The Next Big Thing

Every so often someone comes along who appears to have terrific potential. A superstar in waiting. But as often as not the next big star becomes nothing of the sort. History is littered with examples of those who failed to live up to their promise. In many cases it is not immediately obvious why. In others however it is as clear as day that a particular problem which went unnoticed for a long time ultimately prevented that person becoming what they were expected to be.

Danny Gray played football for Barnsley in the 1970's. From his first game aged 17 he looked an outstanding prospect. He would never be able to stay at unfashionable Barnsley and the club salivated over the huge transfer fee it could obtain for him. Danny was scouted at every match by the biggest clubs in the land and ultimately in Europe. His career however was over by the time he was 19. Why? Danny was a blisteringly fast player but seemed to lack a little ball control. It took a long time for club doctors to realise that this was because he only had one leg. He had skilfully disguised this handicap by wearing a wooden leg and long trousers claiming he had a rare skin disease which became highly contagious when exposed to light. His performances rendered his handicap irrelevant until opponents got near enough to tackle him and injured themselves on the wood. Danny was given a free transfer before the news got out but it soon became public knowledge. Though hailed as a hero by disability groups he was unfit for football and most other things as he could not concentrate on anything else. When last heard of Danny was in jail as a result of stealing wooden legs and carving them into unusual shapes. These "art legs" never found a market and upset the owners they were still attached to. It is to be hoped that one day Danny will find another path through life now his dreams have been cruelly denied him.

Sandra Auling read the news on cable TV channels in the United States. Serious and sharp and stunningly attractive she appeared to have all it took to reach the top of her profession. Indeed she soon came to the notice of the major networks and was asked to screen test for NBC. It was there that her problems began. Cable TV channels were prepared to make certain allowances in order to get their presenters on air. NBC was astonished to discover that Sandra turned up for her screen test accompanied by a large man who refused to leave the set and insisted on standing behind her with a curtain in between. When the man was sent away and Sandra sat silently at her screen test they assumed it was some sort of protest. Only on the closest examination did they discover that the dream girl of cable journalism was made of plastic and her voice provided by the ventriloquist they had sent away. In fury NBC demanded their travel expenses back. The ventriloquist however eloquently argued that his client had no bank account and therefore no means of returning any money. The network tried to open one for her by keeping up the pretence that she was human but in vain. She could not sign the bank documents. NBC kept the story quiet for many years but eventually the ventriloquist spilled the beans when he got a show on CBS. Sandra now has pride of place in the museum in the ventriloquist's home town. It is not an undiginified fate but is a serious disappointment to her legions of fans who expected so much more.

Of course we all remember The Reverend Archimedes Stool. Rev. Stool was one of the most popular evangelists in North America. From his temple in rural Wisconsin he distributed video lectures on the power of the gospel by mail order. These became bestsellers of their kind and gained him a huge following. It was expected that the reverend would become the head of a much bigger ministry based in Hollywood or New York. Then the root of his strange charisma was discovered. The reverend had achieved so much in a short time because he appeared to be all things to all men. It took a team of media experts several months to discover that he did not actually exist. The Reverend Archimedes Stool tapes were compilations of existing tapes from a multitude of different evangelists. These had been spliced together on a word by word basis with one word from the first tape being followed by one word from the second and so on. The various voices had then been melded into one by audio trickery and projected through the mouth of an actor on light sensitive tape. This would change colour depending on the colouring of those who watched it so that the Reverend would have the same skin, hair and eye colour of the viewer. Some called it a cruel deception. Some called it a miracle. Some called it the American Way. In any event the Reverend Stool tapes slowly disappeared from view as people were made aware of their nature although the actor responsible for them is currently raising finance for a Presidential campaign in 2008 on an "All Americans Are Equally Moral" alternative Republican ticket.

The reasons some people fail to fulfil their potential are often a lot less obvious than those above. But somewhere there is a dark secret behind the seeming failures of the seeming great. Has it ever been conclusively proven that they do not harbour a secret disability or are made of plastic or do not exist? Maybe we have been too blind to consider this possibility. Maybe this blindness is the reason most of us also fail to fulfil our potential. Maybe we would be better off as Danny Gray or Sandra Auling as they can at least now see their situation clearly.