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The old man wielded his staff, and sprinkled
some of the stardust on my bed and said, "Your wish is in the
making now. Tell me what you want in your show."
Good question. I rubbed my chin, thinking
of all the things I'd always wanted to see on TV. After turning
the question around in my head a few times, I said, "Well,
you know, first of all, I'd like to have a drama, with a good story.
Something that catches your attention right away, with a little
bit of everything, romance, passion, angst, social issues, personal
issues, family conflicts, addiction, lust, abuse, forbidden love,
scientific challenges, charitable millionaires who like to stay
anonymous… I knew I was already rambling, going into irrelevant
tangents, but the old man didn't seem to care at all. He just kept
shaking his head while interchangeably waving his staff and sprinkling
the dust. When I was done talking, he looked up and asked, "How
about the characters? Are you looking for anything specific?"
That charged me again. I started, "Well, I'd like a cute leading
man. Not the hunky, unshaved tough-guy type we get in most TV shows
these days. Lets have an innocent looking, cute one for a change,
with lots and lots of 'boyish' charm. And I want him angsty, guilt-ridden,
confused and in need of a lot of care and affection." I paused
for a second before I continued, "Ok, for the female characters,
first of all, I really like them to be strong. Non of this frail,
stupid victim personification of the female species. I want them
to play an important role in the plot too, perhaps as important
as the hero himself." I paused for another second, gathering
my thoughts.
"I'm not sure about the villain. Frankly,
I'm not even sure if I really want a villain. I'd rather have a
multidimensional nasty guy with a lot more going on under the surface
than just bad intentions. Maybe something like a sexy beast, with
a deep seductive voice and charming looks, you know, dark and dangerous.
Someone who is also obsessed with controlling everyone and has a
commanding presence that begs to be defied. And while we're at it,
why not have the lead character defy him at every turn. I know this
isn't new but maybe we can add a twist to it. Make them relatives
or something, like father and son, or teacher and pupil." Yeah,
so much for originality. I waited for him to turn any minute and
say how the subject had been done to death. But he just kept shaking
his head, and doing what he did. I started to become bolder, pouring
out all my fantasies and imaginations into the idea.
"Lets work on the main character a little
more. Boyish charms, innocent good looks, that's already said. I'm
also tired of dark, scruffy guys. Lets have a blonde blue-eyed boy
this time." I rubbed my chin, " He should also be very
sensitive, yet very experienced. He should have a job, an interesting
one, and a cool looking car. I think I like him to have a sense
of art as well. Painting would be good, or music, or both. He could
be an excellent piano or guitar player." I grinned as if figuring
out something nice, "He should also have a lot of money, which
he wouldn't show of course because he is so down to earth, and spends
a lot on charities. And a deep dark secret, that keeps him on the
edge all the time."
The old man nodded as if to prove that he's
got it already. He said, "Lets talk more about the show. Anything
about the plot you like to specify?"
"Yes, I like historical content, you
know something that takes you to the past, like other centuries.
And historical figures too. But I don't want it to be set in one
era alone. Kinda like it to jump from one time to another, and also
happen in the present day.
"A cop story would be good. Homicide
cases are always interesting because they challenge you to solve
them yourself. Medical mysteries are intriguing too, since I have
a background in that. And lets have one of those dark Goth clubs
in it as well. You know I'm into that kind of stuff too."
The man shook his head, "Anything else?"
"Hmm," I said, "I guess so.
You know, don't think me odd, but I think I like it to be set in
Canada for a change. Really in Canada. Have you seen those shows
supposedly taken place somewhere in the US, and you find out what
you're really looking at is your own back yard, like it is filmed
somewhere in Canada instead? I want this one to *be* in Canada,
you know. Not on Canadian streets talking about American subjects.
Don't you agree?"
He did .The guy wielded his staff one last
time in front of me and poured the last sprinkles of his magic dust.
He then whispered some nonsense spell and started to leave.
Something nudged the back of my head and
I had not dared to say it so far. As accommodating as the old man
had been, I still wasn't quite sure how far I could really go with
my wild fantasies. And the wildest one was the one I hadn't yet
told him about. It was also my favorite one.
The wizard turned to me before I realized
I had called him, "Something more to add?" he asked evenly.
I felt a bit ashamed, "Uh, do I get
another wish? About the show?"
The strange man said nothing, only reached into his pocket and pulled
out some more glittery dust. Then he looked up, waiting for me to
speak.
I fiddled with myself a little before I spoke,
" I wanted to say that I would like the show to be about…
um, uh, …I mean, something like about…uh, vampires."
I looked up at him with a wide stupid grin on my face. Now that,
I thought, was a challenge, wasn't it? Taking everything I'd said
so far, about the hero and the villain and the social and psychological
issues, the historic/medical/ romantic/crime investigating show
and applying it to a dark fantasy like that of vampires. It probably
threw everything I had said before into neverland. I expected the
old man to toss all the fairydust in my face and leave.
But he didn't. Instead, he just nodded his
head like he had done thus far and sprayed the remaining sparkles
on my bed. Then he was gone. In his wake I saw the sparkling lights
form into words and numbers. A date, time and channel, the airing
of my custom-made show, I thought. I was very excited.
A few days later, I tuned in on the assigned
channel on the said time, anxious to see my new show. Many things
went through my head about how it could even exist with all the
diversities I had thrown into the pot and all the issues I had demanded.
What I saw was a rerun, of an old show called
Forever Knight, and that was the only thing that was on.
I felt short changed. I thought the old man
had mocked me, or that the whole thing was nothing but a hallucination
induced by too much boredom. What a disappointment. How could I
be so stupid to believe that TV would ever show you anything you
really liked?
As I had nothing better to do, I decided
to watch the show that was on. After a while, I started to pay more
attention. For a while it was hard to believe, the story unfolding
in front of my eyes, the characters coming into light. At the end
of the episode everything was completely clear, I had gotten the
answer, and my wish too. How ironic that what all I'd always wanted
in a TV show had already existed, so long before I had even voiced
it to anyone. I could have had the fun without having to go through
sweeping all that fairy dust from my bed the next morning.
And that's the story of how I became a fan.
Sunny
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