Reality

(It is outside of a TV studio, Fall. A man, D, stands alone smoking a cigarette. D is the director and manager of the cameramen of the TV show "Partner Search." C, who is a cameraman that D manages, approaches D quickly)

C: I think we should tell him

D: Wait what?

C: We gotta tell him!

D: Can`t a guy get a little break?

C: Oh, sorry. I`ll come back

D. No, no, no. Hold on. Is this about work?

C: Well, yeah

D: Good. I can go back on the clock and still smoke a bit. Alright, what`s the problem.

C: Well, I think we should tell him.

D: Tell who to what? Roger?

C: No, not Roger, Chris!

D: Chris who?

C: The guy starring in the show?

D: You mean Chris Rogers?

C: Yeah.

D: Hmmmm, alright, what do you want to tell him.

C: That Diane really likes him!

D: Roger?

C: No, not Roger! Wait, Roger isn`t in trouble or anything is he?

D: No, people have just been talking about him lately.

C: Really?

D: Yeah, new guy and all. All the interns are crazy about him.

C: Whats so special about Roger? I was hired at the same time he was.

D: I was actually thinking about that, You`re a quiet one aren`t you?

C: Huh, well yeah, I guess.

D: Nothing wrong with that, now what was your problem again?

C: Have you seen the footage with Mr. Rogers co-worker yet?

D: Alright, we`re talking the protagonist here, not your antagonist?

C: My antagonist?

D: You and Roger got a little bit of a rivalery don`t you?

C: Uh, I dunno about…

D: Because I like it when we have that sort of rivalry on the set, it gives the production more energy.

C: I actually haven`t really thought about that…but no, I am talking about the protagonist`s co-worker, Diane.

D: Diane? That`s her name huh.

C: Yeah, and Diane just confessed her feelings for Chris!

D: So the proganist`s co-worker likes Mr.Rogers? Well, that’s nice. What of it?

C: (bewildered look)

D: Am I…missing something here?

C: The show is called “Partner Search”!

D: So you think this Diane character should hook up with our protagonist?

C: Yes!

D: No can do.

C: Why not?

D: The operative word in the title is “search,” is it not?

C: What harm could it possibly do?

D: Your job for one. Your job, my job, everyone`s job. You gotta follow the script.

C: Script? What script?

D: Ah, right, I misspoke. Follow the plan.

C: But shouldn`t Chris at least know?

D: Chris? You mean PR Chris?

C: Okay, now you`re just messing with me.

D: Well, you and this Chris seem to be on a first name basis, and I wanted to make sure I got this problem`s specifics all figured out.

C: So why not tell him?

D: Can I ask you a personal question?

C: Only if it is gonna somehow lead to my problem.

D: Haha, YOUR problem? Of course. Your number one problem is the fact that you think this is a problem.

C: The show is dependent on Chris Rogers finding a date!

D: No, this show in depentant on the people who process all this shit and turn it into gold. So, how often do you use a camera outside of work?

C: Uh, A lot before I got this job, but not so much anymore.

D: How often do you think about cameras?

C: I am pretty up to snuff, if that is what you are getting at.

D: No, I mean, how much do you think about the perspective of cameras?

C: All the time really.

D: Do you see yourself as a camera?

C: Pardon?

D: Your head, your skull, your eyeballs. Are they like a organic camera you move around?

C: I guess so.

D: Do you really have to guess?

C: What?

D: This is important!

C: What are you even trying to say?

D: Do people act differently in front of the camera?

C: Of course. But I don’t think it is necessarily inauthentic.

D: Oh ho, Trying to cut me at the pass, eh?

C: I dunno, I`ve heard that argument before that people act differently in front of the camera before, and I think its bullshit.

D: How so?

C: Because then all those great documentaries, all those great prefomances, all those great things we see in movies and whatever is all lies.

D: Lies?

C: Because its not real.

D: I didn`t say anything about "real" I just said "different"

C: Well, different from real right?

D: Not at all. Camera doesn`t make people lie, it makes them do things they wouldn`t normally do by themselves.

C: I know that.

D: Okay, then why should I take this Diane person`s confession any more seriously than any other character on television.

C: Because she is a real person in real life!

D: Is she?

C: Well, unless there is something you`re not telling me

D: I honeslty think that she hardly knew Mr. Rogers before that interview.

C: So is she lying?

D: I don`t think so. I just think that she didn`t realize it until now.

C: That she likes him?

D: Maybe she just realized that she could like him.

C: Could?

D: There is a big difference between could and would, my friend.

C: What would that be?

D: What could that be?

C: What?

D: You see, as I see it, this whole "dating ceremony" thing is a construct. And as we progress through life we expand and detract that construct to include and exclude people. When she saw that camera, she realized she wasn`t dealing with the normal rules anymore. What she stumbled into was our little construct.

C: You mean our show?

D: Not just our show, but all the rules and little walls people have created to keep it going. She doesn`t like him, she only likes the system.

C: She justs wants to be on the show?

D: I think she justs wants something different.

C: Why not give it to her?

D: That would be breaking the rules! The whole reason the show exists is so we can enact these rules and specifictions on people and see how they react. It only can be considered "real" because it is so absurd that the rules create their own little reality for themselves. She doesn`t actually want to work at this game and conquer it, she is just enchanted with the shine and gleam that our little production gives off.

C: You managed to deduce this without even watching the footage?

D: What can I say? I have a gift.

C: So the answer is no.

D: Exactly, now I have seemed to finish my whole pack here, tell one of those interns to get me another.

C: Hey, before you go, if we did tell him, do you think that it would change much?

D: There`s the difference between could and would, right there. Okay, we better get back too it.

C: Sure enough.