she would do for it.

Example 1:

You can ask: Would you wear clown suit and sing the national anthem downtown at rush hour for a million dollars? A thousand dollars? A hundred dollars? Etc. (The informant has the option of saying, "I wouldnąt do that for any amount of money.")

Example 2:

You can ask: What are the most far-out things you would do for a million dollars?

3. Afterwards, share your questionnaires and results with the class. Discuss them by answering the following questions:

• Were you surprised by your results? Why or why not?
• What do your results reveal about the avariciousness of the average person?

Journal

If you donąt already have one, start a Twilight Zone theme journal and write an entry about one of the following topics:


1. Review your answers to Discussion Question 2. Choose one of the motivations you identified as "very important" and write about what you could do to attain it.
2. What nonmaterial things are most important to you? How much value do you place on material things? Which things of value could you most easily do without?
3. How do you want others to think of you? What dominant qualities of your character do you hope others perceive?

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