The obvious vanity of a media career

There's fascination, and then there's reality. Take, for example, the world of media. Last weekend I went to the studio of the television channel ARD with a friend because the channel offered people to sneak a peek behind the curtain.. quite an interesting visit. There was a little stage where various people went on and off to present their jobs to us, the audience, which mainly consisted of 15-year-old high school kids whose fascination with media jobs was still unspoiled and who possessed this enviable idealistic belief in themselves to get high up in the world of television where only beautiful people make it in front of the camera.
Producers, camera men, graphic designers, cutters, directors, presenters and so on, they all enjoyed the spotlight that afternoon. And although it became clear that teamwork was essential, indispensable even, each of them seemed to think of their profession as being the best, the most important and the most difficult of all. Of course. The overall vanity of a career became especially obvious when they talked about how their achievements brought them to the top of their career and how oh so hard it is to stay up there, all that competition you know.. at the same time, their encouragement that people who are really determined should not give up trying. Easily said once you've succeeded.

In the studio of the cutter and sound engineer they showed us their daily work, and also how, in theory, you can manipulate word and picture of politicians and the like. It's unbelievable how easy it is to change the magic of words or the atmosphere of a certain look, the singularity of a gesture, everything can be lost with the click of the mouse. Sorry, the rat. Yes that's right, ignorant people like me used to think only mice existed in the rotten world of computers, now that I've seen a rat I will believe everything.
Maybe it has to do with the fact that I'm older now, unlike these other teenagers around me who visited the studio, that I was able to see past the glamour and realise: not all that glitters is gold. But I can understand that most young people (not that I'm old or anything..) are attracted to the thought of being famous, or sort of famous. In the end, we all want to be special and being recognised on the street by strangers would seem like an obvious proof of being special. Push the self-esteem, or rather: let others push it and collect the fruits. Well, I decided to look out for fruit-trees some place else.