Supporting cast

IN PHOTOS of high-profile events like the inauguration of a bridge or the launch of a digital product, there are often, at the edges, unfamiliar faces around the identified VIPs. These unknowns in the crowd are either cropped or simply identified as guests. This generic tag may refer to the event organizer’s assistant who was pulled in for the photo, or even a passing waiter. (Can I just put down my tray?)

Those surrounding VIPs wherever they go are not always well-known characters. They include stalkers with their own agendas to promote to the unwary center of attention.

Anonymous staffers who work behind the scenes around a well-known CEO are always part of the crowd. Can any organization survive without a supporting cast?

In movies, extras are necessary for those battle scenes or protest rallies. The lead stars at the center are surrounded by mobs that swell the crowd. These anonymous bodies and faces can now be replaced by computer-generated images to fill up seats in an amphitheater for a gladiatorial scene or be part of an invading horde charging up the beach.

Even among supporting cast members, there’s a hierarchy of importance in terms of screen time. In romantic comedies, supporting characters are necessary appendages, either funny or scolding, often the one who settles for the older sister of the main star. This role can also be a buddy who’s between jobs and just hanging out with the lead star. He can be the straight man to allow the lead to deliver the punch line of a joke.

It is no longer obligatory in Filipino movies, even in the now trendy action movie or romantic comedy, to use sidekicks. These perpetual supporting roles, assigned to a set of wannabes always available for a director’s call, can be dispensed with. In theater, the two-person cast is becoming more acceptable. (Even physical props can be dispensed with.)

In sports like basketball, the players on the floor at the opening buzzer are called the “starting five.” The others in the team, also in uniform and sitting down waiting for their minutes on the court, are called the “bench,” no longer the pejorative term of “benchwarmer.”

Sports analysts now devote some attention to the productivity of the bench. There is a growing preference for winning coaches in the NBA to have a deeper rotation of 10 players, giving more rest to the starters. This allows the bench to get more minutes. Also, when the game is written off as already lost or won with a big lead in the last few minutes, the bench can be emptied.

While supporting roles are recognized by award-giving bodies, they only go one level down so that one movie can only have a maximum of two supporting stars for nomination. Sometimes, the distinction can be hazy when there is more than one lead character of the same sex, so that a star can opt to compete for either best actor or best supporting actor, depending on the role’s prominence in the film.

Companies have their own supporting cast.

“Staff and support” functions usually get less attention and bonuses than those who can point to measurable revenue streams. While marketing and sales have easily quantifiable goals which they can surpass, the same is not true for such functions as IT, Finance, or HR, even if these functions enable sales and marketing to meet or exceed their deliverable targets. These functions also provide excuses for the line groups — HR hasn’t given us our needed manpower.

Only when a company implodes with declining market share versus the competition do the support heads (who are the most virulent critics of the line people’s excesses) get a shot at the top. Aren’t consultants brought in for the firefighting also classifiable as support staff? (We told you so.)

The supporting cast is easily overlooked. Those associated with staff functions (now called enablers) provide advice and menial services to strong leaders taking over a company or country.

Occasionally, the anonymity of the supporters and minions in the background can acquire a sudden burst of fame when they turn against their high-profile bosses as whistleblowers. After all, they can point to where the bodies are buried… or dumped.