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Oh, I can’t wait to see the comments reacting to this Op-Ed. Meanwhile, the clueless Los Angeles Times chalks up yet another anti-WGA screed in its opinion pages while the anti-AMPTP rants are very few and far between. Get this — an editorial pages editor there was under the mistaken belief that Variety editor Peter Bart was “neutral” in this negotiations. Yeah, maybe on Mars.
(By the way, I never called Ridley an A-lister and I can’t imagine anyone who would. When I broke the news,I said WGA Member John Ridley Goes Fi-Core and that “he has brought attention to himself during the writers strike with his blogging on The Huffington Post very critical of the union’s leadership.” That’s his claim to infamy.
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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Let’s have some sympathy for all the trolls who’ve gathered here today to kiss John Ridley’s sorry ass. It’s been a tough week for their side.
I support the strike and found nothing weak about his reasoning.
Interesting… Ridley’s upcoming writer/director project is “Positively Fifth Street,” produced in part by John Wells’s company. Is Wells going to want to be in business with Ridley now?
Wow, that was well written and honest too. So he makes a choice that is offered under union rules and the mob screams the usual scab, traitor! Sounds like he is just sick of all the BS and took the option offered by the Guild – more power to him.
He makes a hell of a lot more sense than the mindless droning of the “stay strong, stay united” sheep. My UNION (399) does not offer this kind of deal so I am taking it in the rear along with my friends and co-workers as the WGA “LEADERS” continue to stay the course right into the lighthouse rocks.
As I talk to my fellow Teamsters I sure don’t hear the kind of support claimed by the WGA – really the opposite and growing more bitter each week.
To call his defense “weak” is like when Bush called Al Queda “cowards.” We may hate what they stand for, but they weren’t cowards, by any definition. And Mr. Ridley isn’t “weak.”
Comment by Matt — January 8, 2008 @ 1:13 pm
uh matt, whereas Ridley may not be weak, he is a master of hackery who succeeds based on shear volume and therefore garners no respect which is really at the end of the day what he’s so pissy about.
regardless, i’m pretty sure you CAN call al quaeda intentionally killing innocent men, women and children cowardice and i’m pretty sure you can do it by every definition. so please either get a better dictionary or an analogy that makes sense. or maybe go fi-core with Ridley.
Actually this made me realize that I’m weak. I’ve felt many of the same frustrations but have been too afraid to speak up.
You mean the WGA doesn’t have a great negotiator like Nick Counter who’s been so marvelously effective in this strike, and in keeping an entire industry out of work?
Meanwhile, the AMPTP hide like cowards behind their lawyers, PR agents, and Counter.
Look at how bullying the AMPTP are to anyone on their team who disagrees with the company line, look at how they pressured Harry Sloan to distance himself from the UA deal.
Ridley’s pathetic.
I don’t agree with John but he has every right to his opinion and to voice it.
I have been a member of SAG for nearly ten years now. When I called recently to ask a question about SAG’s jurisdiction over the internet they demanded to know who I was before they would answer anything and informed me that they are now logging and keeping track of everyone who calls, which made me feel like, just by asking, I was somehow being put into a black book.
I know (to a small degree) how Ridley feels, and I have been frustrated for some time now about how it feels to be a member of one of Hollywoods “labor” unions and to have (even the perception) of a somewhat dissenting opinion.
It seems to me, that he was out and out attacked for his dissenting opinion and now that he has chosen to go “FI-Core” he is being ostracized.
Since I’m an actor, not a writer, I apologize if there is a bit of a stream of consciousness to this post. But, this past Saturday (1/5/08) there was a WGA picket on N. Beachwood Drive — they were meeting to, actually, picket an individual producers private home somewhere in the Hollywood Hills. Did this producer have children? Did he or she have a family? Was this part of their strategy?
It seems to me the WGA is fighting a good cause, but the leadership and the way this strike is being orchestrated both at the negotiating table and in the field is a disaster.
I don’t blame Ridley at all, and I applaud him for having the courage to take the stand he has.
