Maher said he purposefully waited until the end of the show to discuss the Strike, because he felt it was important to put things in perspective and, in the middle of Presidential Primaries, the Strike simply is not as important to America as it is to Hollywood.
And then Bill Maher nervously ripped into the WGA leadership.
He drew the exact same analogy Divided Hollywood has been using since this site was started in November -- that critics of the WGA, its leadership, or it's tactics are treated by the WGA faithful the exact same way that critics of the Iraq War are treated by the Bush Administration.
This is something I fleshed out in more detail than did Maher, and you can see the poster I created -- on November 20 -- here.
Maher publicly questioned whether this was "the right strike at the right time," echoing familiar questions about the Iraq War.
Our friends at United Hollywood (and I honestly do consider them friends, though I disagree with them on so many things) recently posted that Writers should feel free to voice dissent, so long as they stopped short of "pulling a Ridley" and went Fi-Core.
There would be no backlash, the post went, so long as the dissent was honest and not meant to divide. Well, Bill Maher has put himself out there, and didn't look too comfortable doing it. His discomfort was understandable -- who wants to berate his family in front of a national audience?
But Bill has always spoken his mind and has lost jobs because of it. The question is, will Writers embrace him anyway?
Or will they attack him -- as they attack so many of us with legitimate concerns -- as another AMPTP shill?
1 comment:
The first real introduction that I ever had to Bill Maher was from watching him on "Politically Incorrect". He says what he thinks...period. Bravo to him for having the courage to say publicly what so many of us displaced industry workers have been feeling for so long.
By the way, BTL guy, I think that someone should go to the Wikipedia entry for the Writers Strike 2007-08 and edit the entry to better represent the losses suffered by people like us and the feelings that go along with it. I think you are better qualified to do that than I am. I'm to angry to be unbiased and objective about it.
Post a Comment