Striking Out

For the first two months of the writers' strike that continues to cripple Hollywood, the Writers Guild of America, the union that governs film and television writers, did an impressive job of winning the propaganda war. They explained in clear and simple terms just how raw a deal many of their members were getting, how they receive mere pennies for pricey DVD box sets, how the industry's view of Web-exclusive content was such that they were essentially expected to work for free. The WGA's opponents, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, have maintained that the WGA's demands are irrational, as they are requesting portions of Internet revenue, a business model that is still far from perfect. But in the last week the WGA's decision makers seem determined to be the ones to make the case for their irrationality. And so far, it's a very compelling case.

Last week the late-night talk show hosts returned to the air, some with writers (David Letterman and Craig Ferguson were able to strike a deal through their mutual production company), most without. Jay Leno has opted to start his show with a traditional monologue that he is writing himself, not his staff. The WGA immediately condemned him on the grounds that as a writer and member of the guild, he should be striking too. Leno and NBC insist that he can write his own jokes, while the WGA insists that he can't, sparking an awkward and embarrassing public squabble that shows the degree to which no one really knows what the rules are. While the guild hasn't stated definitively whether there will be consequences, it has certainly hinted that Leno could be fined or, worse, have his guild membership revoked, forcing him to choose between never writing a joke and appearing not to support the writers' collective-bargaining power. All this despite the fact that Leno has shown solidarity with the striking writers from the beginning, showing up at picket lines with boxes of doughnuts and marching alongside them.

Meanwhile, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert have managed to largely avoid the WGA's wrath. But why? Because Comedy Central is seen as more writer-friendly than NBC? (Stewart's return show was essentially a half-hour love letter to his writers and TV writers everywhere, including video of picketers in front of his own offices.) Furthermore, Comedy Central says it has attempted to strike a deal with the union similar to the one that Letterman has secured, but the WGA won't play ball. Again—why? This willy-nilly negotiating seems at the very least arbitrary and, worse, like some kind of Draconian muscle-flexing. In either case, it's not the way to convince viewers that the writers are powerless underdogs worthy of your sympathy.

But as head-scratching as the guild's intractability on Leno is, it pales in comparison with this week's WGA "victory." Yesterday NBC announced that the Golden Globe Awards ceremony will be scrapped in favor of a news conference announcing the winners. The WGA put pressure on NBC to avoid running a telecast that would circumvent the use of writers, as the WGA refused to strike a deal allowing its writers to work on the show. The union also pressured the network not to do a glamorous event that would run exclusively on the Web. So rather than seeing the stars of the small and silver screens decked out in their designer best, we may or may not see them show up to be blandly interviewed about their awards. Will any stars trouble themselves to come to this? Would you? And while the Golden Globes are being derailed, the Independent Spirit Awards were granted a waiver that will allow guild writers to work on the show. Again, some people are able to cut a deal, while others aren't.

The WGA's hardline strategy has certainly had the chilling effect the union was aiming for, and it may even be contractually sound, but it couldn't be more wrongheaded. The guild has taken for granted the fact that John Q. Public had to overcome his gag reflex in order to get behind the strike in the first place. People are generally sympathetic toward striking workers, but even if most Hollywood writers are the dejected everymen they're painting themselves as, their work comes with a patina of glamour that puts a low ceiling on public sympathy.

As a writer, I can tell you that my job is not easy. It is, at times, frustrating and intellectually taxing, but at the end of each day I am under no delusion that I'll be treated as if I just came from a rock quarry. The Hollywood writers may not be getting paid as much as they think they deserve, but they aren't facing the kind of historic inequities between the sexes or unsafe working conditions that have fueled labor unrest in the past; as far as the public is concerned, whatever they are getting paid is commensurate with the cushy work they do. Added to this, people who do physical, menial labor like to come home and veg out to a fresh episode of "Two and a Half Men" after a hard day's work, and now they can't do that or watch the one awards telecast that is remotely entertaining. Then when Leno returns to his show, he's told he can't even write his own jokes.