Barack and Hillary called for “unity”, earning mixed results. Now George Clooney is trying to keep Hollywood actors from stalling productions and his plea also seems to be falling on deaf ears.
Hollywood movie studios are preparing to go into shutdown here Monday, when a contract with the top actors union expires, raising the grim possibility of another crippling strike.
Negotiations to renew the contract between the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) have so far been deadlocked, echoing the build-up to this year’s screenwriters strike.
Entertainment industry press have said most major movie studios had already planned their schedules to complete filming on existing projects by Monday.
Are these actors making more money than they need? Are they paying their fair share in taxes? Besides another onslaught of reality television and shortage of cinema remakes, why should we care? Surely these compassionate liberal actors know what another strike will do to the “ordinary people”. Do they care?
The disagreement prompted George Clooney to issue a statement on Thursday calling for unity, saying a split between the unions would only strengthen the position of the studios.
“The one thing you can be sure of is that stories about Jack Nicholson vs. Tom Hanks only strengthens the negotiating power of the AMPTP,” Clooney said.
“Rather than pitting artist against artist, maybe we could find a way to get what both unions are looking for.”
These are the very people who criticized President Bush (and Republicans in general) for not negotiating with the enemy. But if these liberals can’t even make peace with their own, who are they to dictate how we should conduct foreign relations with those who want to do more than shut down a movie?
