YOU, ME & EVERYONE WE KNOW: SUPPORTING THE WRITERS STRIKE
I am not a letter writer, per se. And to be honest, I’m what you might label a lazy armchair activist. I am also the girl that will walk the long route to the far door when I see solicitors with clipboards outside of my Safeway. Anyway…
If you’re reading this blog, chances are that you are a fan of specific television shows and movies. Well, those 12,000 men and women on strike have made every single TV series and film you’ve ever seen possible. Here is a petition that supports the Writers Guild of America; sign it now because we are all on their side (regardless of the fact that some of you might be annoyed/disappointed by how the strike is affecting your favorite shows). It was created earlier today and already contains almost 5,000 digital signatures.
For my part, here are additional steps I am going to take in support of the writers, who have in many ways made me into the pop culture sponge that I am today:
- TV online & on iTunes: Every week I was watching 30 Rock, Desperate Housewives, Life, Men in Trees, My Name is Earl and Ugly Betty online. No more. Not until the writers of these shows (and all others from shows that are available free online or via iTunes) receive compensation for this medium (right now they earn absolutely nothing).
- TV on DVD: I own several box sets of television shows on DVD. The writers receive only $.04 per set or DVD sold, and they are asking for a mere $.04 more. So until this is resolved, I shall rent entire seasons of shows rather than purchase them. [Admittedly, not buying Season 3 of Lost is going to be VERY challenging for me; it comes out the night before I'm having surgery and I was planning to watch all of it during recovery. But I'll suck it up and make do, because to me, the writers on this show deserve their just due more than anyone else in the industry right now. Hi, I'm biased.]
This isn’t going away quickly, and neither am I. My coverage of the strike will continue until it ends (although judging from the crickets in the comments section, my readers are either already over it or, sadly, not interested).
To me, it’s simple. Without those writers, I wouldn’t be one. Without those writers, this blog wouldn’t exist. They have been the most influential people I’ve never met.
So go on, channel your inner Norma Rae. Sign the petition, bookmark and read United Hollywood (the WGA writers’ blog), and leave comments of support for them. You know you want to.