1. There is an important part of such big TV shows or movies as the Game of Thrones, etc. An aspect which is very rarely focused on.
Very often such TV/movies are about poor people fighting against injustice in a strict hierarchy of corrupt power and unfair distribution of rewards. The THEME is that because they know a lot of people feel themselves to actually be in that situation, in real life and like to see the struggle shown and hopefully the good guys triumph over this. Nowadays its even common to specifically have corporations or some corrupt boss as the enemy, even in mainstream movies/TV.
Yet, when we look at how the production is made its almost always a very unequal thing, which in itself represents the strict hierarchy of power and unfair rewards that the content of the movie is supposedly against. Its highly ironic. The famous actor gets 20 million, but the electrician on the set gets only 100 dollars a day, etc. The ‘above the line’ people as they say in movies (a telling description of superiors and inferiors!) are treated like gods, but the rest of the staff, who do a large amount of the actual work in the production, are treated like lower beings - shouted at, made to wait around, to get up early to prepare for the ‘stars’, fired if they annoy the producers, etc. And all that goes on during scenes in which the star is acting as a poor person who rebels against a boss who shouts at them and fires them, etc...I’ve seen all this stuff for myself working on film sets, and its not a reality we should ignore or be ignorant of.
Extend it beyond that and the rich elite who actually fund these TV/movies are the ones who get most of the huge profits from them. They are capitalist productions like any other, and are based on exploitation of the people who make them. Even of the stars! If they get 20 million it because their name has brought in 100 million more to the takings of the movie. Still, I’m not worried about them much. But all the people who do the ‘below the line’ work, the make up, the set designers, the lighting crew, the assistant directors, the background actors, the caters, the drivers, should get a far larger share of that profit. Their work is key to making it a success so why did they only get 0.000001% of the profit? By what right does investor X get 30 million profit, when set designer X only got 30,000? Who contributed the most actual work and ideas to the success of the show?
It's not only money but also respect and control over your own working lives. In many of these films and Tv series X oppressed individuals and peoples are rebelling against tyrannical and arrogant rule by an elite. Yet, as i say, in the actual filming of of these that is how the ‘below the line’ people were treated much of the time. So where is their rebellion? And by paying our money to watch these shows about injustice we are, in a horrible irony, helping to reinforce injustice in real world...
So, ok, what is the alternative?
Two things i can think of: firstly, the people involved in making such shows should get far more rights at work, control over their own work and a far higher share of the profit. The production should be essentially a workers cooperative type system. Why not? That would be fair, democratic and put the PROCESS of making the shows in line with the supposed message of democracy and popular struggle for rights and freedom they are putting out at the consumption stage. This is all do-able, and would make life better for 100,000s of staff who work in movies and TV.
And thats while still within capitalism. So, secondly - of course i prefer us to move to a totally non capitalist system. Profit isn’t actually needed in order to make these shows. Thats only how it works in capitalism. What is needed is ideas, mental and physical work and systems of cooperation and agreement to do various things. Profit and money are just the things that oil the machine of all that in capitalism - its not an essential part of it all. In a BESS (better economic and social system) we could make great movies and TV shows and comics with no profit aspect involved at all...and no strict hierarchy of power either. Just good shows in which the people who make them are treated well.
Again, it’s all do-able. There is nothing utopian about that, is a practical choice - if only we decide to go for it.
2. A connected thing is that when you say things like the above, people often say 'that we should not spoil people’s enjoyment of entertainment by asking them to think about the deeper connections, because hard working people need the break from their stressful lives' - but this is a silly idea, and even an actively negative one. Its not liberal or kind or even realistic.
Firstly, no one is asking them to completely STOP enjoying X TV show or reading superhero comics or playing computer games, etc. Or asking them to spend ALL day thinking about its negative economic and political aspects. Thats a good example of evading an idea by exaggerating it wildly.
We can quite easily enjoy entertainment AND sometimes consider the negative economic and political aspects. Just as we can go for a jog AND sometimes eat chocolate cake. Its not an either/or situation. We can do both - in a balanced way.
The problem is that the balance now is a very poor one. Most people, the vast majority, spend NO time at all thinking of the negative economic and political aspects of the stuff they consume. None or very, little. So, its a positive thing to say that % should increase, to the very moderate level of ‘sometimes’.
And the results of such increasing level of critical awareness is…the world gets better. Because the social and economic changes that will come about mean that the people who do the production (of movies and of cakes, of cars, of hotel services, etc) have a better chance to lead good lives with a decent level of pay, health, education, reduced stress, etc. Meaning a REAL change in the situation. Not just a ‘temporary relief’ by a few hours watching movies.
Oh, and guess what? Not only will our lives be better if we spend a bit more time thinking about changing our social and economic system - we STILL get to watch movies and read comic books and play computer games. In fact, we will probably end up in a situation with even more time for all that. It's a win-win!
(And by coincidence i just saw this now (while watching youtube for relaxation and learning at the same time, wow, magick!), the great Fela Kuti saying how his music is for revolution not just entertainment. He goes onto say that if the Nigerians were 'suffering and smiling' under a bad regime they should not just smile and pretend everything is fine, they should do something to improve society. And that goes for us all!)
