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SYTYCD
Reflective Post: Up Close and Personal with Life After Reality TV
While working on my rough draft of my documentary about life after reality television, I realized that there weren’t many documentaries on this subject. Throughout the course of my documentary I’ve had the position as an insider on my subject. Over the years I’ve seen my brother’s career rise and dealt with the “So You Think You Can Dance?” obsession from outsiders.
I can recall so many encounters with people obsessed with SYTYCD and individuals who were hungry to have their 15 minutes of fame. It’s sad to see how many people are willing to do anything in order to have their time in the spotlight, even if that means attempting to ride off the coats of others. Even though my brother has achieved a certain amount of acknowledgement in the dance/entertainment industry, I’ve never been the type of person to just ride off his success.
My role in this documentary and in my interactions with my brother’s dance career and “15 minutes of fame,” has been a role of support and knowledge. I aim to let others know about the reality of a dancers life and how shows such as “So You Think You Can Dance?” only help a dancer so much in their career. Being on a show like that doesn’t guarantee success and it shouldn’t be the main mission for a dancer. In my documentary Jamile briefly talked about how he strives to make a name for himself that is based upon his amazing talent and character, not riding off the SYTYCD claim to fame.
I gathered quite a bit of material for my documentary but had to shorten it in order to meet appropriate time length for my Multimedia Composition class. This topic of a dancers life and coming off a reality show, is a topic that can easily be an hour long documentary. I’ve collected a lot of footage as an insider on this topic, but one day it would be interesting to possibly talk to other dancers as well. I haven’t felt any discomfort when discussing the subject and shedding light on the reality of the aftermath following reality television. It’s been fascinating!
My hope is that people will begin to discuss more about reality television and the truth about being on season 1 of “So You Think You Can Dance?” It’s a shame how so many of the dancers from the first season have sort of been forgotten by the producers, yet they have had successful careers around the world. Interesting…
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- Reflective Post: Life After Reality Television (thinksoul25.com)
You Don’t Even Know Me
Armand Van Helden- You Don’t Even Know Me
This has been my theme song for the past 11 years of my life. “You don’t even know me…you say that I’m not living right…you don’t understand me….so why do you judge my life?” I know every word in this song by heart and it’s a song I hold close to my soul. I grew up in a household that promoted and evoked success. My childhood was spent moving around from various cities and parts of the country. People always asked me “Are your parents in the military?” I would simply reply, “No, we are just artsy nomads.” I’m always on the move. I’ve lived in over 40 different houses/apartments, went to three different elementary schools, five middle schools, and four different high schools. The list of colleges I have attended is quite interesting as well, but that’s a story for another day.
I don’t stay in one place to long and I don’t apologize for the social makeup. I was born in Columbus, Ohio but I don’t claim it as a hometown and I claim the DMV (DC.MD.VA) as my hometown. It’s my hometown because its where most my greatest cultural experiences have taken place, but my hometown is also the world…the cultural experiences that have molded me into the woman I am. My time in Ohio was brief due to moving out West in 1995 and staying put in Colorado Springs for five years. It was a pleasant time in my life but Colorado Springs was( and still is) lacking a defined and expansive culture. I currently stay in Denver, been here for three years and will be moving again within the next few months back to the East Coast. Colorado has been a chill time for me to focus on school, be outdoors, go up to the mountains, but this isn’t a lifestyle pace I prefer. I miss meeting people from around the world, I miss hanging out in the city, I miss being able to drive up to New York and walk the streets as it was Fashion Week. Simply put….I’m an East Coast girl.
When I was young my mom always taught me that when you assume, you make an ass out of “u” and “me”. I don’t like to be an assumptive person and it grinds my gears when people think they can figure me out. There is nothing to figure out, because I’m upfront on a daily basis. If I don’t like someone, they are going to know it. If I’m not attracted to a man, then I will tell him he is too short and just not what I’m looking for. Life isn’t a fairytale where everything can be figured out in a matter of seconds. Life is raw, life is hard, life is boring at times, but with patience and staying on my grind…I manage.
I can be a social butterfly and be the life of the party, but I also can be the girl in the corner listening to her music and writing in a journal. I don’t like to waste my time on foolishness and I prefer not to associate with dream killers. At the age of 19 years old I have accomplished a good amount of things and my resume speaks for it self. I may not be where I want to be yet, but once I move back to the East Coast and can actually accept the internships I’ve been offered and write for the magazines I want to…then I will be set.
I grew up in a family of driven people. My brother wouldn’t have been touring the world dancing if he wasn’t focused on reaching his goals and opted to waste his time smoking and partying his life away. My dad wouldn’t be a Princeton Alumni if he spent all his time hanging out with people, instead he focused on his literary studies and gained the title of being one of the top professional African-American proposal writers in his respective field. A woman that I’m very close to and have a lot of respect for is my mom. She encourages me on a daily basis to cut out the distractions and be the best woman I can be. She wouldn’t have published nine books and had her art showcased nationally if she spent all her time gossiping with older women. Instead, my mom works out of the home running her business Black Revival Studio and is constantly creating to express the pain and racism she experienced throughout her life.
The saying “Birds of the same feather flock together” holds very true to my lifestyle.My mom is a world class artist, my dad is a Princeton alumni who is on the intellectual level of Cornell West and Eric Dyson, my brother is a phenomenal choreographer and dancer (Jamile McGee) who works with some of the best in the entertainment industry, including legends, and my mother’s uncle Nate Fitzgerald is a famous Jazz legend who has played with all the greats. That doesn’t begin to mention my aunts and uncles who hold Masters and PHD’s in their fields, are high ranking military officers, and have worked amongst some of the best in the country in their career arenas. With such an impressive intellectual heritage, it was a matter of time before the drive for success was planted inside my soul.
The passion inside of me isn’t some commercial replicate fueled by notions of revenge and proving the haters wrong. My passion is a God Given result of such a prestigious family environment. At the age of fourteen, nobody had to tell me to sit at desktop and write a 500 word article about modern day racism. Nobody had to tell me to take this article and submit it to a national teen magazine, a long with a picture. Even though I’m influenced by my family, my destiny is in the hands of God and is a raging fire within the depths of my soul. I’m working towards a degree in Professional writing and plan on getting a Masters, not because I want to prove something… but because I’m capable of achieving it and I have plans that I want to bring to life. Getting my education is a logical map that I’m using to make a name for my self in the writing industry.
Success is my birthright and isn’t a journey of vengeance….but a journey of discovery. Everyone has different paths they must walk, run, or drive in this life. I’m opting to drive my route, reaching my destination as soon as possible before the clock runs out!
©Jasmine McGee
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