Tom Hanks slams the AMPTP ! It’s about time !
By fred | January 11, 2008
Ever since the writers’ strike started, we’ve seen quite a few known names and celebrities publicly stating their support. Writers, of course, directors & producers as well (especially when they’re also writers, a common thing in the world of television), but also actors. It only seems to make sense, after all, without writers, they’d have nothing to do or say.
But it almost looks as if it was mostly TV actors who were vocals about their support. The big stars from TV, should it be House, Lost, The Office, Desperate Housewives, Heroes or Grey’s Anatomy, have all stepped up and supported the writers.
But what about the big AAA-names, the big movie stars ? Where are they ?
Not all of them have been quiet, of course, and without actually saying anything some did show their support, such as Sean Penn on the Speechless campaign. But what about Tom Hanks, Will Smith, Reese Witherspoon, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, where are they ?
It’s not a strike about TV, although it is the first to be affected and hurt be the strike. It’s not writers of television who are on strike, but writers of America. They also write the movies, and the whole movie industry will suffer as well, even if the impact of the strike aren’t as quick to be seen by the public, obviously.
Today, finally, one of them stepped up as well : Tom Hanks.
While in London, on the red carpet for the premiere of Charlie Wilson’s War, Tom Hanks had this to say : “The show must go on, that is one of the tenets of everything. I am a member of the board of governors of the Academy, and we definitely want to put on a great show and honor the films that have come out in the course of the year. 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.”
Take that, AMPTP.
And let’s face it, if someone as known, loved, and respected as Hanks blames the AMPTP, it will have an impact. It will have a huge impact of the public, maybe unaware of the strike or all of its details, but also on the moguls themselves. Because they too love Hanks, and they want to be loved, and if someone could actually have them to change their (childish) behaviors, it could very well be people like him.
So when Hanks publicly shamed them for breaking off negotiation with the WGA, and putting the Oscars in Jeopardy, you could expect this to have an impact, because that will hurt the AMPTP’s public image more than anything else could.
Now other big A names have to speak up and pressure the AMPTP into going back to the bargaining table to get a fair deal for the writers, so that everyone can go back to work, so that the Oscars can be saved, and more importantly so that our favorites TV shows can come back, soon.
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