Nikki, you’re wrong on this one. He raises some incredibly valid points, and brings up issues that are on a lot of the writers’ minds. He’s the only one with the balls to actually say it, but he’s not a alone. A ton of people are sick of the witch hunts, and the teenage name-calling, and the “mindless glee” of shutting down productions. And many writers feel the WGA has not allowed for even the smallest dissenting opinions from its membership, which is really embarrassing and unfortunate.
Good for Ridley for having the guts to take a stand.
This begs the question: On which planet are YOU “neutral,” Nikki?
Wasn’t a weak defense at all. He seemed very sure of what he was doing and why. He hasn’t agreed with the guild for a long time, voiced his concerns, many guild people let him know he wasn’t welcome, so he left. Seems pretty simple. Agree with him or not, explanation was pretty reasoned…and he even joked about him not being a-list at the top. But feel free to keep taking pot shots at anybody not spouting the WGA party line while screaming about how impartial you are, Nikki.
I have no problem with someone exercising a perfectly legal right to go financial core. But how does he reconcile taking all the benefits that have been won through the sacrifice of members who stayed in the union and fought when they were going broke. For him. It musty be nice not to have a conscience.
I briefly met John Ridley 18 years ago when he was doing standup in NYC. His stuff was brilliant and I’ve been a fan ever since. Having read his ope-ed, I get his rationale regarding the WGA. But no organization is perfect or ever will be. What I don’t read in that article is what he has constructivly done over the years to address his complaints. Has he ever run for a WGA office? Did he actually speak up at that meeting? (His description was far too intimidating – these are writers, not longshoremen.) What he also fails to mention is that his career has never been hotter than it is right now. His decision is totally self-serving and by publicly writing about it his primary purpose is to propagate the John Ridley brand.
I haven’t read any of John Ridley’s peices, nor do I know his work, so I can’t and won’t comment on him as a person. However, I will say there are a lot of valid points in his article and screaming about what an asshole he is just helps prove them. He made a choice, and he explained why he did you. If people can’t accept that, they shouldn’t expect the public and BTL-ers to accept the choice they made that, even if it is the AMPTP’s fault, is taking shows and jobs and away from those that had no vote in the matter.
I support the WGA, save for a couple freakouts, and despite what some of my comments here may make it seem. But in no universe will I pretend they are perfect, and while writers- the writers I would someday love to be- may deny that they think they are faultless, it’s hard to get a word in edgewise without being bashed. It’s as those nobody has a right to be angry with the WGA, which simply isn’t true, no matter how justified the guild is in it’s actions.
And then there are the comments like “But everyone depends on us! It starts with us!” Guess what? You depend on them, too. It starts with you, but without directors and actors to make it real and everyone else to finish it, you wouldn’t be anywhere either. And the condesending sympathy with a heavy dose of telling people they need to deal. Not very good at getting people to support you. And then there’s that “as long as it takes” badge that’s worn with such pride. Never mind that it’ll screw thousands of people out of their lives and millions out of their shows- we’re right, so letting this thing drag on is justifed.
Yes, the strike is the fault of the AMPTP. They’re the ones who won’t come back to the table. But that doesn’t excuse the WGA’s handling of some aspects of this or their attitude towards anyone who expresses any disagreement with them. Nor doesn’t it entitle them to the automatic approval of everyone in the world. Recently, in the WGA supporters community on LJ, a poll showing slightly less people supporting the writers than a while ago automatically had to be a set-up, no other explanation. People getting pissed with everyone? Impossible. Because the writers are right.
And the writers are right. Not even the best producer can spin a story to change that fact. But there are many things in their attitudes and methods that have turned people off. Denying that is going to do nothing but harm. Acknowledge your faults and move on. Believe me, it’ll help more than you think.
He is a S-C-A-B and the like of him are WEAK.
He is doing what is best for him, but is what he is doing best for his now former fellow WGA writers? NO!
