Sitcoms
Life is really strange. Sometimes you think you understand it, that you've finally got the hang of things and it just throws you a curve ball. I've gotten a lot of those just in the past few years. The same goes for a lot of other people I know.
I'm in a weird position right now. There's been some family drama going on. I feel like I'm in a sitcom. Week after week the family plods along doing the same ol' thing.
"Look at Billy, he's such a troublemaker, but we love him anyway!"
"Oh, isn't Sally the cutest little button of a girl you ever did see?"
Everything is stable, but stable isn't exciting and it doesn't bring in ratings.
So the producers get together in a meeting and discuss what they can do to get more viewers.
"Let's have the Fonz jump the Shark!"
"Hey, let's give little Sally Leukemia!"
"Let's make Billy a drug addict! He was just really good at hiding it from the family till now!"
Now all of a sudden I'm smack dab in the middle of all kinds of drama. People are confused, feelings are hurt, and I don't really know what to think of it. The funny thing is that when you get a bunch of people together and throw in some conflict, it's pretty much impossible to view anything objectively.
Everyone has a good reason for what they're doing. You can't take what people say at face value. This isn't necessarily because they're being purposefully deceitful. It's because most people don't understand why they do things. We cannot understand what's propelling us, so we give ourselves an answer.
I've talked to a number of people involved and I can see things from their perspective as it's been conveyed to me. I feel like there's so much underneath the surface that I just can't see and probably shouldn't see.
All I can do is stick around and lend an ear and perhaps a little bit of guidance. It's not a large part, but then again when it comes to acting in a sitcom there are no small parts either.