Foolish Cat January 10th, 2008

The latest casualty in the the strike by the Writers Guild is the Golden Globes Awards ceremony which was scheduled to be aired on NBC this Sunday and will now, apparently, take the format of some horrible press conference. These awards shows are stiff enough, can you imagine a press conference?

The cancellation of the real show comes after the WGA recruited the Screen Actors Guild into its war with producers in hopes of forcing the producers to acquiesce to the writer’s demands. This new alliance meant that not only would there be no writers to script the show, there would be no star power to lure viewers.

But what is there to be gained from this cancellation? As far as I can see it will take away from revenue for NBC and piss off TV and Film Execs everywhere. But in my opinion, it does far more harm than good. Here’s why:

First, the endorsement and encouragement by the WGA for the stars not to show up comes across as incredibly selfish and petty. To refrain from working on any current or future projects to show solidarity is one thing, but not to be allowed to accept public honor and recognition for work already performed is quite another. As an outsider, my opinion of the Guild would have been much stronger if they made a statement like, “No writers will be working on the production of the Golden Globes, nor will we be present to accept any awards. However, we do encourage the actors to go and be recognized for their hard work. We appreciate all of their support these last three months and look forward to their continued support until this issue is resolved; however, we don’t want to rob them of enjoying the fruits of past efforts.

Second, the writers not writing for the broadcast of the Golden Globes is striking from work. I’m assuming that anyone who writes the jokes and introductions and announcements gets paid for their work. The actors not showing up is simply avoiding a social function. They aren’t required to attend even if they’re nominated. Lots of cats don’t go. So now this strike has moved into non-writers avoiding social functions? Can they go to the movies? Can they go to a restaurant known to be frequented by studio heads? How about their kids’ soccer games if someone’s videotaping it?

And third, cancelling the show denies the perfect opportunity for exposure to the cause. If you want to keep this issue top of mind in the public eye, you have to continuously show the public what they’re being denied. They’ll be reminded of all the shows that they love and are missing, maybe forever, because of the injustices. To have no ceremony, however, just keeps everything out of sight. Perhaps no cliché is more appropriate to show business than “out of sight out of mind”. I was as sad as the next person when “The Sopranos” went away, but I wasn’t hugging my knees in the corner rocking back and forth the following Sunday night. And after like, two weeks, I couldn’t have cared less. That’s how it goes.

The WGA could have used the awards. They could have convinced the actors to all speak with German accents or wear lavender tuxedos with feathered top hats. Or big clocks around their necks à la Flava Flav. Or something that would have gotten attention. This cancellation is just annoying and makes people look the other way.

The poet George Santayana once said that “fanaticism consists in redoubling your efforts when you have forgotten your aim”. It’s another way of saying don’t piss people off just to piss them off. Go get your good deal; I hope you do. But only make moves that put you further ahead than you were yesterday. This move seems not to.

• The Daily Blunder , Hollywood
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