He can do what he wants to do but we don’t have to accept that, he is not just a blowhard, but an apologist for AMPTP. If he was tired of the WGA before the strike, then leave, go back to whatever frack’in flyover state you slithered from.
You call yourself a liberal? A progressive?? Go explain your to your NPR listeners what you have done and compare your explaination to what is a SCAB!!!
I give you a Spartan cheer: May you live a long and uneventful life.
It would be a mistake to dismiss Ridley’s concerns as weak; I highly doubt that he’s the only one who has them. Wasn’t it just reported that several major screenwriters were pushing for the WGA to take whatever deal the DGA accepts? Aren’t most of Ridley’s points the same problems that these actual A-list writers have? Ridley’s points are also similar to those of most working directors, which is why the DGA seems to “roll over” in negotiations.
I’m not saying Ridley is right for breaking from the Guild and going Fi-Core but I’m also not about to say that he’s wrong for being frustrated and even abandoned by his Guild.
(Although, trashed or not, his odds of working on Pinkville are nil. It isn’t a Fi-Core cash grab anymore since UA made their deal. They can hire full members now)
I love the argument that the guild doesn’t allow dissent. Wrong. Ridley can stand up at any meeting and say whatever he wants. But if you say stupid, nit-picking things that don’t have any principle behind them, you’ll get a reaction to that. Allowing dissent doesn’t mean accepting it. His criticism of the guild amounts to only content-free complaint. He doesn’t have a constructive alternative. He just wants to complain and, despite his claim that he can take it, he gets huffy when people oppose him.
And how does his depiction of the guild being “mandatory” and “conscripting” him jibe with the fact that he can so easily go fi-core? Doesn’t seem like such an oppressive monolith to me. Whatever. God speed, John Ridley.
Even if you honestly disagree with the union, and I certainly do not, as a WGA member you’re own best, enlightened, self-interest rests with sticking with your brother and sister writers. After all, all the benefits you do enjoy now as a guild member are because of hard fought battles the union has waged in the past.
This guy is really hurting career and may not have a future after this thing is settled. A lot of those future producers will be coming from the ranks of the writers.
I will agree with Ridley on one thing: “Written By” is a horrible magazine, written by Junior College Bolsheviks. Whenever somebody posts, “Hey, let’s create WGA TV,” all I can envision is that God awful WGA rag. It does concern me that my fate is in the hands of the guys who churn out that ridiculous piece of shit.
I don’t think it’s a weak defense. At all.
And as noted by other comments, it will look stronger every day this thing drags on.
I don’t think Ridley’s column is weak in the least. He has some very valid points. Nikki, your reaction is far from un-biased and actually validates Ridley’s point to some degree.
He’s more than just sick of the WGA he’s sick of the AMPTP and Hollywood.
It appears he is sick of everything that stops him from picking up a paycheck.
The saddest part is that he says he wrote one screenplay in two years. So I can’t see why he is suddenly is such a rush to get back to work other than to get some media attention.
I agree with some of his points. The arbitration process for credits is extremely arbitrary, to put it mildly.
Going Fi-Core is something I wouldn’t consider…but ask me six months from now when I have no money left…and my answer might change.
Talk about passive aggressive! Mr Ridley keeps talking shit about making a stand, but when he’s told by these people that he supposedly doesn’t even respect to shut up, he does as he’s told? John, if you’re touting self determination, how do you justify adhering to mandates? Suddenly this strike makes you grow a pair? Please. If you stand by your decision, why do you feel compelled to explain it, let alone complain about those who don’t agree w/ it? Sounds like you’re afraid– the obvious hallmark of all of your decisions– you might have to work w/ someone who took a stand when you couldn’t. Your attempt to sound like an individual in a collective fear klatch is hollow to say the least. When you’re without the protections that guild membership affords you and the studios offer you a fraction for your services (if they hire you at all), I’d like to know how you as “an individual” will fare.
Ayn Rand? HA! The tagline for Atlas Shrugged–
“What If The World’s Greatest Minds Went On Strike?”