Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Braveheart, Baby!

I received a tweet from the Writers Guild of Canada earlier today that said…

receptive

Maybe things look and feel different inside those suffocating government hearing rooms, but that sentiment is about 180 degrees from my own read watching on television, a reaction fully shared by the three other WGC members I’ve spoken with since.

I promised myself I’d wait until I’d heard everybody make their presentations at this latest round of CRTC Hearings on the current state of Canadian television, before offering my reactions, and I think I’ll stick with that. 

And for those of you not following my occasional hearing room Twitter feeds, relax, they seldom rise above this level…

closest2

Meanwhile, I’d like the members of my Guild, both the writers and those who toil beyond all reason on our behalf, to take a look at this video. This is how you testify at a Government hearing that intends to make rules for people in the Arts.

An added bonus for those in Toronto, heading off tonight to hear Al Gore insist he doesn’t have feet of clay, is the chance to see him in an earlier incarnation, when he was less concerned with your carbon footprint and merely wanted to curtail freedom of expression.

We’re fighting for our lives and our livelihoods, people. Perhaps it’s time to stop hiding who we really are and what we’re capable of doing.

Braveheart, Baby!                  

Gee, “Hedonism, Religion, Death and Sexuality…” isn’t that what we’re supposed to be using our talents to explore instead of this endless bureaucratic minutia?

1 comment:

deborah Nathan said...

Wished they'd spent as much preparation and time in negotiating with the producers on the latest IPA. A different rant.

The constant howling at Ottawa is not productive.

My Cassandra-like wailing into the ether that one must get the citizenry on side, ordinary people yelling and screaming in support, for anything to change in favor of writers and the arts.

Just look at what the bureaucrats, BDUs and broadcasters truly fear - the Canada-wide rebellion that would occur if "House" was suddenly not available. They have all talked about that as Armageddon.

Power to the people, baby.