Richard Trank asks, “How long will it take the WGA’s current leadership on both coasts to come to a consensus that its silence in the face of the wanton slaughter of Jewish men, women and children by a terrorist organization is wrong?”
“The Board of Directors has worked exhaustively to consider the great diversity of opinions among our members on this issue… the Board’s viewpoints are varied, and we found consensus out of reach. For these reasons, we have decided not to comment publicly.”
After more than two weeks of silence, Writers Guild of America West president Meredith Stiehm finally issued a statement on behalf of the union’s board about the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7. While the WGAW has never had problems making statements about controversial issues, for some reason this particular writers room could not come to a “consensus” on the largest slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust.
Fellow guilds like the DGA and SAG-AFTRA somehow were able to come to consensus to make clear statements on the issue of a terrorist organization reportedly decapitating babies, torturing and raping women, kidnapping elderly Holocaust survivors, parading and humiliating hostages and murdering some 1,400 people, including more than 260 young people enjoying a music festival during one of the most important Jewish religious holidays of the year. The major studios did not seem to have a problem coming to a consensus condemning this brutality. The Academy Museum canceled its annual gala on Oct. 14 because it didn’t feel such an event was appropriate after the Hamas attack. And several hundred of the top names in Hollywood managed to get together to sign a letter denouncing Hamas and demanding they allow all of the hostages in Gaza to be freed. But a group of writers who pride themselves at figuring out in a room how to tackle the most complicated plot points were unable to reach “consensus?” That strains credulity.
Read the rest of the article at The Hollywood Reporter.
View