Learning To Play With the Gods

With that once omnipotent TV host now begging this network to free him so he can do one of the most basic human rights – work for a living – it sent shivers to my spine as it shows how powerful a corporation can be when it deals with an entity it does not need anymore. Of course, it was tit for tat. They treated him like a god, he treated them with spite – so the network says GOODBYE - with a powerful slam of the door on his face.

The reality is - you have to play your cards well, if you want to be in the good graces of this powerful TV network. Especially if you are still young and fresh and people still like you. You’d have to be prepared for the eventual fall and find creative ways to sustain your career, after they have milked you of your popularity and fame. Anyway, they, with their game shows and reality shows may have created you anyway, so you owe them your career, because without that platform, and with many of you being non-talents anyway, it is practically your looks alone that allow you to survive in our entertainment industry.

The earlier you learn that you are a product to them – not a person, not a human being with feelings, not even an artist looking for a venue of self-expression in your craft – but just a product to promote and sell - the better for you. At least that way, you can play the game properly sans the illusion that they really care about you. You have to be a little bit of this and that to survive in their fickle world. Be a little bit like Madonna by finding ways to reinvent yourself every few years by changing your look or working with whoever’s hip at that point in time – so you stay relevant and important to the scene. Be a little bit like Donald Trump, by negotiating shrewdly when you’re still very hot – making the most amount of moolah from sponsors or from politicians during election campaigns – the interest will soon shift to someone else – so while they still love you – make sure that THAT love translates to money. Be a little bit like Rosa Rosal – find a cause, even if you have to fake it. And be shameless in asking corporate help especially when the country is plunged into a natural disaster of Biblical proportions! That’s where your celebrity may come in handy – and the pogi points you get will be immeasurable. And maybe, be a little like Sandra Bullock. Everyone likes her so that even if she turns in a passable performance in a middling movie – they give the Oscar to her – because they like her! So be nice to everyone you meet while everyone still loves you, because they’ll be the same people you meet, when everyone is already starting to get bored with you.

Our local entertainment industry is now run like a big corporation so the more you can position yourself as a viable product – the better. Remember that you are as dispensable to them as that thing women put in you-know-where. There are thousands like you out there – ambitious and handsome dudes and pretty bitches with twangs and with improbable mixed races you’d think their mothers were whores! There will always be a new edition to Big Brother, to Showtime, to Starstruck so you are not indispensable! Be a survivor and enjoy your 15 minutes while it lasts – and make sure that 15 minutes adds a lot of zeros in your bank account.