Egos within the entertain-ment industry are easily bruised. The reason for this is usually the over-inflated sense of self-importance most of those concerned have acquired as their careers have travelled a trajectory from unknown wannabe to sought-after success story.
That many of them suffered the cold-shoulder treatment from those higher up the ladder (or simply because of their obscurity) when they stepped on to the first rung is a memory conveniently tossed to the cobwebbed corners of their minds, now that they are the figures who are standing front and centre.
But this past week’s premiere of the much-touted film Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom proved an interesting study on social rank.
As the television and photo- graphic cameras fought for pride of place on the red carpet, so too did the local shlebs in all their fancy-frocked glory (along with a certain gossip columnist under the guise of lifestyle editor/spotlight-hound, who kept positioning himself directly in focus of said cameras, even when doing so meant blatantly blocking the person being interviewed. Cringe.).
Try though they may to capture the “centre of attention” title, however, they found themselves receiving a refresher course on humility instead. For it was an altogether different brand of celebrity piquing the interest of all those present on the night: a breed better known by their common name of “political figure”.
Faced with the prospect of sharing the same breathing space as Ahmed “Kathy” Kathrada, Cyril Ramaphosa, George Bizos, Nadine Gordimer, Trevor Manuel and others, it was a clear case of “no contest” where the so-called personalities were concerned.
After all, while the likes of Terry Pheto, Alek Wek, Pearl Thusi, John Kani and Thapelo Mokoena have made their mark in the realms of modelling, film, television and theatre (with others – no names mentioned, Jen Su! – whose only claim to fame is their brazen photo-bombing exploits), Kathy and his “clan” changed the course of our country’s history.
And in so doing, they helped to reshape the world at large as well.
In layman’s terms, it would kinda be akin to Insane Clown Posse going up against U2. Insane Clown-who, you ask? Well, exactly.
Besides which, with the queen of barefaced hubris also in the house, how could the schlebs possibly hope to compete?
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela showed the young’uns how it’s done when she finally deigned to bless us with her presence – two hours after the scheduled arrival time and nonchalantly cutting across the podium in the middle of someone’s speech when she did so.
And when she herself took to the stage, we were treated to a performance of her shamelessly plugging her recently released prison memoir, with obscure references to 491 Days at every turn.
Perhaps she was hoping Anant Singh would offer to make a movie about her book, too…
The moral of the story is this: while you may find yourself a big fish in a small pond, there’s a whole wide world of ocean out there. And in life, it’s important to know your place.