120
January 22, 1999

Be Careful Who You Pretend to Be

Three stories of people pretending to be something they're not, and what happens to them.

Prologue

Viola disguises herself as a man, takes a job working for this guy with whom she promptly falls in love. He believes the pretense: He thinks Viola is a man, so he never gives her a second look. This is the problem with pretending: If you're successful, and people actually believe you, you can get stuck in an identity you don't want. The other problem is this: Some people actually come to believe they are the person they're pretending to be. (4 minutes)
Act One

Doing Good By Doing Bad

Ron Copeland is a historical interpreter at the Conner Prairie Living History Museum, outside of Indianapolis. For several months a year, in his job, he pretends to be a slaveowner in the old south. People come looking to experience the slave experience. He screams at them. He bosses them around. And it's starting to change him. (14 minutes)
Act Three

What's So Funny About Peace, Love And Understanding?

Alix Spiegel travels with a group of white suburbanites as they pretend to be runaway slaves, at the Conner Prairie Living History Museum. Her goal: to find out what it is that people actually get out of this elaborate game of pretend. (24 minutes)