Honestly, I can’t say I’m surprised. Streaming, despite its conveniences, hasn’t made life easy for actors and writers. Additionally, Hollywood executives and studios have been hemorrhaging money on big-budget releases, yet the performers and writers haven’t been treated well when it comes to profits. It’s, therefore, less a matter of “why” than “when” with The WGA and SAG-AFTRA striking. The only shock is it not happening sooner. I guess it took a global pandemic…
There’ve been many bad-faith responses to this situation, and, acknowledging my outsider status, I’d like to share my thoughts on them. The first is the claim that Hollywood performers and writers are all rich and greedy. This isn’t true. While there are definitely those who are well-off, more in the former category, most of the members of both unions are trying to make due. For SAG-AFTRA, many don’t even meet the minimum of $26k a year after taxes needed for benefits. This isn’t some number I pulled out of thin air.
It’s tempting to think of everyone in Hollywood as being a big-name. It doesn’t help that we hear so much about the wealthy few and their shenanigans. But those we know about are a small fraction. In most cases, they only got their breaks after years, sometimes decades, of small-time gigs. They’re also not much different than the average person trying to make a living.
Another misconception is that this is “karma” for garbage movies and scripts. For one, there’ve been plenty of great movies recently, even big-budget ones. And two, so what? People deserve to be paid! I wrote clickbait for a big website for about a year, even though I now write for The Whitly-Verse for free. I put a lot of time into my content, even when it’s trash! Guild members are no different.
Then there are the studio executives. There was an anonymous comment that went viral about how executives would prefer to let union strikers go homeless before negotiating with them, to the frustration of the strikers. Actor Ron Perlman even hinted that Disney CEO Bob Iger might’ve said that, especially given Iger’s public statement. Far be it to validate that hearsay, but it reiterates how little WGA and SAG members are valued by executives. I say that knowing full-well that Iger’s preferable to Bob Chapek when it comes to shareholders.
It's especially hurtful because people deserve to be valued, irrespective of their spot on the totem pole. It’s true that not everyone striking’s a saint, as we’ve seen with Chris Miller and Phil Lord. It’s also true that Ron Perlman’s worth millions of dollars. But those realities don’t invalidate the frustrations of the strikers. You can recognize that some people who are undervalued aren’t so great themselves. As can you recognize that Perlman was a nobody before getting his big break.
Then there are the studio executives. There was an anonymous comment that went viral about how executives would prefer to let union strikers go homeless before negotiating with them, to the frustration of the strikers. Actor Ron Perlman even hinted that Disney CEO Bob Iger might’ve said that, especially given Iger’s public statement. Far be it to validate that hearsay, but it reiterates how little WGA and SAG members are valued by executives. I say that knowing full-well that Iger’s preferable to Bob Chapek when it comes to shareholders.
It's especially hurtful because people deserve to be valued, irrespective of their spot on the totem pole. It’s true that not everyone striking’s a saint, as we’ve seen with Chris Miller and Phil Lord. It’s also true that Ron Perlman’s worth millions of dollars. But those realities don’t invalidate the frustrations of the strikers. You can recognize that some people who are undervalued aren’t so great themselves. As can you recognize that Perlman was a nobody before getting his big break.
Finally, there’s the misconception about how the strike itself. People have been using the word “scab” to describe Disney employees promoting Disney content, even though they’re not part of The WGA or SAG-AFTRA. People have also been saying that watching content on streaming services is scab-like behaviour, when it’s not. Not only was there no call to boycott streamers, but doing so hurts strikers even more. Especially when streamers rely on viewing data to determine success.
I find this especially hurtful because it ignores the real issue. Yes, scabbing is a problem. And yes, scabs have hurt strikers before. But watching Netflix isn’t the same as Ronald Reagan having secret business interests in 1960. If anything, not watching Netflix in solidarity is worse! That distinction couldn’t be more pressing.
The real question is: “What do we do to show support?” Remember, no one wanted to go on strike. Strikes are time-consuming, costly and often lead to animosity. In some cases, the situation ends up being worse once the strike’s over! Speaking as someone whose work union narrowly avoided a strike last year, negotiating a compromise is better than striking. Especially given the aforementioned points.
I find this especially hurtful because it ignores the real issue. Yes, scabbing is a problem. And yes, scabs have hurt strikers before. But watching Netflix isn’t the same as Ronald Reagan having secret business interests in 1960. If anything, not watching Netflix in solidarity is worse! That distinction couldn’t be more pressing.
The real question is: “What do we do to show support?” Remember, no one wanted to go on strike. Strikes are time-consuming, costly and often lead to animosity. In some cases, the situation ends up being worse once the strike’s over! Speaking as someone whose work union narrowly avoided a strike last year, negotiating a compromise is better than striking. Especially given the aforementioned points.
But it’s sometimes inevitable. And here, the hope is that writers and performers in Hollywood end up with better working conditions. Their demands seem “extreme” at first glance, and I’m not going to sum them up (I wouldn’t do them justice anyway), but they’re not unrealistic. They boil down to equitable treatment, which is what labour union strikes are generally about. I’m not exaggerating when I say that most of the worker protections these days are from union members who were ready to strike for them.
I think we need to listen to the strikers and take their cues. If they tell us to boycott, fine. But they haven’t so far. Instead, they’ve simply asked for solidarity, as well as to not be hasty. We should be calling out executives on misinformation and applying pressure on them to cave to the strikers. It’s the least we can do.
Remember, this is a class war. The people in power want us to fight each other, instead of them. These writers’ and actors’ strikes are no different. Is it fun? No, but it’s necessary if actual change is to occur. It’s also the only way to actually send a message that workers deserve respect, as cliché as that sounds.
I think we need to listen to the strikers and take their cues. If they tell us to boycott, fine. But they haven’t so far. Instead, they’ve simply asked for solidarity, as well as to not be hasty. We should be calling out executives on misinformation and applying pressure on them to cave to the strikers. It’s the least we can do.
Remember, this is a class war. The people in power want us to fight each other, instead of them. These writers’ and actors’ strikes are no different. Is it fun? No, but it’s necessary if actual change is to occur. It’s also the only way to actually send a message that workers deserve respect, as cliché as that sounds.
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