I Am for the Writers -- and for Better Slogans

What do we want?... Better strike slogans!

When do we want them?... NOW!

I am for the writers. They are the starting point for any movie or TV project so without a writer, there is no content. My beef is that the slogans that they are chanting are so poorly written.

"What do we want?... INTERNET!... When do we want it?... NOW!"

That's the best these writers can come up with?

If they, rightly so, think that they are so invaluable why aren't we hearing something like:

"What we have here is a failure to communicate."

"The truth? You can't handle the truth."

"I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it any more"

Or how about adopting Norma Rae's simple, silent message of solidarity by having the strikers carry signs over their heads that say "UNION" and stop all the chanting.

The Writers Guild of America can't complain about this, can they? Will writing a better slogan constitute scabbing? I hope not.

The best way to get the message across is to write a better message. Good luck writers.

"May the force be with you".

Read more on the strike on the Huffington Post's writers' strike page.

Comments

[ShootFirstInc]

04:28 PM on 11/12/2007

Jamie Lee Curtis and the rest get OWNED by the Studios here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8qM3QNqT48

[Phylin]

12:20 PM on 11/12/2007

When I see some of the late night talk shows I believe the writers are permanently on strike.

[LaraineNewman]

09:47 AM on 11/12/2007

Brilliant idea Peeper! Seriously. What better way to drive the point home than iconic lines that come from....uh, Studio heads? I think not.

[Nic]

07:14 PM on 11/11/2007

Some of the BEST writing I've seen isn't from the writers on strike or the Bloggers on this or other Blogs. It's from those who come here to post their comments. I'm just saying.

[jowells]

06:38 PM on 11/11/2007

you want better slogans when the writers are on strike. all they want is fairness, which is serious business.

jobs and financial security, (includes ability to pay the rent) are at stake in this strike, yes?

you want a battle of wits - seek out your friends and play games.

[hypnotoad72]

09:00 AM on 11/11/2007

There is a certain irony here. Writers, having gone on strike, being unable to write catchy slogans.

Blimey. If that's true, one has to wonder why they're bothering.

May the farce be with us, it seems.

I will say this -- How much of today's media is a direct rip-off due to political influence, or because somebody in a suit believes it's more profitable to do "reality" shows or digging up old programs that have been dead for 30 years. The full problem cannot be laid solely at the writers' feet.

[Hugo de Balsac]

05:12 AM on 11/11/2007

once
i found out
she was.

[Publius99]

10:07 AM on 11/08/2007

thanks, Jamie Lee, I welcome the opportunity to come up with some slogans for the strike. Here are a few which I freely place in the public domain:

Fair trade for Writers!

Share the wealth fairly!

We want a fair slice of the DVD pie!

We'll show you ours
If you show your fairness!

[KarenZipdrive]

09:53 PM on 11/07/2007

"GIVE US WHAT WE WANT OR WE'LL WRITE MORE SITCOMS LIKE 'CAVEMEN.'

[makemarc]

04:43 PM on 11/07/2007

Maybe instead of strike they need to stay on the job and write really badly!
Oh...what's that you're saying? They've TRIED that...
Never mind.

(Oh, I'm just kidding, writers. Just jealous cause I'm not in the guild. Hey, can you walk the picket line anyway? Is that like being an opposite-scab?)

[oldcuster]

02:46 PM on 11/07/2007

The writers' slogans suck? Really, Jamie Lee Curtis? That's all you can add to the conversation? Can someone please take away her laptop? Maybe replace it with one without internet access? Or at least she could contribute and get her husband Christopher Guest to improv a bad movie about protest slogans.*

*"Waiting for Guffman" and "Best in Show" are not included in Christopher Guest's bad movie oeuvre.

[stinkerbell]

02:25 PM on 11/07/2007

I know I'm seriously late to this party, but I'd be all for seeing the disney picket line do an organized song and dance number from Newsies.

Not only would it be f-ing hilarious, but also a poignant jab at the studio which profited off of the pro-union damn-the-man message of that film. (Or rather, lost money on it...maybe that's what this is all about.)

Christian Bale, if you're reading this, put on your scally cap and get down there - your writers need you!

[coyne]

01:35 PM on 11/07/2007

what the usa needs is a plan for a general strike. writers aren't the only ones getting screwed. most people can tell what fair looks like and fair isn't what's happening in this country or around the world. in the midwest fair still happens. people actually do put profit on table and divide it fairly. my mother owns farm land. she leases it to another farmer who then provides seed, equipment and labor. she's leased this land to the same farmer for 25yrs and has never had to go back to the table because their deal was fair. 60/40 spilt. the farmer who leases the land gets the 60. my mother was fair. the profit of a project could not happen without us, no matter what the project is. most of us know what fair looks like and fair hasn't been happening for a long time.

[EdColetti]

12:29 PM on 11/07/2007

I'm for the Democratic Party hiring as many out of work writers as they can afford in order to rescue it from mealy-mouthedness

[AngerManagement]

12:18 PM on 11/07/2007

Try chanting, "What we have here is a failure to communicate," ten times in a row and see how it works out for you.