"So this is the Backstage, huh?' Billy asked, looking askance at the long corridor. "It looks more like a cheap hotel." Dabbler winced, "Why do so many people say that when they first get here?" And then Dabbler swept his arm in front of him and the non-descript hallway suddenly bloomed with colors and shapes. The floor was now a dark hardwood and a richly decorated arabesque carpet lay down the center of it the length of the hall. The walls, previously a drab honey color, were now boasting a gold-on-blue floral print wallpaper. The lighting, just moments ago emanating from nowhere in particular, now glowed from handsome light fixtures of fluted glass and brass stems hanging from the hall ceiling. And the list of flourishes and details went on and on.
"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, my friend," Dabbler said, "and to a certain extent the reality of the Backstage depends on the beholder as well."
"Wow, relative perception. That can get tricky. So this is how you see the Backstage?" BadAss asked. "Through your eyes, I do," Dabbler answered. "And this is only one floor of the Concourse. There's a lot more around here."
BadAss stood silently for a moment, thinking about what Dabbler had just shown him, and then he opened up the door to his suite and invited Dabbler in. "Well, what do you think?" Dabbler asked. "Is it everything you thought it would be?" BadAss nodded as he looked around his suite. "Yup." The two Authors then went out onto the balcony to check out the view. It too was pretty much what Billy thought it would be. But then, that's how the Backstage worked.
Or did it? Just exactly how did the Backstage work, BadAss wondered. What exactly was this place and how do I fit into it?
"So uh, we're Authors, right?" BadAss suddenly asked. "Um, of course," Dabbler answered, surprised by the question. BadAss looked thoughtful for a moment and then took a deep breath. "But we're not really Authors, I mean, we're not the guys actually writing all this stuff. We're avatars which means we're a sort of representation of the actual writers. Isn't that right?"
Before Dabbler could answer Billy held up his hand (which now held a lit cigarette although Dabbler had not seen BadAss light one up) and continued with his questions. "And, even though we may call ourselves Authors, since we're not actually the Writers then we're in reality just characters. Isn't that true? But I was under the impression that the Backstage, the current version anyway as opposed to the original character-oriented concept, was supposed to be about the writers of the BEAddventure interacting with one another. Isn't that what the Backstage (version two, if you will) was supposed to be about? Wasn't it designed to give Authors, or rather Writers, the opportunity to explore and express their reasons for writing here, their thoughts, their goals, etc.etc.? And so, since we avatars are nothing more than characters and not the actual Writers doesn't that make the whole Backstage idea moot? Unless of course we agree that the Backstage concept was never about the Writers to begin with, or that in short order it became something other than what it was originally intended to be and everyone involved was just fine with that. Or am I wrong? Hm? Well?"
Dabbler stared at Billy BadAss with complete surprise. This wasn't at all what he had expected BadAss to ask about. He thought the man would want to know where the bar was or how to get to the lake or how many centerfolds were staying in the Playboy suite, not the physics of Backstage meta-reality.
Dabbler's consternation was obvious and BadAss didn't want to make a bad impression so he sucked hard on his cigarette, blew a smoke ring into the air, and resumed talking before Dabbler could open his mouth. "Now I'm not trying to be a bother, really I'm not. But, I mean, one minute I'm a writer who stuck himself into an episode to have a little fun and the next thing I know is that I'm not a writer but some kind of character that's referred to as an avatar. Now I'm not saying that's a bad thing, I just want the situation explained to me a little more clearly because, from what I've read of the Backstage episodes, it's not always clear when an avatar is a character and when he is a writer or even if he should be a character or a writer. And to me that seems to indicate that some of you Authors might be working at cross purposes. So uh, could you clue me in? Am I right, am I wrong, or am I so far out in left field that I might as well be playing golf?"
Go back - Go to the parent episode.
Thu Oct 11 21:12:31 2001