“Oh, you think darkness is your ally. But you merely adopted the dark; I was born in it, molded by it. I didn’t see the light until I was already a man. By then, it was nothing to me but BLINDING! The shadows betray you because they belong to me!” This quote was certainly delivered by everyone who just purchased a mask so they look like Bane in the middle of a pandemic. (And also said by, you know, Tom Hardy’s Bane in The Dark Knight Rises.)
Bane mask sales boomed just like Gotham stadium, and many are flocking to wearing them instead of, you know, masks that will keep you safe from a virus. Sure, pretending to be Bane might be fun for you, but there isn’t any medical benefit (see also Santa beards, Hannibal Lecter masks, or a Darth Vader helmet) to your standard-issue Bane Halloween mask.
Even the U.S. military had to note that a Bane mask was not going to keep you safe during the pandemic. Sorry, you can’t keep safe by being the villain who takes over Gotham and breaks Batman’s back.
(Warner Bros.)
That’s not to say that the idea of a bunch of people running around in Bane masks isn’t a pleasantly humorous mental image right now. Like yes, I made jokes about fictional characters’ masks, but unfortunately, many of these Bane masks are just plastic, which means … they don’t really do anything to help curb the spread of the coronavirus.
David Dejac, a spokesperson for Costume.com, talked to The Hollywood Report about the sudden sales boost, saying, “Looking at sales figures, the adult mask had quite a sales spike in April and early May, which is unusual for this time of year.” So … you know that all these masks are most definitely related to the pandemic. (I’m assuming? Unless you’re all into a sexual fantasy where you are Bane or you want to sleep with Bane. No judgment, live your best life.)
The important thing, though, is that these masks, while fun, are not helpful right now—although perhaps you can find a cloth version that’s more practical for your pandemic needs. Yeah, it kind of sucks that fun masks from movies and television might not work, but hey, you can probably wear a normal black mask and pretend to be Bucky Barnes, so at least that’s something!
If you want to have fun with your masks, maybe fun fabrics or patterns can make wearing a mask a little better. I have a Spider-Man mask that I love with my whole heart, because why not have Spider-Man protect me? Maybe go the same route with your Bane fantasies instead of buying a plastic Halloween mask that does nothing. At least now you have your Halloween costume set for October, right? Even if we’re still trapped inside our houses.
(via The Hollywood Reporter, image: Warner Bros.)
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