I suppose it shouldn't be surprising that I'm supporting the writers' strike, though I am not a WGA member. (And I should say that I'm supporting the strike only morally. In every other respect, I am doing absolutely nothing). I'm fully in favor of anything that will make writers more money. And really it's only fair that writers and everybody else who worked on the product should be compensated fairly whether it's shown in a theater, on TV, or on your laptop.
One thing that bugs me about the coverage is the idea that because some writers make a ton of money (not me, sadly, but maybe someday), they should basically shut up and be happy with what they have. And, I mean, yeah, people who write for movies and TV are not coal miners or something. But the same thing happens when pro athletes go on strike. Because their working conditions are better than most people's (Well, I don't know about NFL players, though--most of us don't put our bodies on the line in that way in our work.), people act like they should never try to improve their lot.
What's weird about this is that nobody seems to take the producers (or the pro sports owners) to task for making a lot of money from their work. Why is it that so many people resent labor for making money, but don't even question management making money? It just seems like people are brainwashed into thinking that owners and managers making boatloads of money is just the natural order of things, and the people who work for them should be happy with whatever they get, especially if it's a lot. But if you are responsible for the product being valuable, shouldn't you be paid accordingly? Even if your small slice of the pie is big because it's a huge pie, why should somebody else get the whole rest of the pie?
How many shows do you watch because they're produced by somebody you've heard of? You watch for the writing and the acting, and sometimes the directing. (Whenever a movie commercial says, "From the producer of Insert Successful Movie Name Here", it sounds kind of desperate to me, whereas when it says, "From the director of Insert Successful Movie Name Here," I at least give it a second look.)
So, anyway, thanks to my colleagues in the WGA for fighting the power, and if you're jealous of their money and power, don't just complain--unionize!
