So it looks like we won’t be getting a whole lot of scripted entertainment for the foreseeable future. It’s been a couple of months since the Writer’s Guild of America, or WGA for short, went on strike when they tried to renegotiate their contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers went nowhere. This was bad in itself as it shuttered down a lot of ongoing movie and television projects as it turns out you need writers for a lot of scripted programs. Who knew?

It was fine for some movie and television productions as they already had their finished scripts in hand so the actors and actresses who do the roles for those scripted programs could still do their jobs as they weren’t on strike. For a little while, though.

As of a few days ago, the Screen Actors Guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers could not come to an agreement with their contracts and Fran Dresher, TV’s The Nanny and the president of the Screen Actors Guild, or SAG, announced they will be joining the WGA in their strike. This does mean that pretty much all movies and scripted television shows in the United States will suspend filming and promotion.

So, what gives? I know there’s a lot of confusion as to why all of this is happening. I myself, who loves watching all sorts of movies and TV shows, don’t have a complete grasp of how this will affect my vegging in front of the television program now. I didn’t even have a fully formed idea of why the WGA and SAG are on strike in the first place. So I did take it upon myself to try to educate myself on why both unions are refusing to work and then, and only then, could I give my own opinion on the topic.

Now, let me preface all of this by saying upfront that my research on why both the WGA and SAG are picketing the movie studios wasn’t all that intensive. By that, I mean all I did was watch several YouTube videos on the topic. Most of it were just basically people giving their opinions, both in favor and against, on the strike or siding with the the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, who I’ll be referring to as the AMPTP because, even though the acronym is crazy difficult to type as it doesn’t flow together nicely, is much easier to type than Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. However, I did was Dan Murrell’s videos breaking down the reasons for the individual WGA and SAG strikes and he did a good job of giving the nitty gritty before giving his opinions.

But what does a guy like me, who’s only stakes in the strikes are, at most, going out to watch something so I can review in for this site? What’s my opinion on it and how will it affect me?

Well, the most obvious thing is it sucks! Even though I’m not a Hollywood insider, I know it takes a long time for a movie or television script to actually get finalized. Heck, there are even times when rewrites are going on in the background while the film is being shot! So, it’s not like when the movie or television show is in production, the writer’s job is done. No, you still need a writer to be somewhat available to do modify the dialogue when a line doesn’t work or to make sure these changes don’t cause any conflict with previous or later scenes. And, of course, the actors and actresses are important because they’re the ones actually performing all the lines that are on the script. They’re the ones you go to the theater or tune in to! So, if they’re not doing their jobs, there will be literally nothing for you to see.

What’s worse is, the longer the strikes soldiers on, this means everything else will have to be pushed further and further back. This seems pretty bad for some future films, like the upcoming Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse and Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning: Part 2, as a lot of why people are awaiting them with bated breath is because they’ll be completing the stories from the previous entry of the series. I guess I should have put up a spoiler warning but it’s too late now.

When it comes to who’s the “bad guy” in all of this, my gut feeling says it has to be the AMPTP. I mean, it’s easy to foster all the blame on these guys, right? They are, after all, the bigwig studio heads who make tons of money and all the writers and the actors want is to get a little bit more, especially with all of the work they’ve been doing for the streaming services the bigwigs demanded be made in order to make them more money. There are still two sides to the coin and the heads of the AMPTP want to keep things the same as they were before streaming became a thing. Why fix what isn’t broken, I guess.

But when I really think with my head and look at the stands of both sides… yeah, the AMPTP are still the bad guys. They can cry poverty because of all of the recent box office flops and how the market is oversaturated with streaming services all they want. They can say that the WGA and SAG are being selfish as the strike will cost other people, like cameramen, propsmen, and visual artists their jobs. That’s all true in general.

However, at the same time, they also could end the strike by, I don’t know, actually going to the contact negotiations? It’s been reported that the AMPTP haven’t contacted the WGA in order to try to talk things through. The WGA strike has been going on for almost three months now! In that time, they haven’t even tried to negotiate to end things! To make matters worse, a Deadline article supposedly got a quote from an unnamed Hollywood executive that the plan is to wait for the people in the WGA to lose their homes first before going back to the negotiating table so they’ll be more desperate! I’m sorry, but doesn’t that actually sound like the evil people you see in Hollywood movies and television shows? The irony of it it all!

But what can I, the ordinary person without any connections to the industry do? Well, I guess I could cancel my subscription to all the streaming services I have in protest. However, I have to be honest to myself and acknowledge I can’t give them up. Even if I could, the rest of my family wouldn’t allow me as they have things to watch on Netflix, Disney+ and the other ones we already get. I could donate to their charities, like the Entertainment Community Fund, to help the people along the picket lines. But that’s like a band aid as that doesn’t do anything to get the two sides to agree to a contract that’ll satisfy both sides.

Sadly, there’s really nothing I could do that would make any significant impact. This is actually the impetus of why I decided to put up this post and write down my thoughts on the subject. All I can really do is express my disappointment with the AMPTP as they would rather see these people starve first before going back to negotiate for a better deal so that they could get the advantage. I know this is just a small blog and no one important will pay attention to this in the long run. But, honestly, I can’t really think of anything but to express my thoughts on all of this. Yeah, it’s a dumb way to end a blog but, hey, it’s not like I’m a professional writer.

What are your thoughts on the WGA and SAG going on strike? Let me know in the comments section below!