The Hollywood writers strike is threatening more than just new episodes of your prime-time favourites. The strike is putting actors and directors in a pickle — should they attend the Golden Globes and the Oscars and risk crossing the picket line?
Digital Journal, Op-Ed — In the first strike by the Writers Guild of America in two decades, there have been several blackouts: no new talk shows (sorry, Jon Stewart fans), no returning series like The Office, no fresh film scripts being penned for major studios.
But another problematic issue is looming: Because the WGA said they wouldn’t allow their members to write for the Golden Globes or Academy Awards, actors have to decide whether they’ll attend the year’s biggest film events.
Many actors were planning to attend the January 13 Golden Globes, but some have recently retracted, saying they would call off the evening if they didn’t get WGA’s blessing. Some publicists say the actors they represent wouldn’t attend if a picket line was put up, but many more publicists wouldn’t comment on why their clients weren’t saying much.
Actors are also waiting for word from their union, the Screen Actors Guild. But judging by recent statements, SAG is standing by the WGA. In a release posted recently, SAG president Alan Rosenberg said:We share your sound and reasonable goals for fair compensation for new media formats and we believe you are doing the right thing by taking a stand.
Other organizations don’t have such supportive words for WGA, especially in light of the writers’ refusal to pen scripts for upcoming award ceremonies. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers posted this sharply worded sentence on its website:
In the category of Worst Supporting Union, the nominee is the WGA.
Tensions are running high as there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight for the WGA. With the Golden Globes looming, the public will soon see a vastly different Hollywood than the one everyone has been familiar with for the past 20 years. Will the Globes be the same without actors even there to accept the awards? And will the presenters merely be music nobodies like the Hanson brothers or Busta Rhymes?
The solidarity between actor and writer is not often well publicized, but now there’s a chance to show the bond between two professions in need of each other. Actors are losing money every day the WGA is on strike. Writers are never high-profile enough to attract wide-scale media attention, so they need A-listers to shine a light on their demands. It would be in the actors’ best interests to support the WGA in their time of turmoil, even if it means upsetting producers and studio bosses.
Would it be so hard for Tim Robbins to support the WGA negotiations instead of steering attention to his pet causes? Or maybe Peter Jackson can send out a statement of solidarity instead of fine-tuning details for his next movie. These stars have to show some love for those that gave them roles in the first place — the writers who toil in the shadows, unknown and unnamed.
The big test will come in February when the Oscars roll around. If the WGA strike is still alive and flailing, expect the world to tune out the award ceremony in droves, giving Hollywood a wet willie it may never recover from. And that’s a good thing. Hollywood doesn’t deserve an inch of sympathy until greedy TV and film execs give writers fair compensation for their work. Anything else would be uncivilized.
