of Actors, Prostitutes, and Illusions.

A recent conversation about illusions and the people who conjure them filled my humble bunk this afternoon. Pillows squashed, blankets in disarray, a mouth pouted, and everybody involved was feeling the heat of the "argument".

A discussion on illusions created by actors and prostitutes, so intense that it made the popcorn pop...except that there is no popcorn around.

A good actor can get angry at will on stage even if he is at the prime of his life -- driving a fast car, with a beautiful girlfriend, and a chest of, not money, but gold nuggets to feed his ferocious appetite for adventure and excitement. Even if he is, at the moment,the happiest idiot there is...and mind you, this idiot need not be dumb - but that is beside the point.

But when the lights turn on, and as the curtains go up, on the polished wooden floor of the theater stage he poses, times his breathing, concentrates his aura, and lets out a roar, that only angry heathens with broken hearts can let out.

The audience, taken by surprise, their eyes, round in anticipation, hearts beating fast with excitement, fearing the worst, and curious like cats--- what will this actor do next? They are fastened to their seats, almost not breathing, and definitely not blinking so as to not miss anything that's going to happen.

and the prostitute?
no stage for them. but just the same... on the pavement, she poses,
times her breathing in a rhythm that summons up mock courage.
She effortlessly appears to create an aura that she will always be available...for the right offer, of course.

unlike the actors on stage, she has no screenwriters to polish her script, no make-up artist to blush her cheeks...but then again, her roles do not demand such extravagance.

For the right price, she can play the role of a doting, motherly girlfriend, a dominant vixen, and even a naive, schoolgirl virgin.

Both actors and prostitutes give life to the illusions of other people...
actors animate the writer's story, prostitutes work on the need of the clients' illusion to be "loved".

So yes, both are the same...but both are different too.

The actor's audience, expect to see a new world on stage, knowing at the back of the their mind, the the actor is not really his character.
They get amazed, they laugh, they cry, depending on the actor's talent.
They criticize bad actors according to their act and love the best ones upon their perfect delivery of their lines.
But actors do not closely interact with their audiences, in a way a prostitute does.
Actors make up the illusion of make-believe but there has always been a clear, though it may not be a strong line between them and those who watch.
The reviews of their acts are primarily centered on their act.
They also become actors to fulfill themselves, they become actors because they know they can move the audience, and if not, they do training to achieve this.

But prostitutes do not train to become good prostitutes...They just get used to it.
If they offend a client, they are bashed and treated shamelessly, insulted and embarrassed to the core of their being.
To the men who rent them by the hour, who come shamelessly with offers of money to lure them into seduction, they are not seen as actors on stage are.
They make a fantasy and fulfill the illusion of the client to his satisfaction, but their curtains do not fall down.
Actors who are named David, assume their real names at the end of their play...Prostitutes are seen prostitutes even if they are not on the pavement anymore.
Prostitutes moan for the pleasure of their clients in bed. Those moans may not be real, but those moments of being touched and entered and even "violated" are not fantasy per se. The clients subject them to real actions pretending that it is a play. After all, they paid the ticket to heaven.

Am I making sense?
The actors change characters and his illusions evolve to satisfy the audience, and after a great performance, to satisfy themselves.
On the other hand the prostitutes only have one for themselves...the illusion of freedom. That they can do whatever they want to the client to satisfy him as long as the price is right.

The actor's audience come to see what is in store for them.
The prostitute's clients come with their fantasy expecting it to become real for a few moments at a price they can afford.

The audience looks. The clients invade.
The audience anticipates. The prostitutes' clients aggressively take a step forward.
The audience do not know the roles and the lines. The clients dictate it.

Can you say they are of the same?
That they live an illusory life that is brittle, shallow and maybe somewhat superficial?
Does that make the actor's life shallow and brittle and the prostitute's meaningful?
----I don't think so.
Does that make the other better than the latter.
----I don't know.

Yes, they create illusions for themselves and for their audiences.
But aren't we all, in one way or another, become actors and whores at some point of our lives for various causes and reasons,
be it wrong or right? <---but that is beside the point, huh? And what's with the illusions? are they really "not real"? If it is a make-believe that someone can concoct, isn't the fact that it can be concocted, make it so much more a part of reality than not? <--- i know, out of topic. Anyway, The matter of differences is great and so are the similarities. Both play a role to satisfy, be it themselves or others.

Except that the first acts it, the other lives it.
The end...or maybe not.

do you know me?

Every time we talk about something, we tend to talk as if we always know what we are talking about.

For example, when we talk of someone.

She is such a bitch.
She talks like as if she never entered an educational system.
She is this.
She is that.
oh, my god! and look at her chew at that gum!
Did you hear about her new boyfriend?
Why'dya think he picked her?!
It must be the money, the sex, and for whatever it's worth, I won't be like her!
It all boils down to one cliche..."it takes one to know one".

how can you say if the fruit is an apple? It's because you have a notion of what an apple is like. And so no matter how your friend insist on calling the orange apple, she just managed to change the name, but not the orange itself. Calling one something does not automatically makes that something into what you called it. Before I get carried away with the apples and the oranges, let me say my point...we can only label and say things that we have known. In the case of judging people, we cannot really know for sure. Human beings are unpredictable and unlike the mentioned fruits, there is no significant category for each and human being. Blame it on our awareness of ourselves. We are aware of who we are and thus, we gained the opportunity to change or enhance that part of ourselves that we think needs it. However, we may have awareness of other things and people, our perspective of our reality is not what they really are -- but we see them as we are.

Let me expound on that.

We all have backgrounds and we all have our own unique molds. We share the same world and may meet the same people...but we look at them individually. There may be collective agreement on certain things like, the square has four sides and the world is round, however, in closely looking at reality, we all have a myriad of frame and individual understanding making the details of our present, past, and future an individualized reality that each of us can only own.

Let's say marriage.
Some people hate it.Others are happy with it. Some people, after a failed marriage are willing to try it again, some people would rather be dead than say the words "I do". Other people do so for money, others - because of obligation. Others do it as an escape from their current situation, other do it to save someone else's life. Some people marry out of need, others out of greed. Others do so, just because, few do so, for a very important reason. A marriage may take place with or without love, with or without needs, with or without consent...
and I haven't gotten into the details yet.

and so when we try to judge a person, we really judge ourselves. We get the illusion of knowing who she is when we unknowingly compare ourselves to that other person. The benchmark always, when we look at other people and things, is ourselves. The jewelry is nice. The picture is significant. The man is good-looking.

so let me then be clear -- looking at other people and the world in general is really looking into a mirror...they just reflect a different face.

hateful people hate themselves.
unhappy people are people who are not contented with themselves.
greedy people want everything for themselves.
people who looks at the world with pain are people who burdens himself/herself with unnecessary guilt.

Ever notice something with people who are happy with who they are and what they have? They seldom complain of other people and of little things...it's because, they have nothing to complain about themselves ...

i bid you a happy self-hunting. May you like what you find.