Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: ACT (05/05/22)
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TITLE: The Play’s not Really the Thing! | Previous Challenge Entry
By LINDA GERMAIN
05/12/22 -
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What turned out to be a lot of sitting and waiting while the famous director insisted on more takes of a scene made me realize the job of an actor was not as glamorous as advertised. It seemed a little boring. They paid me the hourly wage I received at my actual job. This one, clearly, was all about make-believe.
Someone told me to get in the elevator with the guy who was called a grip. I liked him. He was the only one who seemed happy to be there. He held a walkie-talkie to receive instructions from the boss and coordinate with two of the stars as the door opened. I was the first to exit and hurry down the hall to some imaginary destination while the men had a loud, angry discussion right behind me.
They were encouraged to ad-lib, so by the time we had suffered through the incessant clacking of the clapperboard of what seemed like fifty takes, some of the language had become pretty salty. What had I gotten myself into?
For some reason, we had to do it over and over but that scene ended up on the cutting room floor. I never saw it in the final version. That’s a lot like life. We rehearse and prepare and then sometimes our part in the anticipated story gets deleted before we can bring it to fruition.
In all the hanging around and waiting, I was able to lean against the wall or find a chair and observe this pretense that paid the ones with speaking parts more money per week than I made in six months. One fleeting thought that maybe I was in the wrong business quickly faded. What price glory? To my thinking, too steep!
There was a certain rhythm on this movie set. Start early, work on a few scenes, but always stand by in case Mr. Director had a new direction. Nothing was in chronological order. I wasn’t even sure what it was all about until I went to the theater after it was released.
At lunch, a huge special bus equipped with a kitchen appeared. The side opened up and delicious food was handed to each one to take to long picnic tables.
Those of us who were extras mingled with the crew and actors but had no interest in being star-struck. Although there were some well-known folks in the major roles, most of us had taken care of our share of the famous and infamous in this town that held a glut of entertainers. The amusing thing was the group at the table seemed more impressed that we were the real thing in our own uniforms than we were that they were actors pretending!
In the afternoon, a big barrel filled with iced colas, water, and beer was rolled in for anyone to partake. The regulars seemed more than ready to guzzle some adult beverages. Those of us waiting for instructions, not so much!
To some, those days might seem like a glamourous pivotal moment in a person’s life—something to tell the grandchildren—but it was no more than a casual blip on my screen. No big deal, but eye-opening for sure.
On reflection, the truth of the well-cultivated lies that humans have flocked to absorb for decades at theaters has morphed into an imitation of life that has become more real to some than their God-given reality.
I don’t ever share the name of that long ago flick that’s barely a smudge on my life resume. It’s just too silly. I spent a couple of days with some famous thespians, and some not-so, who worked their way through days in moments of boredom while waiting to pretend for a few minutes here and there, all to be edited together to make a questionable story, complete with music and sound effects.
In the end, it’s all smoke and mirrors. Wonder why they make so much money but are often so miserable? Wonder why anyone would want to live to play act when genuine is so much better?
Knowing there is salvation through Jesus who loves us beats any made-up scenario. He is the star in our story—the REAL thing.
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*true
Philippians 1:18 NLV
What difference does it make if they pretend or if they are true? I am happy, yes, and I will keep on being happy that Christ is preached
James 3:17 NLV
But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure. Then it gives peace. It is gentle and willing to obey. It is full of loving-kindness and of doing good. It has no doubts and does not pretend to be something it is not.
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