Professional

Purely by chance, I landed my first job as a professional actor in China.

A factory that makes high-tech dentistry chairs was making a training video for their sales staff, and was insistent that the "dentist" and "nurse" be white people. The video's producer resides here in the Kai Yin complex. The producer's wife happen to run into Andrew's dad, who referred her to us. So, the next day, Sienna and I found ourselves taking a car ride to the town of Zhuhai, sandwitched between the coast of the Pearl River and Macau.



I was dressed in a dentist's smock, my hair was tied back, and I was told I required no make-up. Everything I did, from putting on my rubber gloves to taking a sip of coffee seemed to elicit rolls of giggles from the entire staff of the production crew and factory office. I felt a bit like a circuis freak.

The video required no dialogue, hence no requirement that we speak chinese. All I was to do, was go through a series of overly displayed actions that illustrated the features and convenience of the self-contained dentistry examination tool.



After a couple of hours, we broke for lunch. They took us to a seafood resturaunt just accross from the factory.



I found myself wondering, what is it like to have the job of wrestling down a crab and tying it's claws down. Is there, somewhere out there, a battle hardened crab wrestler who still has nightmares about the one that took off a finger as it escaped?

The lunch break lasted longer than the first shooting shift. Sienna and I had to tell them, over and over again, that we did not require a nap. Once the rest of the crew felt sufficiently rested, we returned to the studio to snap still shots for the catalouge.

All was said and done. We were paid our salary (2500 yuan each) in cash, and driven home.

Quite proud of myself, I told Princess all about it. She responded with concern, and asked if I had gotten any signed papers saying I was not responsible for the business practices of the factory. I asked her why such a thing would concern me.

She told me of an occasion, some years ago, where a miracle-grow type fertilizer was advertised all over china as being able to expidite the growing of corn. Most of West China being farm country, the product sold very well. That is, until it was found out by china's farmers to be no good. Apparently, farmers around the country traveled to the Beijing to confront and threaten the life of the actor that was showcased in the commercials for the product. It had gotten so bad, that the gentleman in question chose to fake his death and move to Hong Kong.

At first, I was shocked and appalled at the complete ineptitude of the Chinese Farming Community. Then, I remembered all of the full grown adults that I had met in America that actually beleive Professional Wrestling is real.

It reminded me of a play I once saw many years ago. I don't remember the title of the play, only that it was an odd little argument of Elitism vs. Democracy. In this, a local scientist is trying to get a hot springs resort to close down amid his discovery of the springs toxicity. The local community overrules his demands in light of the commercial benifits the springs bring to the town.

"The people have spoken," they say to him, "and this is a Democracy. In Democracy, majority rules."

"But, isn't that the problem," he responds, "No matter where you go in this world, a majority of the people are stupid."