…and justice for some

It’s the nature of the biz. Sad thing is that it’s the nature of life. The ones that work the hardest are not always the ones who get everything that they hoped for. There’s always politics involved. And it doesn’t just happen in the entertainment world. It’s all about who you know, who likes you best, and how you go about things. Once upon a time I was confronted by a colleague about it. She confessed to me that she resented how easy it was for me to get all the things that I wanted (in theater and choir), like roles and different parts, when she worked about 8 times as hard just to get half of what I could get. Most of it was in part because I’m a guy and guys are harder to come by in certain areas of entertainment. The other part was in reference to my annoying type B personality that seemed to coast in and out of other people’s favorite roles and parts with little stress. She told me that she didn’t completely hate my guts, just that she had seen a sad reality about how much she would stress over things only to be looked over.

So who gets the things that they want in the entertainment world if its not the hardest workers or the most talented? Sometimes its the ones that complain the loudest. “Well I think that I deserve this because blah,” is something they might say. And while they might be the most talented in their particular area, it doesn’t ever give you the right to be entitled to anything anywhere in perpetuity throughout the entire universe. No one should ever have to acknowledge your work ethic if you have to bring it up for everyone to talk about. Plus, part of a healthy work ethic is being able to shut your mouth about it. No one else needs to hear about how hard you think you break your back everyday. There is always someone out there who has it tougher to be at half the level you are at. Work is relative.

The fact of the matter is that the more talented you are, the less you have to work to get what you want. A diva/divo, recognizes this very early on and feels entitled to getting everything they want because of it. That is some horse hockey. The way it should work is that the more talented you are, the harder you need to work to achieve your own personal best. That’s the way to be a DW champ (DW = do work, my life motto that I stole from one of my oldest friends Brandon Rhodes). The divo/diva complex will tell you that you shouldn’t have to break a sweat and ruin your nice look to prove yourself better than those around you. That’s a very small way to look at the world. If you constantly have to stroke your ego by comparing yourself to those around you, then you can only be the biggest fish in your pond. To be a better human being, you need to always be achieving your own personal best because you feel the need. Your ego should only be as big as you realistically feel about yourself. Of course, therein lies the other problem with the diva/divo complex. Many times, your complex will tell you that you are hot shiz. And maybe you were the shiz in your little pond….maybe. But that complex will hold you down from achieving your true potential and the more you get passed down for the things you think you deserve the more you might try to pass the blame onto those who judge you. This is where those horrible singers come from on American Idol. You know the ones I’m talking about. They strut into the audition room and defecate all over the singing industry and then walk out of the room in tears when Simon tells them how much they suck. Then they look into the camera and talk about how the judges don’t know what they’re talking about and that they’ll be famous one day despite all the haters out there. Righto….

That right there is a diva’s future. They say it’s lonely at the top- well its also lonely when you’re delusional and no one wants to talk to you about you all the time. You gotta be careful with that. Watch your ego on the daily. Because you don’t want to be the one letting your ego write checks that your talent can’t cash.