Week 10 EOC: What Would You Do?

Michael Dorsey is a struggling actor, out of acting jobs for 2 years. He also is an acting coach to those interested in acting but his main profession is as a waiter. Michael is having a difficult time breaking back into the acting world as he is constantly being told that he does not fit the part because he is too tall, too short, too old, too young or simply not what they're looking for. "We have high expectations, and demand more choices. We are brand-savvy, ever more discerning, less loyal and more informed than any audience before us." (Davis, M., and Baldwin, J. (2006). More Than a Name: An Introduction to Branding. AVA Publishing, pg. 103) Michael finally finds a way to break back into the industry but under a certain condition. He had to be a woman to do so. Michael took the potential role of his female friend and got a contracted acting gig. He played an independent, dignified woman and wowed the directors.

What he did right: His ambition was drive was all there. Michael Dorsey was very passionate about his love for acting. He got turned down numerous times but it never kept him down. He went for the part that was the most complicated and that was the role of a woman. He didn't let his gender stop him and he beat a wide variety of other women ahead of him. He was also very kind to people around him and seemed like a pleasure to be around.
What he did wrong: He took the role of his good friend. Now he has to lie about where he's getting large amounts of money from and his whereabouts. He also needs more of an established plan because it will be hard for him to keep going without any backup especially f he is acting as a gender completely opposite of his own. People are going to want to start changing his look, his hair, his makeup and clothes and then it will be a problem because he will have to come up with way to avoid going through that process and people questioning him. I don't think Michael thought it through much. He probably didn't consider the possibility of being hired again for another acting role as his alter ego. Ultimately, Michael is making a brand of his female self. He has already made a name for her and is seen as a symbolic kind of woman. "Rather than using the traditional demographic categorization techniques – that placed us in groups based on our age, earnings and marital status – the clever brands now communicate to us in line with our behaviors and attitude." (Davis, M., and Baldwin, J. (2006). More Than a Name: An Introduction to Branding. AVA Publishing, pg. 106) “The development of brands can be seen as a memetic one, and the people who create and develop them are ‘memetic engineers’” (Davis, M., and Baldwin, J. (2006). More Than a Name: An Introduction to Branding. AVA Publishing, pg. 219)