marionette

Have you ever been on a film and felt manipulated by a director, sort of like a marionette?

He had gone on to such projects as a 28-foot marionette for the 1965 Balanchine production of Don Quixote.

In epicurean Rome it was a marionette that invited you to wreathe yourself with roses before they could fade.

I should like to do so,” the Marionette answered, “for it is our last meeting.