ST mask make the villain or does the villain make the mask?.

I thought about what made Kylo Ren so interesting. While his personality and motive was interesting, It was his appearance that caught me, But would he still have had the same following without the mask?.
Darth Sidious had nothing but a hood, but he was still intimidating and terrifying. What are your feelings?.

 

Good question first off.

For me the mask was pointless and incredibly disappointing as the purpose of a mask was completely missed (or at least not elaborated enough to provide the necessary weight it needs to carry).

One does one wear a mask is the key question. Most common reason is obviously the DV scenario - life support and/or covering up scarring. The alternative though, if it is not medically needed or used to hide medical conditions is that it is an emotional attachment, usually meant to hide one's one weaknesses and insecurities i.e. to hide behind the mask.

The start of the movie makes sense, he is wearing the mask to be sinister looking (and we don't know why he does it). To then find him take it off so casually and so often, and to effectively reference DV as the reason for his wearing it (hero worship?), meant it's artistic significance was neutralised. The first time he should have taken it off was with Han, when "Ben" is being called back by Han. Then we have a reason for him to remove it, as he is removing his veil protecting his insecurities.

Instead we saw a whiny kid who worships what his grandfather was and makes the mask completely without any menace or key purpose.

 

I like his hair, but that's just me

 

Why do you wear a mask? Were you burned by lava or something?

No, I just find they're terribly comfortable. In the future, everyone will be wearing them.

 

Inconceivable!

 

If I can treat the topic seriously for a moment, let's remember that Kylo is Master of the Knights of Ren. KoR all seem to wear heavy armor, probably with full-faced helmets, so maybe Kylo's mask is part of his KoR uniform.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mask

In Kylo's particular case I think the mask is helpful because nobody can see the emotions or reactions beneath it. So I'd rather assume he wears it as a kind of protection, to prevent others from reading his emotions.

 

Masks are a theme of the film too: all of the major characters with the exception of Poe are introduced with masks on. They are all mysteries or have something about their identity that is mysterious or hidden. And hey, it's Star Wars, are we really gonna suggest that masks aren't a big thing around here?

 

I think he wears the mask 1) to be more intimidating and hide his schoolboy looks and 2) to be more like Vader

Adam Driver was trained in mask acting at Julliard, it's one of the most difficult things to do and he nails it. Especially in the communing with Vader scene.

 

For real?

 

You tell me.

 

Sidious did not have a mask, sure. But really, after that Windu thing, he probably could have used one.

 

This one seems a no-bariner to me. He wants to emulate his famous grandfather. He THINKS that the mask will make him the villain he wants to be. The struggle in the character is very interesting to me. I love the scene where the locked sabers are reflected in his eyes. Remarkable.

 

Yes, according to Sam Witwer, they had the same mask training at Julliard

 

Neat!