What happens when the mask slips?

Celebrities are always in the news for experiencing breakdowns – Britney, Kanye, Mariah Carey, Lindsay Lohan, Christina Aguilera, Amanda Bynes, the list goes on. How many of these were initially child stars working for Disney? It’s not so far-fetched to think that the cause of these breakdowns is the intense pressure that they are put under to continuously perform to entertain the masses. Their personalities and brand is completely cultivated by other people leaving them very little room to make their own decisions. In the MK ULTRA programme, an alter ego is often created which enables the performer to do things which they wouldn’t normally do. During a breakdown, there is a disconnect between the person and their alter ego, a moment in which they realise they have no control over their actions and public presence and memories of trauma resurface. The theory is that they then are taken away into ‘rehab’ to be reprogrammed and reconditioned to accept their role as a mere puppet of the industry.