I am JaNee and I am a hand puppet. For those who didn’t know yet; a hand puppet is a thing and is made in a factory. That’s how it went with me too, I was not born, I was made. That’s why there are no baby photos of me, I was always as big as I am now and always will be. Does that bother me? No, I am the way I am and completely fine the way I am. When I meet children they really realize that I am a puppet , that I am ‘fake’ and often they also say that: “You are fake, aren’t you?” And who am I to deny that? Because that question isn’t meant to be rude, it didn’t blow my mind when someone called me “fake” or “not real,” nor did it make me any less attractive or less believable. No, that question usually comes from a smart one, someone who won’t be fooled and realizes that a puppet never exist on its own, even though I seem to be really alive when a hand is put in the back of my head, when I move and talk.
So I don’t deny that I am ‘fake’ but just admit it ‘yes, I am very fake’ and when I ask afterwards ‘shall I leave then?’ that’s never the intention, the child wanted to make sure that he wasn’t crazy and that I’m not real, that we mainly PRETEND together as if I’m real. And that makes a difference, that doesn’t make me unbelievable, it makes me especially safe and brings me back to what I really am: a hand puppet that always needs someone else’s hands and voice to come alive.
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