Very often such TV/movies are about poor people fighting against injustice in a strict hierarchy of corrupt power and unfair distribution of rewards. The THEME is that because they know a lot of people feel themselves to actually be in that situation, in real life and like to see the struggle shown and hopefully the good guys triumph over this. Nowadays its even common to specifically have corporations or some corrupt boss as the enemy, even in mainstream movies/TV.
Yet, when we look at how the production is made its almost always a very unequal thing, which in itself represents the strict hierarchy of power and unfair rewards that the content of the movie is supposedly against. Its highly ironic. The famous actor gets 20 million, but the electrician on the set gets only 100 dollars a day, etc. The ‘above the line’ people as they say in movies (a telling description of superiors and inferiors!) are treated like gods, but the rest of the staff, who do a large amount of the actual work in the production, are treated like lower beings - shouted at, made to wait around, to get up early to prepare for the ‘stars’, fired if they annoy the producers, etc. And all that goes on during scenes in which the star is acting as a poor person who rebels against a boss who shouts at them and fires them, etc...I’ve seen all this stuff for myself working on film sets, and its not a reality we should ignore or be ignorant of.
Extend it beyond that and the rich elite who actually fund these TV/movies are the ones who get most of the huge profits from them. They are capitalist productions like any other, and are based on exploitation of the people who make them. Even of the stars! If they get 20 million it because their name has brought in 100 million more to the takings of the movie. Still, I’m not worried about them much. But all the people who do the ‘below the line’ work, the make up, the set designers, the lighting crew, the assistant directors, the background actors, the caters, the drivers, should get a far larger share of that profit. Their work is key to making it a success so why did they only get 0.000001% of the profit? By what right does investor X get 30 million profit, when set designer X only got 30,000? Who contributed the most actual work and ideas to the success of the show?
It's not only money but also respect and control over your own working lives. In many of these films and Tv series X oppressed individuals and peoples are rebelling against tyrannical and arrogant rule by an elite. Yet, as i say, in the actual filming of of these that is how the ‘below the line’ people were treated much of the time. So where is their rebellion? And by paying our money to watch these shows about injustice we are, in a horrible irony, helping to reinforce injustice in real world...
So, ok, what is the alternative?
Two things i can think of: firstly, the people involved in making such shows should get far more rights at work, control over their own work and a far higher share of the profit. The production should be essentially a workers cooperative type system. Why not? That would be fair, democratic and put the PROCESS of making the shows in line with the supposed message of democracy and popular struggle for rights and freedom they are putting out at the consumption stage. This is all do-able, and would make life better for 100,000s of staff who work in movies and TV.
And thats while still within capitalism. So, secondly - of course i prefer us to move to a totally non capitalist system. Profit isn’t actually needed in order to make these shows. Thats only how it works in capitalism. What is needed is ideas, mental and physical work and systems of cooperation and agreement to do various things. Profit and money are just the things that oil the machine of all that in capitalism - its not an essential part of it all. In a BESS (better economic and social system) we could make great movies and TV shows and comics with no profit aspect involved at all...and no strict hierarchy of power either. Just good shows in which the people who make them are treated well.
Again, it’s all do-able. There is nothing utopian about that, is a practical choice - if only we decide to go for it.
2. A connected thing is that when you say things like the above, people often say 'that we should not spoil people’s enjoyment of entertainment by asking them to think about the deeper connections, because hard working people need the break from their stressful lives' - but this is a silly idea, and even an actively negative one. Its not liberal or kind or even realistic.
Firstly, no one is asking them to completely STOP enjoying X TV show or reading superhero comics or playing computer games, etc. Or asking them to spend ALL day thinking about its negative economic and political aspects. Thats a good example of evading an idea by exaggerating it wildly.
We can quite easily enjoy entertainment AND sometimes consider the negative economic and political aspects. Just as we can go for a jog AND sometimes eat chocolate cake. Its not an either/or situation. We can do both - in a balanced way.
The problem is that the balance now is a very poor one. Most people, the vast majority, spend NO time at all thinking of the negative economic and political aspects of the stuff they consume. None or very, little. So, its a positive thing to say that % should increase, to the very moderate level of ‘sometimes’.
And the results of such increasing level of critical awareness is…the world gets better. Because the social and economic changes that will come about mean that the people who do the production (of movies and of cakes, of cars, of hotel services, etc) have a better chance to lead good lives with a decent level of pay, health, education, reduced stress, etc. Meaning a REAL change in the situation. Not just a ‘temporary relief’ by a few hours watching movies.
Oh, and guess what? Not only will our lives be better if we spend a bit more time thinking about changing our social and economic system - we STILL get to watch movies and read comic books and play computer games. In fact, we will probably end up in a situation with even more time for all that. It's a win-win!
(And by coincidence i just saw this now (while watching youtube for relaxation and learning at the same time, wow, magick!), the great Fela Kuti saying how his music is for revolution not just entertainment. He goes onto say that if the Nigerians were 'suffering and smiling' under a bad regime they should not just smile and pretend everything is fine, they should do something to improve society. And that goes for us all!)