As a show of solidarity with the striking writers of the WGA, America's actors are speaking out, in part, by making a series of online public service announcements called "Speechless." The gist is meant to be ironic: we're watching these little movies in the very medium whose space the writers aren't being paid to fill. By the clips are humbling, too -- please, please give us something to say because we're nothing without you.
To that end, Susan Sarandon and Chazz Palminteri go "blah-blah-blah" at each other in one clip (it's like something from "Outside the Actors Studio") and another consists of a long montage of actors (Marcia Cross, Demi Moore, Martin Sheen, et al.) holding a blank script, looking befuddled. Most of these are sloppily made and earnestly dull. Sean Penn talks, but we can't hear what he's saying. Ed Asner chews his lunch. And Holly Hunter dials up for a writer and gets an operator in Bangalore. (Oh no. Thanks to the strike, comedy's been outsourced, too!)
The actors' idea might be to make themselves seem boring and witless without writers. And so a curious empathy emerges: all the stars seem lost and intellectually underfed. You want them fed. Where is the Sally Struthers of the entertainment-industry malnourished?
One of the most effective (and persuasively heartfelt) documents to come out of the strike is "The Office Is Closed," an "Office"-ish explication from the writers of that show, which epitomizes the conflict since it's a big online hit. NBC even commissioned exclusive web content -- "webisodes." Listening to Mike Schur and Mindy Kaling makes a case for themselves as exploited laborers is a lot more convincing than not hearing Sean Penn speak. (There might be a few producers who'd consider that a reason to prolong this situation.Who knows?) The television writers have more 9-5-ish jobs and, on-average, make less money than their Hollywood counterparts. The effect on them -- and us -- is already apparent. They also don't seem as, well, vain as the rich, scriptless stars who've admirably risen to their defense.
(Behind the scenes, George Clooney and others have donated money to help the far less well-off survive the shutdown. And Barack Obama and John Edwards, who gave a speech on the picket line the other day, have threatened to pull out of next month's CBS debate if the strike hasn't ended. It's a classy if odd move. Was "The Late Show" staff writing their opening remarks? Edwards's appearance was like something out of John Sayles.)
The director George Hickenlooper is one of the folks behind this "Speechless" campaign, and he's vowed to keep it going until they get to about 50 -- unless, of course, the producers come to their senses first. The money people were guilty of plain-old avarice before. But allowing the strike to go on long enough for Hickenlooper's viral-video brainchild to swell to 50 is pure evil.
