Hollywood’s Protests Affect Us All: Here's What To Know And How To Show Support
Unless you’re a creature of habit who likes to watch the same shows over and over, then prepare to be on a steady diet of reruns. As a result of the Hollywood strike happening now, it is likely that U.S. TV viewers won’t be seeing new scripted content or new seasons of their favorite shows until 2024…or even later than that. While it may seem like what is happening in Hollywood is an isolated protest, let me explain why this affects us all and why everyone should be participating.
What Is Happening?
Hollywood is on pause after Writers Guild of America (WGA) and Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) creatives decided to team up protesting work conditions on set, fair pay & the introduction of AI technology in production. The last time this happened, roughly 60 years ago, industry executives were forced to accommodate the actors’ and writers' demands because they saw each other as collaborators rather than enemies.
Second assistant director and DGA member Meaghan Gillenwater-Stark has worked on a number of box office films and is directly impacted by what’s happening in Hollywood. Meaghan explains to xoNecole that what’s happening right now is bigger than entertainment, “There’s a bigger picture to all of this. There’s so many unions fighting for fair wages who are making their CEOs billionaires!” she says.
Legal Ramifications Of Striking
As a result of the protests, union actors and writers are not allowed to work on any major studio films, but Meaghan says it gets deeper than that, adding that legal stipulations are also involved. For example, if you are a SAG member, you can get kicked out of the union if you’re caught filming with a major studio or streamer at this time. As for other working actors with hopes of one day joining a union, if they are caught working with a studio and SAG found out, according to Meaghan, “If SAG was to find out, they can decline your membership in the future.” She continues, “There’s cause and effects. Certain unions have rules and restrictions.”
This is new information to supervising docu-series producer Andrea Harris-Charles. Andrea tells me she’s been learning a lot about Hollywood since the protests. Like most people, Andrea assumed that cast and crew members alike received royalties on all of their projects, saying, “I had to check myself with my own thoughts and beliefs. These people are hungry and living check to check like we are. It’s all been very eye-opening.”
How Has Hollywood Responded?
Hollywood's upper echelon has already begun to respond to SAG-AFTRA and WGA’s demands. Disney CEO Bog Iger called the strike “disturbing,” saying the industry is still yet to bounce back from COVID. He even went as far as to say that the strikers are “adding to the set of challenges that this business is already facing” and finds this all very “disruptive.” The AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers) also released a statement saying that SAG-AFTRA members dismissed an offer that included “historic pay.” They fear that the Union has chosen a path that will lead to financial hardship for thousands of people who depend on the industry.
There's Scripted, Then There's Reality TV
Speaking of those thousands of people, actors and writers aren’t the only ones affected by this strike, don’t forget about everyone else who works on set. According to Meaghan, “Think of the people who make up films; the receptionist, makeup artist, etc. Those are the people who fight for fair wages too. Everybody deserves a fair wage. People assume you’re automatically rich [because you work in television or film],” she says.
As a result of this pause, you’re likely to see a surge of reality TV shows as well as live-streaming content. But don’t be mistaken, gigs in the docu-series world have been scarce well before the union strikes. A lot of people may not know this, but reality television is operated differently than scripted television. With the exception of a few shows, reality television is not a unionized institution, and the struggles its crew members endure oftentimes reflect that. “The people staffing up in reality [TV] know it’s a struggle out here and are taking advantage. Their attitude is ‘take it or leave it.’ Inflation, cost of living, etc. They know that people are almost desperate for work. [But] people are taking the low rate instead of us banning together.” She adds, “My skill should be met with adequate compensation. Instead, it is an industry sweatshop.”
Power In Solidarity
It’s not just actors and writers, a lot of people are struggling to get by. Andrea tells xoNecole, “Bigger picture-wise, we should all be involved. If they don’t get what they need, then it will get worse for us.” UPS workers have seemed to follow in Hollywood’s footsteps by having their own protests. Entertainment aside for a moment, UPS workers have seemed to follow in Hollywood’s footsteps. The workers were gearing up to protest their company’s corporation by fighting for fair wages on BEHALF OF THEIR PART-TIME WORKERS! Salute to them!
However, what would have been one of the largest strikes in UPS history was averted after union leaders decided to offer pay raises for all UPS workers. In other positive news, following the strike, the WGA has already started the process of unionizing shows like MTV’s Ridiculousness. The union believes that the show fairs in comparison to pre-existing comedic shows like America’s Funniest Home Videos, where various comedic writers are involved.
How Will The 2023 Writers Guild Of America Strike Affect Everyone
Well, it’s obvious that nothing is getting filmed until the strike comes to a positive conclusion. What that means for you is that a number of your favorite shows won’t air a new season for quite some time. Shows like P-Valley,Power Book II: Ghost, Stranger Things, and Abbott Elementary, just to name a few. Even the long-running live sketch show SNL has gone dark in honor of the union writers' strike. On a local level, some states, including Georgia, offer tax incentives for productions filming in their state.
