Throughout the day I noticed, as many of you may have,
that many of my friends on Facebook changed their profile pics to solid green
in support of what is happening in the VFX industry. While I am in total agreement with the
perception of unfairness in the entertainment industry, I am not convinced that
this protest action will have any lasting benefits.
Before we even look at the merits of the case, we have
to acknowledge that the vast majority of those who join actions like this join
due to bandwaggoning and hanger-onism.
Most people, if push comes to shove, will do nothing. That is something that we here in SA should
know all too well. There is a huge
“public outcry” against violence against women and rape with everyone making a
huge racket over how everyone should stand together, and how it’s time somebody
did something; but with nobody actually doing anything. “Look at the protests and outrage in India
after those girls got raped in the bus” they say “If they can force the
government into change, so can we!” they say, while not creating their placards
and putting on shoes that are comfortable for the long walks that protest
involves. This is not to say that I am
against the outcry. I totally agree;
rape and victimization of women is primitive and savage acts that deserve no
place in an “advanced” society.
Along with this comes the effect that protest has;
which is to say the lack of effect.
There have been quite a few high-profile protests in recent memory:
protests against the war on terror, protests against the government secrecy
bill in SA, protests by the screen writers against unfair treatment by film
studios, the Occupy Wall Street movement.
The overarching theme here is total, unambiguous failure. The Vegas analogy applies: the house always
wins. Governments and big business
executives always find a way to come out on top, mostly by performing damage
control while largely ignoring the problem until it goes away. This leads us nicely to my second point…
Regardless of the anger and resentment that is pulsing
all over the internet, it will be impossible to coordinate global mass
action. Whether through scabs or
international outsourcing, studios will always be able to find VFX studios
somewhere that will be willing to undermine the mass action to potentially get
their foot in the door with a big player.
We must also realize that any (unlikely) wholesale strike by American
VFX studios will only accelerate the quality of VFX work from abroad. The amount of work which is already being outsourced to
studios in other countries is already increasing, and these countries usually have labour laws which
are much more lax than those in the States, allowing for an even cheaper,
longer-working workforce. True,
companies like R&H (RIP) and ILM are miles ahead of the rest, but a drop in
quality won’t affect the layman too much.
Let’s be honest; the general public doesn’t even notice bad work now
while these studios are there as a comparison; and as stated already, a heavier
reliance on international studios will be a shot in the arm to their development
and industry experience which will level the playing field fairly quickly. With regards
to ILM specifically, they now belong to Disney.
I don’t even think I need to elaborate why it will be highly, highly unlikely
that they’ll join the protests. Certain
individuals with moral backbone might quit to join the protest, but they will
be replaced very quickly by others who, like most VFX workers, are chomping at
the bit to work somewhere like ILM.
I am anticipating a large backlash from acquaintances
in the industry, but remember to look at the points I am making. Yes, I agree that the treatment and level of
disrespect facing the industry is criminal.
Yes, I agree that it is time to make a change. What I don’t agree with, however, is that
mass action will be able to dismantle the film industry overnight, as many seem to think. Film studios are businesses, and very
successful ones at that. They are run by
some of the best business minds in the world, and if there’s one thing that big
business leaders are very good at doing, it’s protecting their financial
interests.
…actually no, I’m not expecting a backlash. Nobody ever reads these.
No comments:
Post a Comment