Dream Job

Recently, it was pointed out to me that Oprah's OWN network was offering Average Americans the chance to have their own show. The premise seemed easy enough: Pitch your show idea and yourself, and you could be the next Oprah! This appealed to me, of course, because my ego is the size of Montana. So I looked into a bit further. Upon closer inspection, I realized that what they were really looking for were reality show contestants. You pitch your idea and yourself, and you could be picked as a candidate for the reality show to compete for your own show on the network. This works out nicely for Oprah because not only does it give her content for her new network, but the person who is chosen already an audience who feels invested in his or -- let's face it, more than likely -- her success. Smart, O. Really, really smart.

Let me confess, dear reader. I believe in the one in a million shot. I do. Why? Because if it's a possibility, there's a probability. And if there's a probability, there is a shot that one day my number will come up. Is it a gamble? Yeah, but in this case, it's a silly risk that I'm willing to take. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. And if a little time spent opens up an incredible new opportunity, why not? So, I looked a little closer at the application. The questions ranged from "what college did you attend and what was your major? Why did you choose this school?" to "what's your favorite TV show, celeb, magazine, athlete, movie, and book?" But the question that I really stumbled over, the one that made me go all existential was, "What is your dream job? Why aren't you doing it?" To which I thought, hmmm...

First, let me say that I find it sad that the automatic assumption is that most people aren't doing their dream job. But I guess, if I look at the people around me, about half are not currently employed doing what they would really like to do. (One could suppose, too, that if one was applying to a reality show to host one's own show that one isn't doing their dream job as their dream job is to host one's own show and those kinds of opportunities don't come around all that often.) But it made me ask myself, "What is my dream job?" A long time ago, it used to be actress. But these days, I know that acting is less about inserting yourself into a movie production and more about surrendering yourself into a role that has nothing to do with you. (In fact, truly great actors give up themselves completely and craft a whole new personality. Witness Daniel Day-Lewis in just about anything. People think he's nuts, but that's because he's able to be schizophrenic without being crazy. There's a trick!) At one point, I wanted to be a director who directed her own material. But then I realized that I didn't want to be responsible for the crazies and the egoists on set or the studio budget. No thank you. So then I just wanted to be a screenwriter. That's when I realized that screenwriters are basically treated like crap. You see, most directors are not writers. But they want a writer to write their vision. But then the writer wants to insert their own ideas into the script because they have a different point of view, and usually the script was theirs to begin with so they feel they have a better handle on the material. Then the director treats the writer like the writer is a moron who doesn't understand visuals or even the English language because didn't the director tell the writer exactly what he/she wanted?! And the writer rants that the director doesn't understand story development. And then the actor thinks that the writer and the director don't understand the essence of his/her character and wants a re-write so that he/she can delve further into the emotional motivations of the character's actions. Basically, everyone on the set wants the writer to think for them, and make them sound/look good, but then the writer is not allowed to have any ideas of their own. You never see a writer get up at the Oscars and say, "despite the crappy acting and the non-existent direction, I won this Award anyway!" No. Usually, the very relieved writer is up there licking boots, "Thanks to the director who understood my vision and the actors who made my characters come alive." And that's only if -- a very big if -- someone decides to finance your script at all. Dream job? I would probably bit through my Night Guard.

I have to admit, I've been pretty lucky about trying a few different career paths before settling on the one I'm on now. Magazines felt redundant and simplistic. Cop was soul destroying. Book editor felt important, but mostly frustrating and overwhelming. And now? Well, now I get paid to read which is probably the closest thing I can get to a Dream Job. Does that mean that there isn't something out there right now that might be a better, dreamier, Dream Job in the future? No. In fact, I didn't even know what Development was until I was in it. But right now, I feel pretty lucky to be doing what I'm doing. And while it has it's ups and downs, for the most part, it's pretty dream to be having.