Freedom of Speech

Freedom of speech is a foundation of American life.

We must obey laws passed by democratically elected representatives of the people. But part of the deal is that we get to make fun of, criticize, satirize and generally call out anyone with whom we disagree as long as it’s within the law.

This also applies to the public airwaves.

Of course, a network has the right to remove and cancel any show it chooses. But when it chooses to do so because it is clearly being pressured by the government, either directly or indirectly, to censor dissenting voices or else – this becomes problematic.

Which is a polite word for DANGEROUS.

Which is a polite word for A THREAT TO OUR FREEDOM OF SPEECH.

Which is a polite phrase for A THREAT TO DEMOCRACY.

Of course, this is only my opinion. And the opinion of many people smarter than myself.

This being a democracy you get to decide for yourself.

But to put this in context:

Jimmy Kimmel Live! was pulled “indefinitely” from ABC this week. He’s the affable, quite funny late-night host who has been doing political monologues nightly for more than a decade. Sometimes his jokes are controversial but mostly they are nothing more than gentle jabs at the powers-that-be.

In any event, those powers-that-be in the government, as well as ABC/Disney, the FCC and the far right, would have you believe that a joke he made about the current POTUS’ behavior in light of the tragic assassination of far right influencer/lobbyist Charlie Kirk, is the reason the Kimmel show was suddenly yanked off the air.

In fact, as you may know, it goes much deeper than that.

It involves government threats to blow up a merger deal for two right wing companies, who own ABC affiliate stations, to merge (Note: And thus exert more influence than any nationwide station group) that is worth in excess of $6.2 billion.

It involves ABC-Disney’s terror at those stations refusing to broadcast anything on ABC that doesn’t meet its approval (Note: That’s not how free TV works, for the most part).

It involves an FCC Chairman threatening the broadcast licenses of any network or station broadcasting entertainment that doesn’t meet, nee comply, with his personal approval (Note: His name is Brendan Carr, google him).

This is the man. This is his lapel pin. For real.

And it involves a sitting POTUS, who several day ago floated this idea about broadcast networks who give him too much negative coverage:

I think maybe their license should be taken away.

Personally, I find that chilling.

But of course, and again, it’s only my opinion.

Just know it was formed as a result of CBS announcing another program that frequently criticizes POTUS and the government, its The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, would permanently end its run in May 2026, thus enabling said government to approve the $8.2 billion merger between CBS’s parent company, Paramount, and Skydance, several weeks later

Despite some denials about that, I don’t believe in coincidence. Especially when billions of dollars are at stake. Not to mention the egos and extreme agendas of very powerful men.

But again, this is a blog so that’s merely me offering… an opinion.

It is up to each of us as citizens to read up on this ourselves.

So – here are some links on the issues in no particular order from a variety of sources. And…none of them are behind paywalls.

As I learned as a high school and college student in the 1970s, a time when the FCC actually had a Fairness Doctrine that required licensed stations to offer opinions on BOTH sides of an issue, it is our responsibility as citizens to speak out, especially when we think or fear free speech is being threatened.

That is why I wrote the following letter to ABC-Disney about the indefinite removal of Jimmy Kimmel’s show from its airwaves. To this address:

Disney-ABC Home Entertainment and Television Distribution

500 S. Buena Vista St.

Burbank, CA 91521-3515

Yes, Big companies and big networks actually do track snail mail. Something about its physical presence gives it a greater potency than a social media post or an email.

If you agree, I urge you to write your own, crib any portion of mine. Or to simply do nothing if you don’t agree with me or any of the articles referred to here.

You get to weigh in on any issue in any way you see fit.

That’s the way it rolls in our democracy.

For now.

To the Power-that-Be at ABC-Disney:

The cowardice your corporation has shown in taking Jimmy Kimmel’s show off the air is a sad betrayal of our cherished American right to free speech. It’s clear that threats from the FCC chairman and the pending merger of Sinclair and Nexstar are key to your decision.

But looming above all of this seems to be your sheer terror of, and thus capitulation to, the fascist authoritarian currently occupying the White House. Despite your army of attorneys and the public power your multi-billion dollar company wields, you’ve quickly relinquished your rights as an American business, betrayed democratic principles and gone running for the hills at the mere thought of getting on his “bad” side.

Of course, bullies and aspiring two-bit dictators only have one side. And there is no placating them. Ever. But I suspect you know that.

If you’re reading this and now thinking, “Well, Kimmel’s facts were not entirely correct in that joke,” perhaps you’re right. We all make mistakes.

So, now go through the last month‘s worth of Mr. Kimmel’s programs and then the last month of POTUS’ on-air public statements and tell me which have generated more incorrect facts – aka lies and half-truths?

And then tell me — which one is funnier?

Since money, and not the Constitution, is your thing, recognize you will make a hell of a lot more money with Kimmel’s funny than you will by turning your network into Trump TV.

