. . . it causes a hurricane in another part of the world.
I've been thinking a lot lately (because I'm old now) about the long-range unintended consequences of certain actions. Take the Writers' Guild strike in 2007-2008, an action I completely supported because when you looked at the puny percentage writers were being paid for successful projects (the guy who wrote the screenplay for Forrest Gump, for example, hardly made anything) you said UNFAIR! Or at least I did.
Anyway, the strike gave rise to reality TV, which was a way for networks to keep producing content. And what they discovered was that reality TV is cheaper to produce AND also there's an appetite for it. Enter Donald Trump and The Apprentice. David Frum, George W. Bush's speechwriter, had interesting things to say in this article about how Trump's image as a titan of industry and business was actually crafted and burnished by the producers. And yeah. That's the Trump that the American public saw and that't the Trump they elected.
So there you have it. Writer's strike. Reality TV. The Apprentice. And now this moment in America where our president is refusing to sit down at the high school lunchroom table with our allies and having keggers up the canyon with a former KGB agent instead.
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2 comments:
Love you but disagree. We don't actually know each other but I love your writing! I have 3 of your books and tried to stalk you at TKE but you weren't working that day. I was so bummed. Also, I have always wondered....did you read/like The Guernsey Literary Potato...? I really want to know what you thought of it!
Hi, Kande. I LOVED that book. I work at TKE Wednesday days and Thursday nights. Come introduce yourself.
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