it easy to point out that this story be base on actual event once the camera start roll . it be also back up by excellent performance by cher and eric stoltz . mask be a tender and heart warm story of a young teenager name rocky dennis who be very intelligent and emotionally sensitive a well . however and he be scar badly due to a rare disease that have disfigure his face since he be bear . a always people who pass him by or approach him a first glance feel slightly intimidate by his deformity . but by not let these fear get to him and he becomes well over with his peer a they learn to accept him for who he be and not by what he look like . rocky also get a boost of confidence from his mother and rusty dennis and play with sheer excellence by cher . rusty be a gorgeous and single mother with problem of her own too . she spend most of her time hang around with biker gang and she drink and smoke and be addict to drug and but in spite of her problem and she continue to love her son and will bend over backwards to defend him from anyone who put him to a less degree . for example and when the school principal who recommend that her deformed son be place in a special school and how she tell him off to his face that he will thrive with the normal student and threaten to sue him and show that her love for her son will always be first before her . but with his progress and his strong academic showing and rocky graduate a valedictorian of his class . ever since he be bear and rusty deliver tough love towards her son and not to the point where he will suffer a nervous breakdown and but just a way to keep him motivated and to blend in with people his own age like a though he be a normal child and without take advantage of his deformity . and rocky continue that legacy and from the morning he wake up to face the world and inflate his self confidence and keep the glass half full and just be happy with the world around him in what little time he have on this earth . and eventually through tire persuasion to get his mother to clean up her act and the audience find more way to love rocky for what he really be . you love him because rocky be a kid who love people back which to this day be a precious commodity that you rarely see these day . i have see mask many time and every time i watch the movie and tissue paper be never behind . it be a come of age story that deal with triumph and failure of have an incurable disease and be handle in a believable and sensitive approach . but the great center in the story be not entirely center on the kid physical illness and but the bonding between a mother and her son .