And then morphing Disneyland into TrumpWorld – which will most certainly become the unhappiest place on earth.

Know I will be boycotting all things ABC and Disney Corp. from here on in and urging all of my friends, family and co-workers to follow suit. Subscriptions and all.

xxxxxxxxxx

P.S. – It’s not too late to change your mind and give something back to the country that enabled you to become so rich and profitable in the first place.

Eminem – “Freedom of Speech”

07.16.23

by notesfromachair

The Jury is Out

It’s been a whirlwind week in Hollywood.

The actors and writers are now both officially on strike, essentially shutting down film and TV production pretty much across the board.

At the same time, a TV show called Jury Duty, where writers and actors work together in a tightly planned but loosely scripted/partly improvised new type of workplace comedy/mockumentary/faux reality program, received four Emmy award nominations, including one for best comedy series.

Amazing what members of those two unions, along with help from many of the others, can do when they join forces.

A true ensemble (in front and behind the camera)

The conceit of Jury Duty is that one unsuspecting real-life person (Note: As opposed to the rest of us perceived fake ones who work in Hollywood) is filmed serving in a three-week trial that ONLY HE DOES NOT KNOW is fictional.

But rather than be the butt of a cruel joke, he instead emerges as the HERO of the story, reminding us that not every random human in the world is the piece of sh-t we default think they might be these days.

Even in Hollywood.

It helps to have a hero as lovable as this guy

The success of Jury Duty depends on the close-knit collaboration between a group of dozens of actors playing jury, judge, lawyers, defendants and court employees, with the writers who created not only their characters but the countless scenarios, plot points and alternate scenarios and plot points designed to bend to the spontaneous will of the one real life character among them.

In some cases writers double as actors, actors wind up writing (Note: Okay improv-ing via what WAS written) as they try to bring back the hero to the point of the scene, and non-acting writers huddle off-camera to create some new tweaks and challenges that will play out the quirky humanity of the characters and story actually being created to maximum effect.

It’s not that the producers, directors and crew of Jury Duty are not essential to pulling this gargantuan effort off. But it’s that special sibling-like kinship between writers and actors that has existed since storytelling began, that conjures the magic everything else draws from.

Binge watching all eight half-hour episodes Friday night after a week of listening to the overpaid, stone-brained studio and corporate heads (whose businesses only exist because of all of this magic) bitch and moan about their 21^st century shifting business models, provided some temporary relief.

(Note: This week it was the newly two-year contracted, at $50-$60 million plus salary, Disney chief Bob Iger, calling working actors’ requests for some guarantee that a machine couldn’t duplicate their digital likeness from one day of work, in perpetuity, and over as many projects as they like, UNREALISTIC.

Unrealistic?

The only thing unrealistic is that studios and streaming platforms across the board WON’T do this and more. And maybe take their first-born. And if you don’t believe me, check out my post from last month about Black Mirror’s sadly prescient and pandemic-written season six opener, Joan Is Awful.).

Nevertheless, all of that writer-actor simpatico on Jury Duty was also energizing to me as a member of both the WGA and IATSE, and as an admirer of the many talents of so many unknown, just plain working actors I’ve come across over the years.

Because it reminded me of what we can do together. And how much power that partnership wields.

Imagine what we could all accomplish at a Margaritaville!

Jury Duty might not be your thing but it is yet another strange, new iteration of hybrid storytelling in a hybrid media world desperately in need of something new, and maybe even…..original?

It started as a workplace comedy by two veteran workplace comedy writers, evolved when some executive producers associated with iconoclastic actor Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat suggested the faux reality element, and went on from there.

Borat wasn’t my thing but Jury Duty was. Go figure. I tried to and suddenly my mind went to Netflix’s Squid Game, also not my thing but certainly as original as either of the former two.

And so it goes. And goes.

Until it is gone.

Not everything can be Casablanca, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, E.T., Raging Bull, Titanic, Parasite, or heaven forbid, Top Gun: Maverick and Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.

Nor should it be.

Still, if you don’t respond to mixed media metaphors think of it this way.

The great Norman Lear created Archie Bunker, loosely based on his father, but the equally great character actor Carroll O’Connor brought him to life.

The same way Tony Soprano came from the complicated mind of Sopranos creator-writer David Chase, only to be made indelible by the until then unrecognized brilliance of another late, great character actor, James Gandolfini.

The man made picking up his newspaper iconic

It is these kinds of collaborations that moves entertainment forward and allows it to reach new heights.

Not only onscreen but off.

Amazing what writers and actors can do when they partner up, especially when their own very real lives are at stake.

The studio and corporate heads may not be listening now.

But they will.

Or their entire new 21st century business models will fall apart.

Fran Drescher’s SAF AFTRA strike announcement

notes from a chair

Tag Archives: Disney

Freedom of Speech

The Jury is Out