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Date: Another day of full moon
Weather: Tropics of Thunder
The entertainment business is as quiet as a cemetery at night. Everything seems so dead and depressing. For people who never managed to make into the inner circles, it seems that it is forever for them to get their hands on to anything. To be honest, sometimes I do wonder what’s the point of going through three years of drama school training when all those parrots and puppets in early evening soaps get more jobs than I do? Hugo is a great agent. He manages to get whatever I can do for me but then it seems that if I want to get somewhere, I need a major plastic surgery make over. I do have some Asian parts coming by from time to time but they all required me to put on a thick “Asian accent” otherwise I was not convincing enough. It seems that for some power brokers in the industry, if you don’t look good fit into their lead looks, you are just doomed in the business.
Yes I do sometimes moan over this inequality in the business, but then when I compared myself with what’s happening to those great teachers at the drama school, I know that it is really nothing.
It has been rumoured for some time that Succubus wants to get rid of Peter, one of the prominent acting teachers at the school and in the industry, for a while. She sees him as a big threat as he knows a lot more than she does in terms of acting training. So she eventually convinced the now de-functioned and useless Board to terminate his employment with one-year extension. What does that mean? It means that Peter will still be employed for another year but his function is to teach the new person all he knows before he leaves. At one of the staff meetings, Succubus publicly humiliated Peter in front of everyone by announcing that: “As you all know, I will not be renewing Peter’s contract. We will employ better and more professional people for his position. But to show that we respect his expertise, he will extend his current contract for another year so he can teach his replacement what he knows before he goes”.
Everyone’s jaw dropped to the floor. Not because of Peter being fired so publicly but the disrespect Succubus showed in the whole thing. Succubus was so happy with her shaming stint that people said that she was in great mood for the rest of the week. Everyone felt very sorry for Peter but then there isn’t much anyone can do, as now the drama school is no longer a paradise people with creative passion but a torture chamber.
Torturing seems to be in fashion lately. In the case of the drama school it is the management against staff and in the library’s case it is the union against the management. I sometimes can’t really understand why people have that much time to play politics in workplace. Then again even in a production crew there are people who don’t like each other. The union saga at the library continued since the newsletter. George has now distanced himself from me completely since the last face off. But that didn’t stop him from going around campaigning against the management about the new wing. He even organised a meeting for a selected few (of his core supporters) as a public condemnation against the tyranny of the management over the consultation process. Out of 150 library staff, 12 turned up. 8 were his supporters 4 were people trying to find out what the hell he is doing. As reported back from people, the whole meeting was basically accusing the management of things that have no grounds to be accused of. When someone pointed out the opposite, George simply dismissed him or her as misinformed or shamed him or her as lack of support for the grass root people in the organisation. Seriously, I really have a stronger feeling everyday that the so-called union in the library is a just a scam program for idiots. There were times that I think George should start a cult with those 8 idiots at the meeting and he could be the next “big” cult leader. I have started documenting all these stupidities with the union and discussed with a few friends from drama school that maybe we can produce a satire out of it.
Anyway, I do think that some people need to be trained in a harsher environment to make their perspectives right. Maybe George and his followers should be thrown into the media world (or even the drama school now) and work their asses off there so that they can eventually appreciate how good a life they have in the library. As for me, they are just rich writing materials for personal pursuits.
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