The Performance of Worth

Animals don’t lie.
They do not pretend.
So why do we?

Homo sapiens does not live only in reality –
we live mostly in an inner world of possibilities.

We call them wishes, desires, dreams
when pleasure is expected for “me”;
and we call them fear, nightmares
when pain is expected for “me”.

Making dreams come true means forcing reality
to fit our imagination.

Since we are reality,
isn’t this what we call performing?

But is there a performance without a public?

Our public can be one – the fantasy itself.
Or many – a group sharing the same fantasy.

What does the public do for the performer
if not increase the importance given to the performance?

And somehow, the “value” slips
from the performance to the performer.

How does that happen?

We have now created “valuable” people
and, therefore, “valueless” people –
based on the criteria of capacity
for a specific performance.

We create “value” and “worth,”
and their opposite: “valueless,” “unworthy.”
All based on our ability
to impose fantasy onto reality.

We elevate actors and players – performers –
and call them stars.

Yet the loss of reality
is the loss of honesty.

How do you think the “value” slides
from the performance to the performer?

I wonder if it is because we have begun to associate the actor
with the one who can repeat, again and again,
the realization of the same shared fantasy –
because we have assigned them this “capacity.”