Tom Hanks Takes a Position
January 10th, 2008 | 4:15 pm est |
Reuters reports that Tom Hanks sounded off about the Writers Guild of America strike and the possibility of it preventing an Oscar telecast.
“The show must go on, that is one of the tenets of everything…I just hope that the big guys who make big decisions up high in their corporate boardrooms and what not get down to honest bargaining and everyone can get back to work.
As a big cheese within the academy, and one of the most visible members of the Screen Actors Guild, don’t discount that Hanks’ words might have some influence, even if it is only on fellow actors who might begin speaking out more vocally on behalf of their WGA colleagues.
I agree with Hanks, and hope that the strike will be ended honorably long before the Academy Awards. But even if it is not ended, the Academy’s show should still go on. The Academy should be prepared to use longer film clips, more highlights honoring the passing of stars, and even more clips from nominees of the past to properly honor the industry without just filling time. And if all else fails, how about asking common Americans, lovers of Cinema, to read the lists of nominees and accept awards on behalf of the recipients? If there is any way to honor the writers by keeping their work in the public eye while they go through this struggle, while also honoring the work of all the other industry professionals who need to honor the writers’ struggle, it would be to keep this one show going. Having academics and movie buffs participate would not be fashionable, but the focus for once could be on the works produced, rather then on the presenters and recipients. (Just the perspective of a Historian).
The BEST thing that could happen to the moribund, stodgy Oscar show is to lose a year and coem back with fresh ideas in 2009. It has been an awful night of padded bullshit for decades.