Hope Is

Jean Hayes, 30 years living and I still don't know much about it. Hollywood doesn't always feel like home. Sometimes I feel like I'm falling and stuck in place all at once. Dance is all I have now, and what I do when that isn't enough?(This is an rp...

[robert-winters]

You say that like I want to be seen.

Trust me on this, the sympathy gets more tiresome after a while. The last thing I need is a pitying look to remind me of the state I’m in. I’m already well aware, thank you.

[jeanhayes]

Everybody wants to be seen. It depends on whether you wish to be seen as you are or as the person you'd rather be.

And how do you know people look at you and feel pity? Maybe they feel admiration? Perhaps they feel a humbled sense of dissatisfaction with themselves for not giving themselves to their country like you did? How can you be so bold as to assume you know the thoughts that go through the minds of people you pass on the street? Sympathy is not always pity you know.

[thesmallestsongbird]

"Oh, no it’s alright I was just…" she took in a deep sigh, then looked away from the woman, "I’m just a little… stressed…"

[jeanhayes]

Jean's brows furrowed in sympathy at the distraught look upon the woman's face. "I understand stress, miss, and how it can make every sound a grating agitation upon your nerves. Isn't the boardwalk a bit...crowded...full of noise...if you're looking for stress alleviation I'm not sure you've come to the best place."

[robert-winters]

You’d be surprised.

I don’t need sympathy though, so if they aren’t sympathetic it doesn’t really bother me. Honestly, it’s preferred. The sad looks are agitating.

[jeanhayes]

Sympathetic looks, while agitating, still come from a better place in the human heart than the angry words I usually get for bumping into people. Or if they don't get angry they merely don't respond at all, as if it never happened, as if I'm invisible. At least you are seen, sir.

[fyeahrosariodawson]

[thesmallestsongbird]

"Listen, could you stop? Please?”

[jeanhayes]

My apologies, Miss. I like the sound my tap shoes make against the boardwalk, that's all.

[robert-winters]

It’s fine, it’s fine. It’s not like I haven’t hit people with my cane before.

[jeanhayes]

Well I would hope you might garner more sympathy with your cane than I would with my bag.

[jeanhayes]

"Sorry, so sorry, did I hit you with my bag? I swear I'm not usually so absent minded as to just run people over."

[redandblackrp-blog]

30 years old || Dancer || Rosario Dawson || Open

Before the War

Jean could never remember a time when she didn’t dance. From a young age, she struggled to sit still, always running around or wriggling. It had been her grandmother’s idea to teach the child how to dance. The matriarch of the family, Jean’s grandmother had been a dancer in her day until an untimely car crash damaged her knee and hip. Although there wasn’t much money in the household, there was always enough to get Jean dance classes at the best schools, and when Jean became talented enough at the age of fifteen to drop out of high school and dance in the movies, her parents were thrilled. It made good money, better than the other options a girl could have, and Jean loved it with all her heart. The one thing she did not love however, was the lack of a leading part, despite her superior technique.

During the War

When most of the girls in her dance troupe went to work as nurses or entertainers on the war front, Jean thought that maybe someone would finally give her the main solos that she deserved. But, much to Jean’s disappointment, the girls who were pretty and blonde and white were repeatedly chosen over her, even if they were significantly less talented than she was. She knew better than to complain, though; girls who complained always found themselves without a job and no other studio would ever hire them.

After the War

When Jean’s grandmother died, Jean’s passion for dancing died with her. It wasn’t that Jean quit her job, but while she used to enjoy performing for films, it suddenly became a chore, one more thing she had to do that she did not love. The only thing that kept Jean going through the routines and rejections was her grandmother’s memory, and the goal of proving herself to everyone else.

Personality

If one thing has kept Jean going, it’s hope, hope that one day someone will notice her, hope that a director will look past her appearance and see her talents and passions. She knows that hope often takes a long time to come to fruition and if she waits her turn, maybe one day the things she has always hoped for and deserved will be hers. It’s not realistic, she knows, but it is the only thing Jean has going for her.

Politics

There are more important things in life than politics to Jean, like having a job. Even if that wasn’t the case, Jean doesn’t care about rich, white men arguing over how to run the world.