The Emperor’s New Clothes

Remember last week, when talking about how things change? Well, I have to say that they’re slow to change. Paradigm shifts are almost always achingly slow.

How do we get from one place to another, how do we have one acting style and then another? Is it drop by drop? Does that drip drop turn into a trickle that becomes a flood?

I think one of the reasons that people have struggled to get past the hegemony of the Stanislavski system/Strasberg Method is that to criticise or change is it, is to challenge the status quo. And people have really bought into the status quo!

I honestly feel like so much of acting practice is laughably useless, a huge pile of nonsense and yet so many people carry on regardless, even if, under the surface they know that it’s a load of crap.

So why is that? It started me thinking…

Let me tell you a story… Perhaps you know it, it’s a children’s favourite from Hans Christian Anderson.

The Emperor’s New Clothes

Once upon a time, an Emperor ruled over the whole kingdom. No one could remember a day that the wise, knowledgeable and talented Emperor hadn’t ruled the Kingdom. Everyone admired the Emperor, his commitment to rule always went beyond that required of him. He was lauded for his achievements and abilities, and all the people of the kingdom loved to celebrate the Emperor’s greatness, they emulated him whenever they could, his philosophy was even taught in the schools.

The Emperor prided himself on his sartorial elegance. Of all the Emperors in all the kingdoms, he was renown for his exquisite clothing.

One day two con artists came to the kingdom, they saw how everyone admired and looked up to the Emperor, they thought that if they could con the Emperor, maybe they could con the kingdom and grow rich.

They described themselves as tailors and started to put the word about that they were tailors of such high quality and the material they used had very special qualities.

They used their skills to make themselves known across the Kingdom, you could barely cross the street or open a webpage without someone whispering about them.

Of course, no one knew if they were any good or not, but that didn’t matter once the rumours started.

When the Emperor heard of these two tailors, he summoned them to the kingdom.

He quizzed and he questioned them about their skills and they dazzled him with fancy words and clever lies. They convinced him that the clothes they made were so special, that only the cleverest and most talented people could actually see them.

The Emperor immediately commissioned these ‘tailors’ to make him a new suit of clothes, and they set about ‘making them’.

After a few days, the Emperor was tired of waiting and ordered his First Minister (his most trusted advisor) to go and check on the progress. As he left, the Emperor joked to his other Ministers that he hoped the First Minister ‘could’ see them. The First Minister heard this but scoffed to himself. Of course he would see them!

When the First Minister found the tailors, they were on their way to the Emperor’s Palace. The First Minister demanded to see the clothes, but the tailors warned him that only the talented and the clever could see them.

They opened the box where the clothes were kept and the First Minister peered inside.

He saw nothing and was just about to have them thrown in jail when the Emperor’s joke came back to him. Then the words of the tailors, that only the most talented and the cleverest COULD see them, came back to him.

The First Minister quickly exclaimed that these were the most beautiful clothes he had ever seen. He accompanied the tailors straight to the Palace.

When the First Minister and tailors got back to the Palace, the Emperor was very excited. He went into the fitting room and waited for the clothes to be put on him.

The First Minister and the tailors appeared and the box was presented to the Emperor. The First Minister reassured the Emperor, telling him that these were the finest clothes ever seen.  But when the Emperor looked into the box, he saw nothing. He was about to respond angrily when he suddenly realised, if he admitted that he didn’t see anything in the box, he would appear to be stupid and talentless.  So a huge smile crept across his mouth into a broad smile and exclaiming to the tailors and the First Minister that yes they were indeed the finest clothes he’d ever seen. He remarked how stupid it would be if someone couldn’t see these remarkable clothes.

He ordered everyone out of his dressing room and he looked into the box. There weren’t any clothes in there. But he knew he didn’t want to appear stupid. He couldn’t go out of room in his current clothes, he needed to keep up the charade, so he took off his clothes, and proudly strolled out of the dressing room in his ‘new clothes’.

