Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Cringeable Questions I Am Asked

Whenever I meet someone not in the film industry, there's an undeniable twinge of anxiety.  I know it is just a matter of time before I'm asked what I do for a living.  I'm not ashamed of what I do.  It's just.....the things.....people say......

"My son/daughter likes to draw.  Can he/she come to your studio and show you their drawings?"

"My cousin worked for Disney.  He drove the submarine. Did you ever get to do that?"

"My son/ daughter wants to work for Pixar.  Can you get them a job?"

"I used to draw......when I was a kid."

"You draw EVERY day?  What if you don't feel like drawing?"

"I use to like Flintstones.  Did you ever work on that show?"

"My son/daughter likes that anime stuff.  Did you ever do any of that anime stuff?"

"Must be nice to sit around and draw all day."

"Do you paint every frame, or..........?"

"Do you come up with all the characters, or.......?"

"Do you get money for all those toys or.......?"

"Do you know a lot of movie stars?"

"You should come talk to my first graders.  You could draw Mickey Mouse for them."

"You should come talk to our Red Hats group.  You could draw Mickey Mouse for them."

"Is that ALL you do?"

And so on.  

So when I meet someone new, I know its coming.  The cringeable question.  But once in a while, someone will surprise me.  I'll say I'm an animator and they'll nod and move on to another topic. 

What?  No insipid questions?  No favor requests?  

What an asshole!

-Steve

T. Dan Hofstedt added this one:  "Don't computers do all that for you now?"


My personal favourite is "What have you worked on that I have seen?"
Because psychic powers are definitely among my skills. - Alex


Kirk Wise added, "What do you mean, 'direct'?"