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Master Classes



The surge in “Master” Classes worries me.

When I think of a Master, I think of Pat Morita in The Karate Kid.  Anything less than that, and I’m tilting my head to the side a little wondering if you’re using the term correctly.

Yes, there are masters in the world, but not nearly as many Master Classes as local colleges would have you believe.

“Jackie Freedman, who was recently an extra on a movie that’s going straight to video, will be coming in next Tuesday to give a Master Class in scene study.”

Now, Imaginary Jackie Freedman might be a great scene study teacher, but what exactly has she done to earn the title Master?

And isn’t it putting a lot of pressure on IJF to then BE a Master?

Can’t we just go back to calling these things classes or workshops?  Were they not selling well back when we did that?  Did we need to jazz it up by diluting the term “Master” to the point where everybody is now a Master.

Somewhere I can hear Pat Morita weeping, and it’s not a pretty sound.

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