Persona

The Word of the Day for April 16 is "persona."

persona: (noun) The role that one assumes or displays in public or society; one's public image or personality, as distinguished from the inner self.

Synonyms: image

Usage: The singer's larger-than-life persona belied the fear and insecurity she truly felt.

Relevance to my life: At the end of the semester, my class went out for drinks and I do believe I shocked some people. I had let my Serious Student persona slip off, let my hair down and was Just Me. Although there were no beer funnels or table-dancing, I could see that my classmates weren't expecting the Real Barbara.

You Don't Know Me
I really am surprised how many times I've felt this. Maybe I'm bad about letting people see who I really am. Or, maybe people are idiots.








The Breakfast Club
Sometimes we make our personas ourselves, other times we're type-cast. Those seem to be the hardest to break.








The Doors
Larger than life, he was. For God's sake they have a memorial plaque at Barney's Beanery where he once got banned for pissing on the bar!








The Marquise de Merteuil and Valmont
This scene sets up the next one. The Marquise had a reputation, a public persona of the model lady of French nobility when in reality she was as corrupt and devious as the worst scoundrel. She was still my favorite character in both the book and the movie.








The Fall of the Marquise
Here, her persona is shot to Hell. *sniff* Nobody likes her anymore!