Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with persona

Creating an Artistic Persona

divabat — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 04:32:03 -0800

followup to this question: how does one create and develop a persona? I'm referring to artistic/entertainment personas, such as Borat and Ali G - where performers actually take on a whole new personality as part of their work.

How are such personas developed? Are they carefully planned out, or do they organically develop? How much of the persona is developed before being performed (for example, does Borat have a detailed childhood history?)? Is it much like creating a fictional character for stories, or is there some other process?

Along with that, how are the other aspects - fashion, style, mannerisms, talents, accents, etc - of the persona handled? Does someone that want to make an artistic persona usually go to classes to learn all those skills? Where do they get it from?

I've emailed Empress V (who performs in Brisbane as A Wonder Woman, amongst others) and she's given me some good advice, but I'd like to know of any other perspectives and resources. Google doesn't turn up much and my local libraries don't have a lot on the topic either - where and what topic should I be looking for?

Shoot the Messenger? Cult of Personality?

divabat — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 21:11:26 -0800

Which causes or ideas have become more about the messenger than the message? I remember, for a while after "An Inconvenient Truth" came out, there was a lot of fuss given on Al Gore personally alongside (and sometimes more than) the attention on climate change. Now Al Gore's fame has quelled a little, but I was wondering if there have been any other social causes or new ideas that are now only remembered because of the presenter - or even if those ideas have fallen by the wayside in favour of the presenter's personality.

While Princess Diana brought landmines to greater public attention, it wasn't the cause of her fame, and the landmines cause hasn't diminished just because of her. Similarly, there isn't one clear person that can be credited for the gay rights movement or the feminist movement.

However, how many people would understand Albert Einstein's Theory or Relativity or how it's relevant to today's world? How about Stephen Hawking's work on astrophysics? Has their "celebrity" overshadowed understanding of their work on a mass level?

Also, has there been any studies or research done in this area? Is there a name for this phenomena?

Is it common for people to lie online?

Ethereal Bligh — Fri, 10 Sep 2004 01:20:58 -0800

Lying. How common is it for people to lie as a part of their online personas? I suppose that I can understand the whole fictional persona thing, but in this case I'm referring to a pseudonym with life details that maps closely onto the real person's but with some (boasting?) fabrications added. This is someone I know in Real Life, so it's disturbing to me.

The more general question is just about lying. How much do people actually lie, anyway? I never assume that people are lying about the things they say. I almost never lie (the notable exception in my life has been lying about being sick for work). I might exagerate of give an incorrect impression. But just flat out say things that I know aren't true? It doesn't even occur to me, even when it would be convenient (or possible the right thing to do, a la the "white lie"). Not to say that I'm virtous, in a bazillion other ways I'm not particularly virtuous...no, I mention it because I suppose this is why I never assume or even suspect that other people lie about things and I'm always deeply caught by surprise.

I'm feeling very disapointed in my friend, which I intuit is perhaps silly.