(actually this is what most of them are like)
It's not easy being a man of integrity. Like some sort of superhero, you have to be prepared to do battle with injustice wherever you see it. This particular adventure begins with the unlikely scenario of me embarking on an acting class - for no other reason than I enjoyed it at school and felt it might be a skill worth exploring as games and movies grow closer together. Hey, if you know you're capable of anything, why not? However, I had forgotten what it's like to sit before an insecure teacher and their flock of servile sheep. This one had the knives out for me from the start - beginning, rather predictably, with a stab at my name. She found the name "Dickie" objectionable and implied that I might like to change it for the sake of my career. "Not a chance", I retorted, pointing out that it was unique and memorable (a journalist I haven't had contact with in over 5 years instantly remembered who I was for that very reason). Besides, I wear it as a battle scar that states you can give me the most ridiculous name possible and I'll still make people respect it.
She should have been paying ME for this wisdom!
Realizing that my mind wasn't up for grabs, she then moved onto the physical and demanded to know why I was sitting in a "confrontational manner". This, I discovered, meant having good posture and holding your head high. I cautioned her that it was a side effect of being fit and confident, and refused to apologize for it. "Why is physical strength important to you?", she pressed, "Were you bullied at school?". "No, I bully bullies", I offered, "That's why I'm standing up to you".
We could have made a movie right there with such classic lines! She wasn't impressed though, and pointed out that of all the people in the class I was the only one that had a problem with her. Trying to make MDickie feel bad about being "the odd one out"? The poor bitch didn't know that I could write a book on why that's a GOOD thing! I submitted that I was the only one with the courage and honesty to say what I was really thinking, and again refused to apologize for it. On the contrary, I took it as an enormous compliment. Any fool can sit there nodding their head and smiling politely if it gets them through the next 10 minutes without incident.
Clutching at straws, the poor woman then claimed that "I need her more than she needs me". Again, I had to disagree and asserted that I don't need anyone for anything. She misunderstood my words spectacularly, as weak opponents often do, and dismissed me as a soulless robot who doesn't HAVE anyone or anything. I countered that divorcing yourself from "need" is actually the height of humanity and elevates you to a place of CHOICE - where you can in fact "have" anything you want. Since psychoanalysis was the order of the day, I then submitted that her thoughts turned to a "robot" because she wished I was one - and was rather annoyed that I had too much character to be controlled by her! And with that I stormed out of her pitiful class, which hadn't touched upon "acting" in its entire 3-hour length.
It seems that skill, like every other, is one that I'll have to master on my own - free from the clutches of embittered has-beens who don't know what they're talking about...
It's not easy being a man of integrity. Like some sort of superhero, you have to be prepared to do battle with injustice wherever you see it. This particular adventure begins with the unlikely scenario of me embarking on an acting class - for no other reason than I enjoyed it at school and felt it might be a skill worth exploring as games and movies grow closer together. Hey, if you know you're capable of anything, why not? However, I had forgotten what it's like to sit before an insecure teacher and their flock of servile sheep. This one had the knives out for me from the start - beginning, rather predictably, with a stab at my name. She found the name "Dickie" objectionable and implied that I might like to change it for the sake of my career. "Not a chance", I retorted, pointing out that it was unique and memorable (a journalist I haven't had contact with in over 5 years instantly remembered who I was for that very reason). Besides, I wear it as a battle scar that states you can give me the most ridiculous name possible and I'll still make people respect it.
She should have been paying ME for this wisdom!
Realizing that my mind wasn't up for grabs, she then moved onto the physical and demanded to know why I was sitting in a "confrontational manner". This, I discovered, meant having good posture and holding your head high. I cautioned her that it was a side effect of being fit and confident, and refused to apologize for it. "Why is physical strength important to you?", she pressed, "Were you bullied at school?". "No, I bully bullies", I offered, "That's why I'm standing up to you".
We could have made a movie right there with such classic lines! She wasn't impressed though, and pointed out that of all the people in the class I was the only one that had a problem with her. Trying to make MDickie feel bad about being "the odd one out"? The poor bitch didn't know that I could write a book on why that's a GOOD thing! I submitted that I was the only one with the courage and honesty to say what I was really thinking, and again refused to apologize for it. On the contrary, I took it as an enormous compliment. Any fool can sit there nodding their head and smiling politely if it gets them through the next 10 minutes without incident.
Clutching at straws, the poor woman then claimed that "I need her more than she needs me". Again, I had to disagree and asserted that I don't need anyone for anything. She misunderstood my words spectacularly, as weak opponents often do, and dismissed me as a soulless robot who doesn't HAVE anyone or anything. I countered that divorcing yourself from "need" is actually the height of humanity and elevates you to a place of CHOICE - where you can in fact "have" anything you want. Since psychoanalysis was the order of the day, I then submitted that her thoughts turned to a "robot" because she wished I was one - and was rather annoyed that I had too much character to be controlled by her! And with that I stormed out of her pitiful class, which hadn't touched upon "acting" in its entire 3-hour length.
It seems that skill, like every other, is one that I'll have to master on my own - free from the clutches of embittered has-beens who don't know what they're talking about...
