Many Faces

Oct 31, 2024

When I was a kid, the thing I liked best about Halloween (besides the candy) was that for a little while, I could slip into a new identity. For me, putting on a mask was liberating: I was an awkward kid, never totally comfortable in my own skin, and the labels that stuck weren’t ones I wanted ("nerd" wasn’t cool back then!). So each Halloween, I’d try on something new—a superhero, a bunny, a villain, even Santa Claus one year. For a few hours, the mask let me explore what it felt like to be someone else, unlocking imagination and giving me a peek at all I might become... someone NOT the me I was then.

My friend Paul Salvatoriello, a Broadway and film actor, once shared a fascinating insight: For adult actors, masks actually work the opposite way. Over the years, adults collect a whole set of “masks”—different sides of their personalities they show in different settings. While kids grow by trying masks on, success for adult actors means taking masks off, peeling back all those layers to reveal the authentic face that fits the role. Paul says it’s scary to do, but also incredibly freeing.

During the pandemic, masks took on a whole new meaning. For some, masks represented protection, letting people navigate the world more safely. For others, they represented the fear of getting sick or infecting loved ones, and for some even now they remain stifling reminders of the claustrophobic feeling of the era.

Halloween gives us a once-a-year excuse to conflate fear with fun, to remind ourselves that we can handle life's frights, even if the shadows lying in wait around the corner are truly spooky. And it's a day to show our kids that they can do the same, whether they're a pirate, a princess, a dinosaur, a ninja, or just a regular person. Regardless, I hope today brings you and the kids in your world a chance to be exactly who you want to be—whether that’s totally yourself, or, for a few thrilling hours, someone entirely different.

—Deb