Why the Writers’ Strike Won’t Work

It’s such a simple solution, but no one cares enough. First of all, I would like to state that I don’t keep up to date on the whole entertainment industry and its situation. After learning the writers were striking I thought “That’s strange, with the quality of movies and TV, I thought they’ve been on strike a long time already.” Will the strike get the writers what they want: more money? Who knows, but I don’t think so.

Why? First of all, very few people go to the movies or watch a certain TV show because their favorite writer wrote that episode/movie. However, many people do exactly that if their favorite actor/ess acts in it. Isn’t that why guest stars are around, for higher ratings? I see that advertised a lot more often than guest writers. Secondly, are any customers hurting from the strike? The studios are still pushing out movies and shows. Reruns, reality shows, game shows, rehashes of old scripts and poorly thought out sequels are rampant and the average mindless, consumerist American still pays. Are the consumers being hurt? Some are, those who are huge fans of late night shows, I would think may be bummed out. But do they still watch whatever is on? How else would they fall asleep?

Do you side with the writers here? They would like to argue that the studios would not exist without them, but it certainly seems like they’ve been OK the past few months. Unions exist so that boss man can’t walk up to a group of people are bargain down who would work for the least until he gets the number of workers he’d need for the day (please pardon that masculine tone there, I could not think how to state it gender neutral). Everyone works for the same price, take it or leave it. With the recent trend in “entertainment” I feel the studios are leaning toward the leave it. Why should the writers deal with this? They shouldn’t.

Here’s the deal: the writers should do exactly what smart bands are beginning to do. The likes of Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails have rid themselves of their record labels. I am not particularly a fan of either band, but I would buy their new albums just out of principle. Their move is not one of greed, they are tired of the RIAA, DRM and other constraints that take away our rights as free people in the greatest nation. If the writers truly deserve the money they are paid, why don’t they start their own studio? Two things could happen, either the studios would feel the pressure and before crumbling to the ground, beg for them to come back or the studios would be stupidly stubborn and the “Writers Studio” would be the only one making any money, being the only studio creating anything of quality.

Do the writers have the initiative to do what it takes, or will they just agree to a few more cents a script, until that isn’t enough? If they take whatever is given to them, that proves my thinking all along: they aren’t anything special. Just like I said when the state raised the requirements for driving. The fact that I had to wait 6 months to get my license, just proved the state’s lack of trust in its own testing. If the writers don’t create their own studio, it proves the lack of faith they have in themselves.

As a side note, 2 things:

1. I might bitch about America, but this is the greatest country in the world. It’s not perfect, but it’s the best we’ve come up with

2. WordPress needs to fix their word count algorithm: {space}{backspace} {space}{backspace} {space}{backspace} does not equal 3 words. …And now that I attempted to inflate my word count, kudos to open source! After hitting {enter} or save, the word count fixes itself.