Vol. 26
ESSAY | LIVE & IN PERSON | NOW READ THIS | A QUOTE | FINAL FRAME
Solidarity Forever.
The Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) went on strike earlier this week, bringing movies and television to a grinding halt. The dispute is over everything from fair wages to working hours and conditions, after negotiations with the big studios went nowhere.
Why should we in Middle America care about this? More than impacting your favorite shows and movies, this strike gets at the dark heart of our modern capitalist hellscape. Most writers can’t even make rent because they’re being paid so little for their work (while being largely required to live in increasingly unaffordable cities like LA and New York). Instead, with the rise of streaming, those big studios have been steadily and insidiously embracing a gig economy model for the vast majority of the people who make Hollywood tick–who are, it should be noted, almost entirely unionized. That means fewer hours for bare minimum pay, and now with the added threat of being replaced and/or made to work to fix AI-generated content. Streaming has also meant the loss of “residuals,” an important way that writers made ends meet in the past.
I encourage you to take a listen to this excellent interview from the What A Day podcast with striking writer Alex O’Keefe, who lays out what’s at stake.
You’ll note that he mentions that the major studios have largely been taken over by tech companies: Amazon’s buy-out of MGM in 2021 is a prime example. Combined with the massive consolidation of the industry overall (see the massive AT&T and Warner Bros./Discovery merger, which is currently under scrutiny by members of Congress), there’s far less competition or room for negotiation with these behemoths. And the guiding principle for the studios is to squeeze every penny of profit on behalf of CEOs and shareholders, with less and less going to the people who actually create the content. Sound familiar? It’s happening all over, as our safeguards against monopolies have been gutted by politicians with massive conflicts of interest.
Of course, it should come as no surprise that this devaluing and destabilization of the film and TV industry is also coming at a time when more and more women, people of color, and LGBTQ folks are finally breaking into writer’s rooms and other production roles. There are whole books and studies about this very phenomenon.
Essentially, though, it’s the same thing that’s happening in our economy overall, especially for those people in the service industry (but certainly no longer limited to it). It’s the rise of the so-called “gig economy,” which was sold to us as a way to have flexible schedules and profitable side hustles but, in actuality, is a way for wealthy companies to make yet more money by paying lower wages and no benefits to “independent contractors,” rather than having actual employees they’re legally required to more fairly compensate. Think ride sharing, personal shoppers, delivery drivers, package handlers, etc. Zero job security, absurd hours, low pay, and high rates of exploitation are all hallmarks of the gig economy, and they’re creeping into other industries now, too, as venture capitalist “disruptors” take over more and more of our essential businesses (now think: local newspapers, radio, and other media, as well as hospitals and other health care facilities).
It’s not a sustainable model. At some point, everything falls apart, but that won’t stop the corporate overlords from making as much money off our backs as they possibly can in the meantime.
There are bright glimmers of hope, though. The increasing drive to unionize everything from coffee shop workers to fast food employees is a great example of how regular people can band together to fight back against the worst impulses of capitalism. Collective actions like the current WGA strike are effective ways of causing real pain for the people who hold too many of the purse strings. We shouldn’t be afraid to resort to more actions like this in order to push back on this wave of anti-worker policies, mergers, and actions. I’d argue we should be going a lot harder, in fact. And it benefits us all to show solidarity with fellow workers across the country, in all sectors, as they fight for their rights.
According to friends who work in the industry, for the WGA and related unions like The Animation Guild (TAG), this may be the last real chance to claw back the ability to make a middle class living doing this work. If the studios win, the gig economy model that’s so toxic may well become the permanent standard. That would be a net negative for those of us who enjoy diverse and thoughtful storytelling and animation. It would be a huge, potential deathblow for the people who provide those things for us.
So how can we, the viewers, show meaningful solidarity with the strikers? If you live in or near a city with active picket lines, you can join in person (follow WGA West and WGA East online to learn more or check out their list of picket line locations and times). Talking about your support online and using specific hashtags like #WGASTRIKE and #WGAstrong actually does help, too! Obviously, if you are a creative worker and get asked to jump in and write for a TV show or movie, etc. - don’t do it. It might seem like a good way to get your foot in the door, but the WGA enforces strict anti-scab rules that blacklist folks who cross picket lines to do this work during a strike. Also, it’s just shitty.
Solidarity is the only way the working class (i.e. the vast majority of us) creates a better world for us all. Solidarity forever.
Live & In Person!
This Saturday, May 6, my band Damsel Trash will be making our triumphant return to Madison’s stages with a show at our beloved Crystal Corner (1302 Williamson St.). If you’re in the area, come through!
Our last show in Madison was New Years Eve 2020, so you can imagine what happened next to keep us away for so long. Happily, we’ll be joined this time by our longtime musical soulmates, Venus in Furs (delightfully queer surf punk), who are opening things at 8 p.m. And then Monte (killer queer punk rock) is joining us all the way from NYC, followed by our ridiculous antics around 10. There will be snacks, dancing, catharsis, and friendship. Get all the details here. See you then?
Now Read This.
“Reckoning with the Racist Legacy of Wisconsin’s Conservation Heroes” [Samantha Harrington for Tone]
The true story of environmentalism in Wisconsin has always been led by Indigenous people. Long before settlers arrived, Native people cultivated the land. Today, Indigenous people in Wisconsin lead the way on climate adaptation as they fight to save forests and traditions much older than the conservation movement. It feels long overdue to stop posting John Muir quotes and ask Native people: What do you need? What does the land need? And then give it. Whether it’s landback or money or an extra set of hands.
“Tucker Carlson Set the World On Fire” [Lyz Lenz at Men Yell At Me]
The Carlson model of shouting and shouting, then claiming you’re being censored when people push back, is now a career path. Media personalities are monetizing the outrage they create with no concern for who it may harm.
“An Anti-Trans Doctor Group Leaked 10,000 Confidential Files” [Wired]
A massive, unsecured file has exposed almost the entirety of the membership of the SPLC-designated hate group, as well as tax files and a trove of email communications spanning years. The American College of Pediatrics is behind the current lawsuit to see FDA-approved abortion drugs banned, and has been behind spreading dangerous lies about transgender youth. They use junk science to create a veneer of respectability for what is, at its core, a far-right evangelical Christian worldview and politics. This leak only further proves it.
A Quote.
“Love is about expansion, not constriction. Becoming ourselves, not betraying ourselves. Writing love poetry isn’t simply about composing a stanza, it’s about composing a day... It’s about how we live, and I want to be a living love poem. Every day I ask myself, 'How can I love harder?' Love is my grounding force, it’s what gives my life shape and meaning; it anchors me to who I am and what I do. Love breaks through binaries—man and woman, us and them, you and me. Love means we believe in one another’s infinite capacity for transformation. It means we affirm one another’s complexity. And love also means we need each other...fundamentally and irrevocably.” - Alok Vaid-Menon, in India Brides Magazine
Final Frame.
I finally managed to get a decent photo of the notoriously hard-to-capture ruby-crowned kinglet. These little guys like to constantly flit around from branch to branch and are difficult to snap. But they’re very cute! And I’m proud of this shot.
‘Til Next Time.
Thanks for reading! Hit me up with questions, comments, suggestions, and tips on great hiking spots. And please feel free to forward this email to a friend and/or hit that subscribe button. xoxo