 To All the Writers of the World: Strike!
It has been three weeks since Bilkenters went on holiday, though it feels like a blink of an eye now that school has officially started once again. During our time off, Hollywood was a hotbed of news stories. The Golden Globe winners carried their prestige to the next step with the nominations for the Academy Awards being announced - and it looks like we will be hearing MUCH more about “Atonement,” Daniel Day-Lewis, and Julie Christie. The glamour of Hollywood lost some of its sparkle with the sudden death of our precious Ennis Del Mar - Heath Ledger.
Of course, the news about Daniel Day-Lewis' remarkable performance and monopoly in every single “Best Actor in a Movie” award this year, and the shame of the absurd reactions by a particular group of extremists to Ledger's death - a man who had been on their black-list for some time due to his portrayal of a homosexual cowboy in “Brokeback Mountain” - dominated the tabloids. But the most noteworthy story was the strike by the Writers Guild of America.
It all started with a disagreement between the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AAMTP) concerning residuals given to writers from DVD sales. The strike swelled more than expected, causing a cancellation in the broadcast of the Golden Globe Awards, and prompting nearly all TV-series to wave goodbye a little earlier than planned. Of course, the strike means more than a dull awards announcement or the lack of Heroes or Lost on tellies - a serious case from the average Joe's point of view. It went so far as to be a uniting force in Barrack Obama and Hillary Clinton's Democratic leadership battle as they both supported the boycott. It just goes to show the importance of the writer, and the stories that they create, months before we see the final product on the big or little screen.
Too often, while trying to choose from a variety of films when we crash a movie lounge, we are dazzled by the glimmering posters revealing the names of high-income celebrities who are too often more obsessed with their image than their acting, without even thinking about what the plot might be. We just head to the nearest cashier and wait in a semi-comatose state for a ticket. Certainly, there are some who read about films and their plots, but let's face it; how many of us have paid to see the newest Brad Pitt movie (Guys, you can replace Pitt with Angelina Jolie) without caring what the film was actually about? I did that for “Babel,” and know I'm not alone.
If movies are considered to be new universes created by pagan-like holy-powers, it's not the actors, nor the directors we should thank - it's the stories. Writers give birth to thousands of events and scenarios that many of us probably wouldn't even think of thinking about. They are the demi-gods; the directors are the prophets conveying the messages via the screen, and the actors are simply mortals following their creators orders. It's the stories that are to be worshiped. They are what make the simple lives of a group of “Desperate Housewives” seem a bit less simple, or help us believe that some genetic selection can cause some extraordinary abilities to appear in “Heroes.” They create a new wide world for us to revel in - an alternative life to live.
All in all, we may not know the full economic details in the writers vs. producers disagreement; and we certainly don't know for how long this three month old strike will continue. Still, as film fanatics, casual movie crashers, or even people simply trying to relax in front of a monitor, we should appreciate and cherish the story! After all, what the writers create keeps us a little bit less involved in life's crazy plans; and more aware of the schizophrenic soul we shelter.
Iţýl Kutluay (ECON/II)
i_kutluay@ug.bcc.bilkent.edu.tr
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