History Main / MasqueradeParadox

* ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'' plays with its Masquerade. Monsters hide in the closet to scare children because children's screams are used as a power source -- but children are equally scary to monsters, who believe them to be so toxic that even touching one can be fatal. If a monster accidentally brings an object a child touched back to their world, it triggers a prompt response from the Child Detection Agency, who dispose of the item and decontaminate the area with ''extreme'' prejudice. But the monsters don't have any ''proof'' that children are dangerous; Mike and Sulley are initially terrified of Boo but start interacting with her more and more as the movie goes on. Then we discover that [[spoiler:Randall and Waternoose not only believe children aren't dangerous, they're secretly plotting to kidnap them to use as a power source. The Child Detection Agency probably also knows the truth, but keeps up the Masquerade to [[BenevolentConspiracy protect the children from abuses like this]]]].

[[folder:Real Life]]
Occasionally, people in RealLife try to enact a Masquerade which turns out to be counterproductive.
* The [[https://historyengine.richmond.edu/episodes/view/6630 obstetrical forceps]], a key medical tool in ensuring safe childbirth, were invented by Peter Chamberlen the Elder around 1600. Chamberlen knew his invention was revolutionary in a time when childbirth was dangerous and survival was far from assured -- but even more than saving lives, he worried about midwives and medical establishment getting their revenge on him if they were forced out of a job. He made his invention a family secret, and his family kept that secret for the next hundred years. Even when ''using'' the forceps, they were kept in a special gilded box, ''everyone'' other than the Chamberlens were forced out of the room, and the mother herself was blindfolded. They even made a huge amount of artificial noise to prevent others from hearing the clanking of the forceps. Eventually, they were found out, but for hundreds of years [[WithholdingTheCure who knows how many women and children died who might have been saved]].
* UsefulNotes/RichardNixon's paranoia led him to enact several pointless Masquerades, most notably the "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House_Plumbers White House Plumbers]]", a covert special investigation unit answering directly to the White House; originally founded to stop classified information from leaking to the media, they were soon used to spy on the Democrats to win Nixon the 1972 election. Nixon won that particular election in a landslide; he didn't ''need'' to rig it in his favor. But his "Plumbers" were caught breaking into the Democratic Party headquarters in the Watergate Hotel in 1972, and that spiralled into the [[{{Scandalgate}} Watergate scandal]], which eventually forced Nixon to resign from office.
[[/folder]]

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'' is a textbook example of the Paradox; a discussion of it even provides the page quote. The stated reasons for the Masquerade are that {{Muggles}} are inclined to mistrust wizards and [[TheWorldIsNotReady not ready to learn the truth]], and Muggles would want magical solutions to all their problems. Wizards cite medieval BurnTheWitch sentiment as the reason to enact the Masquerade to begin with, but that fails to address why the Masquerade is necessary ''today''. And even then, the books point out that few witches or wizards were actually ''harmed'' by medieval witch hunts, as they could create the illusion of their suffering and death and walk away from a witch-burning unscathed (that said, [[LiteraryAgentHypothesis Dumbledore's notes]] in ''Literature/TheTalesOfBeedleTheBard'' point out that a wizard separated from his wand could easily be killed by mundane means, and magical children were [[WouldHurtAChild often targeted by Muggle persecutors]] due to PowerIncontinence and their inability to protect themselves). There's also the possibility of informational exchange, as wizards are shown to be absolutely hopeless with technology but good with healing power (and supplemental material suggests this is ''exactly'' how wizards and Muggles interacted before the witch hunts). And wizards not only have superior firepower to {{Muggles}} (the question of whether Muggle weapons could [[MugglesDoItBetter take down a wizard]] is a bit of a [[BrokenBase contentious topic in the fandom]]), but magic explicitly neutralizes technology -- so why not just take over? The Masquerade seems to hit pretty much every point of contention the Paradox raises. Perhaps the most interesting explanation is ''wizard'' prejudice -- they hate {{Muggles}} and don't want to interact with them in principle. Arthur Weasley has an interest in Muggles and likes tinkering with Muggle devices, but this gets him seen as a kook by other wizards and the entire Weasley family is disparaged by pure-bloods for ''not'' having FantasticRacism against Muggles.

* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive:'' {{Justified}} due to the nature of the magic system. In this particular setting, ''anyone'' can gain magic with sufficient study and focus once they know it exists, and spells are customized to reflect the personality of those who get them. Consequently, there is no way to make useful magic publicly available, or even publicly reveal the ''existence'' of magic, without putting dangerous magic in the hands of those who would most abuse it. As Mr Verres [[http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=1692 puts it]] after one of the comic's most powerful and depraved villains has been defeated.

* '''{{Prejudice|Tropes}}.''' The idea is that {{Muggles}} react [[BurnTheWitch violently]] to shows of magic. Partly it's a belief that MagicIsEvil, but there are also aspects of jealousy and longstanding human classicism. The ''Franchise/XMen'' series, for instance, is a lengthy exploration of what happens when you ''don't'' have a Masquerade. Usually, it fails to address the issue of the power imbalance; the Muggles may ''want'' to burn the witch, but they [[BullyingADragon don't have the power to catch them]]. Or perhaps its the other way around, with the supernatural elements despising and distrusting the Muggles, not enough to wage war on them, but enough to isolate themselves.

* ''ComicBook/DoctorStrange'' will frequently go out of his way to prevent the world at large from learning about magic, to the extent that he employs magical LaserGuidedAmnesia. Most normal people believe Strange is a charlatan pretending to use magic -- even though [[ArbitrarySkepticism he shares a universe with powerful superheroes who operate openly]], one of whom presents himself as a god from Norse Mythology. Keeping it secret eventually gets phased out, though magical beings still mostly keep to themselves away from mundane society.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Fables}}'', Fabletown insists on hiding its existence from mundane Earth people and goes to considerable lengths to do so. Each Fable lives under rules aimed at hiding their particular nature -- for example, Rapunzel has to cut her ever-growing hair every couple of hours, and non-humans have to buy magic to hide their natural forms (or else get sent to the Farm). Any mundane who cracks the ruse and blabs about it will find that [[FateWorseThanDeath death is the best they can hope for]]. But nobody actually ''addresses'' why this state of affairs is necessary, and [[spoiler:the Masquerade is broken in the end with human civilization accepting it just fine]].
* The shared universe of Creator/TopCowProductions does seem to have a masquerade. The general public is unaware of superpowered figures such as the [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/ComicBook/Witchblade Witchblade]] or ComicBook/TheDarkness. For the latter, it is justifiable: Jackie Estecado is a member of the mafia and holds to the code of ''omerta'', keeping silent about his (usually criminal) activities. However, the holder of the Witchblade, Sara Pezzini, is a cop, and her magical adversaries often pose a great danger to the public and her fellow officers. Why she keeps such dangers a secret is a question that has yet to be answered.
* ''ComicBook/{{Wanted}}'' resolves this in an interesting way. The Masquerade is maintained by the Fraternity, an almighty LegionOfDoom of allied supervillians who exterminated all superheroes on Earth in 1986, then performed a CosmicRetcon to the rest of the world so that everyone, including any surviving heroes, believes that superheroes are fictional. Being supervillains, the Fraternity refuse to use their vast powers to benefit the world, and they spend most of their time making mountains of money and [[ForTheLulz amusing themselves]] through clandestine and criminal means. Their concern is [[AlternateUniverse parallel universes]], which might ''still'' have superheroes who can choose to intervene -- Fraternity members do occasionally raid those other universes, but they're very careful to cover their tracks. The Masquerade becomes a major plot point, as the Fraternity is divided on whether to maintain it or drop it and rule openly.

* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNk0ZDblJLs&t=1s Urban Fantasy Reloaded]]" is a video by WebVideo/TerribleWritingAdvice which explores many of the clichés of Urban Fantasy. One of them is the Masquerade Paradox, which is covered from 06:28-06:56.

* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNk0ZDblJLs&t=1s Urban Fantasy Reloaded]]" is a video by Youtuber Terrible Writing Advice which explores many of the clichés of Urban Fantasy. One of them is the Masquerade Paradox, which is covered from 06:28-06:56.

* The Website/SCPFoundation keeps the existence of the paranormal a secret because TheWorldIsNotReady. It's a world where almost ''all'' MagicIsEvil and ScienceIsBad, so they've got ''very'' good reasons for keeping the public from knowing about it. Interestingly, neither the foundation itself nor most of its members are paranormal themselves.
** In the story ''[[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/everyone-knows Everyone Knows]]'', it turns out that everyone on earth knew about anomalies; the SCP foundation alone employs 3.5 billion people. After this is discovered, they decide to maintain the masquerade because they consider the illusion of normality worth protecting.