The Interview

Description

Farrah Caldwell is about to be interviewed for a job that’s right up her alley – in the communications department of a homeless charity. It’s like the job was made for her! This is exactly the type of issue she tweets relentlessly about, along with many other social justice issues. And she loves the feeling of satisfaction it gives her when she amplifies worthy campaigns by quote tweeting them out to her thousands of followers. It’s great to be one of the good guys. She’s relieved to see there’s only one other candidate who’s made the shortlist, Dena. She’s pretty cagey about her previous experience and seems like a bit of a cold fish. The interview panel doesn’t think so, though, and are impressed by how Dena has turned her life around since her release from prison. Months pass and Farrah finally gets a job offer from the charity, for a more junior role in the same department working to Dena, though it’s pointed out to her that since there’s already a Farrah in the office – Farrah Brannigan – they’re going to have to be known as Farrah B and Farrah C…

Biblical Connection

This story is an adaptation of the parable of the pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18:9-14). In thinking about how best to transpose it into a modern day setting, it struck me that an interview setting would be a good vehicle to showcase how two different characters would choose to present themselves and how their respective performances might be judged. In order to capture the moral superiority and complacency of the pharisee, I thought about how we present ourselves online and chose a social media influencer to represent the superficiality of token gestures - something most of us are guilty of, if we're honest. I chose an ex-prisoner to represent the tax collector, as the modern equivalent of a social outcast who's on a journey of self-reflection.