During the Japanese occupation of Bali, the portrayal of king masks was slanted to emphasize tyranny and inspire rebellion. As a result many Topeng performers were arrested by the Japanese Imperial government. Even in less troubled times, variations in a masked character's features can be noted from village to village. The alterations are often modeled on well-known individuals in the community, or simply on an artist's conception of a current psychological trait that needs to be brought to the public's attention. The mask becomes a two-way mirror, reflecting images from the past and present in a single face.
Western cultures tend to de-emphasize their mythic archetypes.
The theater is one of the few places where the connections between history and current events could be reinforced, but commercial theater rarely realizes this potential. A mask allows the actor to submerge his ego in the service of an archetypal role whose significance dwarfs his own personality. The Broadway star accomplishes precisely the reverse, subordinating the role to his own individuality and thereby focusing the audience's attention on himself at the expense of a broader interpretation of the story's meaning. If utilized with the intention of countering this trend in drama, masks could be of value to Western actors and their public. The Russian director, Vsevolod Meyerhold, staged several productions according to his own principles of the mask in the early twentieth century.