The gathering of Ministers was shocked to see the Emperor standing naked in the great hall, but the First Minister stepped in quickly to save everyone’s embarrassment exclaiming to all what a wonderful set of new clothes it was and how only the stupid and the talentless wouldn’t see that. Despite being completely shocked that Emperor was naked, the Ministers didn’t want to seem stupid and talentless, so they all agreed loudly and enthusiastically that these were finest

The Emperor knew he was naked, he also knew that he couldn’t see the clothes, but he thought that being naked was better than being considered stupid and talentless by his people, his public. Then he thought, well, maybe I can’t see it, but… the First Minister said he could see it, the Ministers say they can see my new clothes, I can’t let anyone know that I can’t see them, I’ll just play along and then no one will find out.

Quickly the word spread that the Emperor’s new clothes were the most magnificent in all the land, and Emperor gave a large public event and strolled around the event in his new clothes. While all the people of the kingdom saw that he was naked, not one of them dared to say anything because they didn’t want to displease the Emperor and they didn’t want to look stupid and talentless. So they all lied to themself, and they lied to their familes and friends and they lied to everyone they met. But inside, they knew it was a lie.

As the Emperor strode around the event, he heard the people tell him how wonderful his clothes were, but he still couldn’t see them and thought himself stupid and talentless that everyone in the kingdom could see the new clothes but him. So he wore these clothes to ever special event for the next few weeks. Visitors from overseas remarked on the beauty of the clothes, senators from other kingdoms remarked on how special they were, the Emperor’s closest friends told him how wonderful the clothes were. And with everyone that told him about the clothes, he knew more and more that he couldn’t tell anyone that he didn’t see the clothes himself.

Meanwhile the tailors/con artists had grown very rich and scarpered from the land. Laughing at the naked Emperor at they left!

One day, he was strolling around a public fete with his Ministers, all the people there commented on his clothes. He wanted to be proud, but he felt like such a fraud. But he wouldn’t admit it. That would be too terrible. When finally he came to a collection of villagers at the fete, he greeted them and although they each interally sniggered that the Emperor was naked, they didn’t want to seem stupid and talentless, so they lied. But one little boy, he didn’t understand it. To him, the Emperor was standing there naked, and the only people that were stupid, were those that thought he had on clothes.

As he passed, the Emperor asked the little boy, what he thought of the new clothes, the boy remained tight lipped. The Emperor asked again, but the boy remained mute. The Emperor grew angry and the boy’s parents chided him for failing to answer, until the point when finally the boy could hold it inside no more. “The Emperor is NAKED!” The boy erupted. And quickly his parents tried to shut him up.  “But the Emperor is NAKED!” the boy shouted. And the Ministers all tried to hush the child and threatened the parents, instructing them of the error they were making. “But the Emperor is NAKED” the boy said honestly and the soldiers that surrounded the Ministers threatened the boy. But the boy was not afraid, he smiled, he laughed, he pointed “The Emperor is NAKED, it’s so stupid that you can’t see it!”

And suddenly the Emperor realised. If the boy could see he was naked. And he could see he was naked. Perhaps everyone was just pretending to see the clothes because they didn’t want to seem STUPID or TALENTLESS. The Emperor looked at the boy, looked at the parents, looked at the soldiers, looked at the Ministers, looked at the First Minister, looked around all the gathered villagers. He asked once “Who sees my clothes”. And everyone replied loudly.  “Who sees my clothes?” he said again.. And no one wanted to look stupid.  “Who sees my clothes?” he asked again. And no one would admit it. Finally he looked to the boy. “Do you see any clothes little boy?” the Emperor said. “No sir” the boy replied. “You’re naked, sir”, the boy answered. “I’m naked” the Emperor muttered and someone in the crowd muttered it too, the mutter grew, and grew, until “He’s naked! He’s naked, the Emperor is naked! Was heard all around the Kingdom.”

Desperate to prevent the Emperor looking like a fool, his First Minister began stripping off, and then the Ministers and then the soldiers and finally the villagers, the parents but not the boy. “Do I look stupid to you?” The little boy said. And the Emperor laughed and laughed and laughed, because finally, he’d found the only one in the whole kingdom, the only person he knew, that saw beyond all the bullshit.   (Well, okay, the story doesn’t actually end like that usually, but I prefer everyone behaving like sheep…)

* * *

Do you hear what I’m saying? The Emperor’s Naked. But who dares to say something?