Hollywood is on Strike!

 

by Pa Rock

Film Fan and Television Junkie

 One-hundred-and-sixty thousand members of SAG-AFTRA (the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) went on strike at midnight last night - Hollywood time - and are on the picket lines today.  They are unhappy over a lack of adequate compensation for works that are streamed by millions in today's new marketing models, and also over the impact that Artificial Intelligence may have on the studios' abilities to reproduce their work without the physical input of the actual actors.  Technology seems to be playing out against them, yet the corporate big shots are doing extremely well - thank you very much.

The entertainment industry is, at its core, very similar to Walmart:  the top of the food chain - the bosses and shareholders - reap the rewards and live like royalty while the workers scurry around trying to survive their hand-to-mouth existence.  And the bosses, of course, blame all inequities on the "greediness" of workers.

The actors are joining the members of the Writers Guild of America who have been on strike since May 1st and are essentially dealing with some of the same remuneration issues - fair compensation for programs that are being streamed, and concerns that Artificial Intelligence will soon be refined to the point where it will be able to produce flawless scripts in the style and voice of the actual writers.  

One interesting historical note that has merged from this labor stoppage is that the last time the writers and actors struck in tandem was in 1960 when Ronald Reagan was the president of the Screen Actors Guild.  Over the next two decades Reagan came to realize that management had all of the money and resources, and he quickly changed teams.  As President Ronald Reagan prided himself on being a union-buster and one of his first notable acts was placing every flying American in mortal danger by firing all of the Air Traffic Controllers who refused to leave their strike.

Ronald Reagan, who was a washed-up, has-been actor in 1960, used the notoriety that he got as President of the Screen Actors Guild to propel himself into politics.  Some pundits are suggesting that the current SAG President, Fran Drescher, might possess some of the same political instincts as Reagan - but without becoming a sell-out - and go on to a career in politics herself.   President  of the United States Fran Drescher - I could support that!

Stand strong and march hard, writers and actors.  Your work is art and a cultural pillar of modern America - and it is important.  Demand your fair share for the work you do, and if Bob Iger has to start driving himself to work, so be it!

(Full disclosure:  I have a son who is a member of the Writers Guild of America - West.)