Who Do You Think You're Kidding...

I would like to dedicate this blog shaped bit of ranting to delusional models everywhere.

Before I begin, I would like to preface this rant with the following statement:

I LOVE what I do. I LOVE being part of the creative process. I LOVE the people I work with. I LOVE my work crew. I count myself fortunate that in this economy I continue to get work and have managed to continue to pay my bills on time, even though my income and industry have been severely affected by the recession.

HOWEVER...

Recently, I had a casting to do. It was a HUGE job. Three days of casting nearly 50 roles from 25 age/ethnic categories. It began as most castings do. I prepared the list of roles, wrote out the specifications of what we were looking for in age range, ethnicity, and even hair colour as per the client request. They were specific in what they were looking for, so in turn, so were my casting requests.

Late in the morning, I sent out the call. It was only a matter of minutes before the submissions started to arrive. Actually, that's an understatement. They began to FLOOD the casting service mailbox. And that's fine. I expect that. In a town like HellAy, there are a ton of models and actors and agents who submit to every casting call there is. This is fine.

I started to scroll through the submissions, which had jumped in number to several thousand in the matter of an hour. This also is normal, expected and I mentally prepare myself for this whenever I plan a casting.

And here is where my ranting will begin. And it is directed at the talent submissions that came in for several of the categories I requested.

WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE KIDDING????

I asked for 18 to 22 year old college students. I got women and men who are clearly in their mid-30's. I get that you look younger than your age, and perhaps you can pass for 29 in the right lighting with really good hair and makeup styling, but there is NOT A CHANCE IN HELL that you actually can pass for 21. Really. Give it up.

I blame the industry of course, where many of us working now spent our formative years (Beverly Hills 90210 anyone?) watching 30 year olds play high school students, and that practice has warped our real vision of what under 21's look like. It's still going on. Regularly, 29 year olds play 22 and 25 year olds play high school. It's a disservice to everyone honestly and it pisses me off. So now, instead of scrolling through a manageable 400 submissions to find those kids we need with the "right look," I have to scroll through over a thousand submissions for one role, more than half of which are immediately disqualified because they are just TOO OLD. These extraneous submissions just serve to waste my time, and irritate my wrist from all the mouse clicking.

C'mon people, be nice. Your silliness and delusion makes my brain cranky and my eyes water. And I'm trying to HIRE you people. You should be nice to me so I will hire you for appropriate age range roles (which - oh by the way - I have TONS of).

In fact, in this same casting, I called for a mix of ethnicities of ALL age ranges. Seriously. So if you're say, I don't know, 40 for example, then perhaps it's best if you submit yourself for the "Late 30's" age range. I for one would be so much happier if my inbox wasn't flooded with trash from deluded people who can't see their reflection in the mirror clearly.

Not to mention, if these people would start to play actual ages, then maybe the world wouldn't have such a FUCKED up view of ages and not be able to recognize an actual 18 year old when they see one. If casting directors started a trend of casting appropriately aged talent then maybe this warped perception could shift, even just a little bit. And then maybe, just maybe - people over 25 could then stop being obsessed with looking 18 and just let themselves age gracefully and beautifully as they were meant to.

Of course, this would then put a good number of plastic surgeons in the LA area out of business, but somehow, I can't be convinced that would be a bad thing.

I work and live in a world that is obsessed with youth and beauty. It's sad actually that people my age feel that they have to look perpetually 25. I am not in that age range. I haven't been for a while now. I am better now at this point in my life than I ever was at 25. And there is no way in hell I would want to go back. I was a mess back then. I like myself now. Aging is a good thing. I keep getting wiser and funnier and just plain better as I age, and screw it if there are a few more grays along the edge of my hairline and a few more laugh lines around my eyes. I'm still cute. (And yeah, you know that's not a statement of ego, just a fact.)

I want to start the age revolution. Let's hear it people. If you're 30 - be 30. If you're 35 - be 35. If you're 45 - be 45. Enjoy your life, your world and yourself. And if you're not too busy - wanna start to help me shift world perception just a little?

XO
The Tank Gyrl

I am a Twit.

Yeah, okay, so I think the proper verbage for it is "Tweet" but somehow I find "Twit" more appropriate. Because seriously, does anyone need to know what little 160 character thoughts are going through my head at any given time during a day? I began the tweet, because sometimes, not often, but sometimes you can have an actual text conversation with someone you know who lives far far far away... (yeah, there are three of you who know who you are, ahem)

When used properly, Twitter can be used as a proper good marketing technique. And I'm all for using it that way. It can be used to let your friends know en mass major news of your life... It can be used to entertain and expand (briefly) on the stupidity of what you see in the world. (Which is by the way, my personal favourite use.) But is it really necessary to "tweet" every stupid thought you have during the day? Really? It's as bad as the crazy Twilight fan who video'ed herself reacting to the new movie trailer. People, again, my problem here is this - why spend your entire life interacting with internet "friends" when you can actually go out and make friends and have a life? And I count myself amongst the guilty. There was a moment recently, when I spent a bit of time ranting about the necessity or the actual value in a show called "I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here." But I suppose no one cares for my opinion any more than I care for the random typings of Ashton Kutcher or Shaq.

I've seen some of these twittering types. I do have at least one actual pseudo-celebrity on the list of people I follow (a writer whose work I love). For the most part, the tweet is nothing more than yet another way to say "Look at me, Look at me!!!" And most of the people tweeting the most often are those who desperately need people to pay attention to them. But I suppose it's a harmless outlet. Let's just call a spade a spade - it's a trend. It'll be over sooner rather than later once the shine rubs off and the stupidity of it all sinks in.

But in case you do care - come follow "thetankgyrl" on Twitter. Tweet at me. Sure. Why not? It's one more thing to keep me from dwelling on the absurdity of life in Los Angeles. Or perhaps it's one more way to dwell on the absurdity of life in Los Angeles...And it'll be somewhat entertaining... or at least I think so.

XO
thetankgyrl

The Carnival Has Arrived...

Art Exhibition
The Carnival Series
Photographs by Laurie Goldfarb
(EKS Images)

June 1 thru June 30, 2009

At
The Rumor Mill
11739 W. Washington Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90066

Please visit the website at
http://www.eksimages.com