So, to start with, Unions are really important.
October 31, 2018 8:36 AM Subscribe
While some of the detail in regards to specific concepts/works seemed a bit glib at times, which bugged me, the overall theme is sound and well worth emphasizing as they did. I don't fault the values being championed at all, but think some of the commentary didn't address some elements that also give reason for treatment of Hollywood unions and painted the history as a bit more "anti" than it was, which, from my perspective leans more towards both side-ism as a whole. Corporations and the rich have been given harsh treatment in Hollywood as well, perhaps ironically given the wealth and system Hollywood operates under. A major reason for why they treat both unions and corporations with distrust is their belief in the story power in individual heroism and the pitch of stories to the generic middle they believe everyone can enjoy without much thought.
Hollywood celebrates distrust of organizations as organizations in general. Shows and movies will take the general side of the group they cast their heroes as belonging to, as in that is where their work and relationships will be and as heroes that makes them "okay", but they are celebrated more for their singularity of action than as part of a larger collective action or emissary of organizational power. That certainly does allow for some grotesque distortion of different fields and values, but at the same time it allows for some muted criticism of the same. There's no question that certain values are given more credence than others, the way cops, for example, are so over-represented on television because of the stories they can tell about them. That unquestionably has an effect on how we as a culture come to think about certain concepts, but there is more to it than just conservative values being pushed.
In regards to labor movements some of the shows they quoted as examples give some evidence of how it tends to work, the WKRP quotes, for example, show Les Nessman giving the anti-union side, but his character in the show is not given standing as a voice of clear reason. Bailey is the more sensible character in the show and Les is given to flights of fancy and exaggeration. The show uses that to provide a "both sides" sort of take, where Les is less credible but gets the laugh lines, while Bailey makes sense but doesn't provide the same emotional pay off for audience response. Many of the short clips, from the shows I've seen, have something of that dynamic, a voice of reason set against an obviously biased source that gets the punchlines. The weighing of the "debate" is left implicit for the viewer to look at as they will and then the matter is dropped. That definitely doesn't lead to promoting unions and with the decline in real life union membership the argument loses validity as viewers have little to use as personal basis for judgment other than punchlines, leaving the resolution unimportant other than for the laughs.
The movie history is a bit narrowly summoned as well for similar reasons. The video feels like its saying there was less support for workers in films than there was, by my experience, but it's true that little of that was specifically about a character in a union fighting for worker rights directly. The video's points about how unions are often shown, linked with organized crime, largely ineffective, and so on are spot on as identifying those as extremely common themes, again from my experience, which is why I accept the general premise regarding unions specifically but think the total picture is a bit more complex when it comes to workers versus corporate power.
posted by gusottertrout at 11:16 AM on October 31, 2018 [2 favorites]
Hollywood celebrates distrust of organizations as organizations in general. Shows and movies will take the general side of the group they cast their heroes as belonging to, as in that is where their work and relationships will be and as heroes that makes them "okay", but they are celebrated more for their singularity of action than as part of a larger collective action or emissary of organizational power. That certainly does allow for some grotesque distortion of different fields and values, but at the same time it allows for some muted criticism of the same. There's no question that certain values are given more credence than others, the way cops, for example, are so over-represented on television because of the stories they can tell about them. That unquestionably has an effect on how we as a culture come to think about certain concepts, but there is more to it than just conservative values being pushed.
In regards to labor movements some of the shows they quoted as examples give some evidence of how it tends to work, the WKRP quotes, for example, show Les Nessman giving the anti-union side, but his character in the show is not given standing as a voice of clear reason. Bailey is the more sensible character in the show and Les is given to flights of fancy and exaggeration. The show uses that to provide a "both sides" sort of take, where Les is less credible but gets the laugh lines, while Bailey makes sense but doesn't provide the same emotional pay off for audience response. Many of the short clips, from the shows I've seen, have something of that dynamic, a voice of reason set against an obviously biased source that gets the punchlines. The weighing of the "debate" is left implicit for the viewer to look at as they will and then the matter is dropped. That definitely doesn't lead to promoting unions and with the decline in real life union membership the argument loses validity as viewers have little to use as personal basis for judgment other than punchlines, leaving the resolution unimportant other than for the laughs.
The movie history is a bit narrowly summoned as well for similar reasons. The video feels like its saying there was less support for workers in films than there was, by my experience, but it's true that little of that was specifically about a character in a union fighting for worker rights directly. The video's points about how unions are often shown, linked with organized crime, largely ineffective, and so on are spot on as identifying those as extremely common themes, again from my experience, which is why I accept the general premise regarding unions specifically but think the total picture is a bit more complex when it comes to workers versus corporate power.
posted by gusottertrout at 11:16 AM on October 31, 2018 [2 favorites]
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posted by Kikujiro's Summer at 10:34 AM on October 31, 2018 [4 favorites]