Week 1 Reflection

The question of identity has always been confusing to me. I always find it annoying and difficult to distinguish between when people are being genuine and when they are just performing. A lot of the time, I think that the world would be a better place if everyone just felt comfortable without performing, but of course this is impossible. Performances can be very good things to hide behind. Even though it is slightly cynical to say that everyone is putting on performances all the time, I think that it would be stupid to think that people are not performing a lot of the time. There are so many social norms and rules that everyone has to follow, performing is necessary some of the time. If people just went around acting and doing everything they wanted to, the world would probably be a very unpleasant place to live in.

Also, if a person's performance makes them feel better about themselves is it really that bad? While watching the movie Don Juan DeMacro this idea really struck me. In the movie, a character, who live in present day New York City, truly believes that he is Don Juan. The man does not hurt anyone by his delusions, he is actually able to bring joy to many people lives, so is it that bad that he talks, dresses, and acts like someone he is not? If a performance or a fake identity is able to bring a person comfort and has a very limited negative effect on others I don't think it is that bad of a thing. Sometimes, performances are just away for a person to become what they want to be.