Last year, the film industry brought over $4 billion dollars into the state of Georgia, but since the strike, some local businesses in Georgia are beginning to feel the absence of Hollywood in their monthly revenue. And as viewers find alternative things to do and watch, they’re likely to discontinue their streaming platform subscriptions since no new shows will be airing anytime soon.
What Happens Now
We wait. Industry leaders on both sides will constantly be at the table, revising proposals and hoping for the best. Until then, actors, writers, and other scripted crew members alike have an uncertain future ahead. While some may be able to wait out the strike, that’s not the reality for everyone. “A lot of people I know are leaving the industry. A lot of people won’t return, and it will affect us for years to come,” Meaghan shares.
“You have people who took other jobs and found happiness working regular paying jobs with decent hours.” Like many of us, Meaghan was left without a job for a few months during COVID, but says she’s more prepared this time. “I’ve already applied for other jobs,” she reveals. There are rumors swirling that the strike will be over in October or maybe even next year, but for Meaghan, “There’s always hearsay. I would like to think they won’t draw it out that long. [So] looking for another source of income is important.”
Once everything settles and needs are met, Andrea is hoping for an even bigger outcome and doesn’t want the protests to stop in Hollywood, “The same fight needs to happen for the unscripted genres as well. Don’t forget about us. We are also fighting. We need allies as well,” she pleads.
How You Can Show Support For The Writers Strike
Honestly, rent is high, the cost of living is increasing, and have you seen the price of chicken in the grocery store lately? It’s a wonder we all aren’t out in the streets protesting in general. “We all need fair pay, overtime, we all need the same things. We all need breaks. I hope we are all able to be allies after this,” Andrea says.
But for now, outside of canceling streaming services and hitting them in the pockets, Meaghan suggests you choose the right form of protest for you. “If you don’t want to watch streaming, then cut it off. If you want to be more vocal, go to where they are striking. Do the research. There’s not much to do than applying pressure,” she says.
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This Black Woman-Owned Creative Agency Shows Us The Art Of Rebranding
Rebranding is an intricate process and very important to the success of businesses that want to change. However, before a business owner makes this decision, they should determine whether it's a rebrand or an evolution.
That's where people like Lola Adewuya come in. Lola is the founder and CEO of The Brand Doula, a brand development studio with a multidisciplinary approach to branding, social media, marketing, and design.
While an evolution is a natural progression that happens as businesses grow, a rebrand is a total change. Lola tells xoNecole, "A total rebrand is necessary when a business’s current reputation/what it’s known for is at odds with the business’s vision or direction.
"For example, if you’ve fundamentally changed what your product is and does, it’s likely that your brand is out of alignment with the business. Or, if you find your company is developing a reputation that doesn’t serve it, it might be time to pump the brakes and figure out what needs to change.
She continues, "Sometimes you’ll see companies (especially startups) announce a name change that comes with updated messaging, visuals, etc. That usually means their vision has changed or expanded, and their previous branding was too narrow/couldn’t encompass everything they planned to do."
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The Brand Doula was born in 2019, and its focus is on putting "the experiences, goals, and needs of women of color founders first," as well as brands with "culture-shifting missions."
According to Lola, culture-shifting is "the act of influencing dominant behavior, beliefs, or experiences in a community or group (ideally, for the better)."
"At The Brand Doula, we work with companies and leaders that set out to challenge the status quo in their industries and communities. They’re here to make an impact that sends ripples across the market," she says.
"We help the problem solvers of the world — the ones who aren't satisfied with 'this is how it's always been' and instead ask 'how could this be better?' Our clients build for impact, reimagining tools, systems, and ways of living to move cultures forward."
The Brand Doula has worked with many brands, including Too Collective, to assist with their collaboration with Selena Gomez's Rare Beauty and Balanced Black Girl for a "refresh," aka rebrand. For businesses looking to rebrand, Lola shares four essential steps.
1. Do an audit of your current brand experience — what’s still relevant and what needs to change? Reflect on why you’re doing the rebrand in the first place and what success would look like after relaunching.
2. Tackle the overall strategy first — before you start redesigning logos and websites, align on a new vision for your brand. How do you want your company to be positioned moving forward? Has your audience changed at all? Will your company have a fresh personality and voice?
3. Bring your audience along the journey — there’s no need to move in secret. Inviting your current audience into the journey can actually help them feel more connected to and invested in your story, enough to stick around as changes are being made.
