Studio Sour Grapes

Studio Sour Grapes

83 years ago, 20th Century Studios (now 20th Century Fox) released the masterpiece, Grapes Of Wrath, based upon the best selling novel by *John Steinbeck. Here is a reminder that the struggle for labor, for content creators, for artists, for writers, for all of us to be seen and valued as human has been a long one. Outright slavery was replaced with other institutions and legal methods designed to marginalize and control specific groups and socioeconomic classes and further divide labor based on race, gender, etc. Those in the arts who tried to call attention to this never ending struggle were (and in some cases still are) labeled with slurs, blacklists, and so on.

The point I am trying to make is that while highlighting the experiences of a downtrodden group of people resulted in some absolutely fantastic written, filmed, acted, and directed artistic endeavors, those endeavors resulted from the hardship and plight of ordinary people and their situation was the result of the greed and antipathy of the 'corporate' owners. Across a multitude of industries and types of labor, the many have been at the mercy of the few. It's easy to vilify the highest paid celebrities and writers in order to sow division and obfuscate the reality for most workers in America, whether within the art industry itself or any other form of labor.

The producers and owners have tried to say that the grapes are sour, that the writers don't make good wine, that the actors have plenty of money to pay for healthcare (not true), and so on.

Don't believe them: feed them the grapes of wrath. Feed them the truth.

*Without getting into the weeds regarding the controversy surrounding Steinbeck's novel & the novel by Sanora Babb's Whose Names Are Unknown (do look it up on wiki; fascinating story), it serves as a tale and backdrop for some of the current topics being discussed right now with respect to appropriation, equal pay, gender, as well as the name, image, and likeness.

Reblogging this because it is noteworthy and also because the reply section in the original post has some great comments.

As for me, no way do I want the capability to 'chat' with characters in what I read.

My one and only conversation with Mr. Darcy in a foggy dew-covered field would consist of him running away from me screaming when he realized my intentions.

I'll keep those thoughts and world-building to myself regardless of whether it is an original work or fanfiction author's take on one thank you very much.

starting to suspect that tech bros actually just don’t know what reading is

Well, well, well. They say the clothes make the man but there's an exception to every rule now isn't there? The man makes the...well you get the picture and what a couple of pictures that is.

ANDREW GARFIELD's magazines covers

Andrew Garfield for Modern Luxury Manhattan, Boston Common, Angeleno & Orange County - December 2018

I support SAG and I support the writers. As a viewer and fan of quality art no matter the medium, I am happy to wait patiently until they reach an agreement. Humanity needs the arts. Humanity needs diversity of thoughts, ideas, and means of expression.

Strike is on. Actors will be joining the writers on the picket lines. This is the first strike in 60 years for SAG, and essentially shuts down the entire US film and television industry.

Please sir, I want some more...

When I hear the phrase "starving artist," I know exactly which word of the two I would like to make obsolete and it is not the writer, the painter, the actor, the costumer, the set designer, or any of the other workers and artists who labor to give us the material with which we can experience the range of human experience.

I want more of the original that comes from the human being with a beating heart and not an electrical plug; from eyes or ears that have seen, heard, and lived not from a metal and plastic box filled with phrases jumbled together all higglety-pigglety.

Technology has brought the world wonderful advancements but never lose sight of the human beings who arise each day to live, love, and labor together on this planet we call home.

Since the latest Mission Impossible film was released this weekend, here is a little reminder that giving children the opportunity to try many different activities, to learn and to grow, gives them the opportunity to discover what possibilities their future may hold. From freckle-faced boy to a box office success, here's to you Tom Cruise.

Tom Cruise when he was a kid