a-cross-tic

the puzzle that is acting. you are yourself, yet you are someone else. you are embodying the spirit of someone who may or may not have ever existed. you represent something, perhaps a typical customer in an advertisement, or a specific historical figure, like kenneth branagh playing FDR in HBO's recent "warm springs." it isn't really FDR. the limp is affected. i represented a boy scout leader. the one who invites him to stay for lunch and wash up. he proceeds to splash his face with water that inflicts him with the polio virus. since filming, no one has blamed me for leading a boy scout camp brimming with contaminated water, or held a grudge for giving a future president a debilitating disease. it's all symbolic, like a dream. moving pictures are manifestations of our dreams.
recently i auditioned for a role in an industrial film. it was a union buster. living in a "right to work" state means you may sign a union contract and earn union pay. but the union can't force you to join. in this overt short, i played a union rep. sent to keep cingular employees (they are almost completely union-free and like it) in line.
"look, mike, i'm your rep. when you go straight to the boss it undermines my authority."
the cingular employee asks if they're allowed to talk about anything.
"sure, go ahead, but when it comes to wages, job safety or hours, you gotta go through me!"
the character then did a little victory dance. the writer based this character on a local celeb named david cross.
"he can be a real asshole."
but he's not mean?
"no, he does it with a sincerity that is agreeable."
are we talking about the same david cross?
"try pretending to be a jerk."
my friend dan got the role. he's representing a union representative based on david cross, symbolic asshole, in a non-represented union-busting movie, that is itself a manifestation of a dream.
before there were movies, what did people say their dreams were like?