Hit Your Mark And Say Your Lines
Exploring social masking in Barry
I've just finished Barry again. It's always great to revisit a show that has a strong run from start to finish. Each character goes through a massive shift between the first and final season, reframing every choice they've made upon subsequent viewings. Barry ran between 2018 and 2023, with four seasons, 32 episodes total, each running roughly 30 minutes. A show packed with that level of substance in such a short-run is magic. Shows that are twice it's size often don't come close to pulling that off.
With its juxtaposition of dark humor and sincere comedy, it’s easy to get lost in the details and miss the broader themes at play. Barry is a pure tragicomedy. The most easily recognizable iconography of the performing arts are the masks that represent comedy and tragedy. The show embraces this, by having an assassin, far removed from the world of stage acting, take on the mask of being an actor. It’s this irreconcilable absurdity that drives the show’s humor. What keeps the concept from becoming a gimmick is the willingness to ensure complete tragic consequence for the characters’ actions. I’m assuming if you’re reading this that you’ve seen the show an all its glory (if not, get on that).
Spoilers below
The first time I watched it, I appreciated that the final fates of each character, especially Cousineau. Upon second viewing, it becomes clear that they were all at high risk of making the mistakes that they did. The vanity that came with their masks always had a long history of undermining them. The show really understands the dubious nature of self-image. No character is free from consequences.
Barry is a hired killer that wants to define his life as a normal guy.
Sally craves validation for her talent that can erase the trauma of her upbringing.
Cousineau wants everyone to see him as a great actor, no matter how horribly he treats them.
Hank wants to succeed in a criminal underworld that is incapable of accepting him for who he is.
Fuches wants the loyalty and love of someone who’s unwilling to see him for who he claims to be.
I love every character, but it’s safe to say the Fuches is my favorite. When faced with what seems like a post-retirement paradise of being in the arms of a loving woman, living a simple life in the country, he bolts the moment he’s reminded of his desire for vengeance. Such actions seem petty and foolish at first. It becomes clear that he was simply being true to himself.
In a show where every character lies to themselves about who they are, Fuches ultimately survives and finds success in the underworld because he commits to it fully. Despite, not having a level of investment in organized crime, like Hank or Cristobal, he forges ahead and outlives them. His true desires offer no conflict with the final mask he chooses to wear, even if he stumbles into it. The lower he goes into the pit, the more at home he is.
What makes Barry compelling with its entire cast of characters is that none are truly doomed to their fate. They make mistakes every step of the way, but there are clear crossroads where there are better options for them to take. These moments test whether they'd rather live in favor of the mask, or in favor of their authentic selves. There are massive downsides to both paths, but the hell of inauthenticity is always a nightmare of delaying the inevitable.
I've found the timing of my rewatch even more compelling as I've explored the concept of unmasking more for my own mental health. There are constant pressures culturally for people to hit their mark and say their lines, deeply feeling that if they fail to do so, their needs won’t be met. It can be a matter of life and death. Despite how monstrous Barry is, there is something inherently relatable to watching him do everything in his power to convince himself that if he simply performs the role of being a "normal" guy, reality will simply conform to that performance (“starting…now”).
There is a magickal power to the act of masking. Comedy and tragedy are derived from the fact that masking doesn't absolve one from the consequences of their actions, and murder is an absolutely the hardest thing to outrun (no matter how many podcasters convince you that it’s a totally okay thing to do):