Does average America care about the writers strike?

There has been a seeming insistence on mainstream coverage of the Writers Guild strike, since the networks may lose hundreds of millions of dollars on lost ad revenue when episodes go to reruns. But does the American public really care?

When it comes down to it, the fact of the matter is that the Writers Guild of America dos not produce anything that is instrumental to the American economy. Sure, they produce a lot of television shows and movies that keep some audiences entertained. Sure, the Hollywood economy is a multibillion dollar business (which is why Gov. Schwarzenegger is trying to make peace). But if the Writers Guild went away, if the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (the trade union of which the Writers are on strike against) went away, would anybody really notice in this modern era of entertainment production?

Seemingly the most successful shows on television these days are reality shows, with American Idol clearly leading the way with that. In fact, many argue that the last Writers Guild strike back in 1988 led directly to the development of reality television as a major aspect of network entertainment. When you combine that with the opportunities available on the internet for non-unionized, non-Hollywood entertainment, and the fact that networks can (theoretically) pick up these programs and replace the union programming with non-union programming, it makes me wonder what the union and its members really have to gain from a strike action.

What is even more absurd about the writer's strike is who is striking. A Writers Guild strike does not exactly cast a sympathetic face on the plight of unionism. Most Americans, even Republicans like me who are critical of unions and their leadership, can more easily sympathize with a Teamster, or an auto worker than we can with writers, many of whom make six figure salaries and live in Hollywood. Having multi-millionaire movie stars refuse to cross the picket lines and seeing them actively march with the picketers just adds to the level of absurdity.

The Writers Guild should probably receive as much sympathy from the public as athletes who go on strike or a strike that actually cripples an important part of the infrastructure, like the 2005 New York Transit Strike. This is merely two sides of the Hollywood elite having a pissing contest, and the public should treat it accordingly, especially in light of the drivel some of the writers on strike are actually coming up with in these modern times.