We’re watching Thor: Ragnarok. We’ve just seen the scene after Hela appears and Thor has gone through a wormhole and landed in a scrapyard. Some Baddies show up and ask if Thor is a fighter or food. The leader of the Baddies wears a mask that I’m sure I’ve seen in an historical context. I can’t find a picture. I think the mask might be Native American, but it may be Pacific Islander. Anyone know the character I’m talking about, and the origin of the historical mask?
This guy?
If not, do a Google Image search on “Sakaaran Scrappers”
More likely Maori, although not a specific reference:
Stranger
Yes, that’s the mask I’m talking about that he’s holding. The image I have in my mind is a black-and-white photo of a person wearing a white mask with a mouth and eyes like the one in the picture. I do not recall any ‘hair’ though.
Yes, I thought it might be Pacific Islander (not necessarily Maori); but I still have Southwestern Native Americans in my head too.
Perhaps styled after one of the several Tago masks of New Guinea. These are masked guys dressed in leaves who who visit the village every ten years to whip and throw rocks at the local sinners. There’s a lot of variations though. Here’s one:
It gave me a bit of an Asaro Mudman vibe because of the colour and the plain surface. Polynesian masks I think of as having highly decorated surfaces.
Looks like Papua New Guinea FTW!
I saw a picture of one of them with long fingernails. ISTR seeing the mask (and the nails) in the title sequence of some travel show.
Thank you.