Sync Watch: Is Red Mask Symbolism Heralding A New Plague? ~ Pop Culture Keys

"And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all" --Edgar Allan Poe, The Masque Of The Red Death

I noticed a lot of "red mask" symbolism last week -- probably at least one a day, either in news stories or movies I watched. There's also been a lot of talk of flu epidemics, "norovirus" epidemics, and elder celebrities suddenly finding themselves sick and in the ICU.

So here's a little "sync carnival" I put together entitled, "The Red Masque of Captain Chaos."

I'm sure it's not heralding some sort of age of pestilence, or something.

From "Drudge Report," 1/25/13

" The rap titan sported a red makeshift mask similar to the one worn by the superhero in Paris yesterday. "
-- The Sun, 1/24/13

Cover of the comic book "Red Hood & The Outlaws" #16, which hit stands 1/23/13

Jack Of Diamonds from "Seven Psychopaths"

Dom DeLuise's alter-ego Captain Chaos from "Cannibal Run"

Burt Reynolds in ICU with flu; 1/26/13

Gawker, 1/27/13

Burt Reynolds and Barbara Walters, circa 1980

The Atlantic, 1/25/13

"And thus too, it happened, perhaps, that before the last echoes of the last chime had utterly sunk into silence, there were many individuals in the crowd who had found leisure to become aware of the presence of a masked figure which had arrested the attention of no single individual before. And the rumor of this new presence having spread itself whisperingly around, there arose at length from the whole company a buzz, or murmur, expressive of disapprobation and surprise — then, finally, of terror, of horror, and of disgust. In an assembly of phantasms such as I have painted, it may well be supposed that no ordinary appearance could have excited such sensation. In truth the masquerade license of the night was nearly unlimited; but the figure in question had out-Heroded Herod, and gone beyond the bounds of even the prince's indefinite decorum. There are chords in the hearts of the most reckless which cannot be touched without emotion. Even with the utterly lost, to whom life and death are equally jests, there are matters of which no jest can be made. The whole company, indeed, seemed now deeply to feel that in the costume and bearing of the stranger neither wit nor propriety existed. The figure was tall and gaunt, and shrouded from head to foot in the habiliments of the grave. The mask which concealed the visage was made so nearly to resemble the countenance of a stiffened corpse that the closest scrutiny must have had difficulty in detecting the cheat. And yet all this might have been endured, if not approved, by the mad revellers around. But the mummer had gone so far as to assume the type of the Red Death. His vesture was dabbled in blood — and his broad brow, with all the features of the face, was besprinkled with the scarlet horror."
--Edgar Allan Poe, The Masque Of The Red Death