4. Keep business moving — one of my biggest pet peeves is when companies take down their websites as soon as they have the idea to rebrand, then have a Coming Soon page up for months! You lose a lot of momentum and interest by doing that. If you’re still in business and generating income, continue to operate while you work on your rebrand behind the scenes. You don’t want to cut existing customers off out of the blue, and you also don’t want so much downtime that folks forget your business exists or start looking for other solutions.
While determining whether the rebrand was successful may take a few months, Lola says a clear sign that it is unsuccessful is negative feedback from your target audience. "Customers are typically more vocal about what they don’t like more than what they do like," she says.
But some good signs to look out for are improvements in engagement with your marketing, positive reviews, press and increase in retention, and overall feeling aligned with the new branding.
For more information about Lola and The Brand Doula, visit her website, thebranddoula.com.
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Earlier this year, while having a conversation with a couple of women about, well, a lot of things, when it came to the topic of traditionalism in relationships, one of them said, “I hate submission in all forms” to which I replied, “Unless a man does what you say, right?” to which she paused — and then shrugged and laughed.
It’s what I said next that tripped her right on out, though: “I guess that means that you hate the missionary position too because, I mean, lying on your back and opening up your legs in order for a man to enter inside of you? Not sure it gets much more vulnerable than that.” Her response? “Well damn. Touché.”
Ain’t it though? And here’s the thing, if you’ve ever wondered what the origin story of the classic missionary position is, according to some long-standing lore, it’s not too far off from what I said. That’s why, if you keep reading, I’ll attempt to fully explain what I mean when I say that, along with why, no matter what you think about where the name of the position actually came from, the missionary continues to be a supreme sexual go-to…for oh so many super valid different reasons.
If the Position Sounds Like What You Think, There’s a Reason for That
GiphyBack when I toured with an organization that got people out of porn and sex addiction, they put out a documentary about them called Missionary Position. Because it was a Christian-based group, it was definitely meant to be a pun.
I say this because, according to urban legend, the missionary position came from Christian missionaries who believed that getting into that position was the “proper” way to have sex. Is there Scripture to support this? No.
At the same time, though, because there are Scriptures that speak to sex being designed for marriage (I Corinthians 6) and husbands needing to lead their wives as their wife submits to her husband (Colossians 3:18, Ephesians 5:22, Titus 2:5) — many conservative biblical thinkers believe that the position complements, if not straight-up amplifies, all of this.
Personally, while none of what I just shared sounds totally outlandish, I must admit that I definitely would like to see a chapter and verse that confirms any of this (as far as the missionary position goes) to be true. I tend to check out Scripture a lot and…I haven’t seen it yet. Just sayin’.
Then There’s Another Theory…
GiphyOkay, but what about the people who don’t have Christian and/or conservative sexual views? Many of them also partake of the good ole’ fashioned missionary position, so…where do they think that the term comes from? Good question. From what I’ve read and researched, outside of a Scriptural realm, many consider missionary to be a type of “vanilla sex.” I evenread one article that said it’s for couples who are either so in love that they want to look at each other in the eyes all of the time (yeah, bookmark that) or are too lazy to try anything else (hmm…).
On a more scientific tip, theKinsey Institute has its own perspective. Although Alfred (Kinsey) did acknowledge that the tale of Indigenous people learning about the missionary position came from actual missionaries, once the sexual revolution began to pick up steam, many found the story to be ludicrous at best. Not only that but another semi-popular spin is that the Indigenous people of a certain time were not learning about sex from white missionaries via the missionary position; by using the term, they were actually mocking them for thinking that was the best way to have sex.
Some even "despise[d] the European position and consider[ed] it unpractical and improper." Some natives also believed that anyone who felt like sex should be that way, actually didn’t know how to have “effective intercourse.”
Listen, I’ll say this: whether you believe that the missionary position actually came from missionaries or that the term was an inside joke amongst the individuals who the missionaries called themselves trying to minister to — I think that if there are two things that we all can agree on, it’s that 1) the missionary position is definitely an all-time classic and 2) it’s not going anywhere any time soon.
And honestly, since one definition of a missionary is simply “someone who is on a mission”…no matter which theory floats your boat, what possibly could be wrong with that? Besides, I’ve got some pretty solid reasons for why the missionary position deserves its flowers…regardless.
5 Solid Reasons Why the Missionary Position Reigns Supreme. STILL.
GiphyAgain, whether you like the name or not — shoot, whether it’s your immediate go-to position or not, take a moment to read why you definitely shouldn’t rule the missionary position out or simply chalk it up to some…vanilla sex (geeze).
1. Yes, eye contact is important. Positions that don’t call for eye contact have their benefits (doggy style comes to mind). However, don’t sleep on the fact that eye contact helps you to deeply connect with your partner, puts you in a better mood, increases arousal, and helps you to trust your partner more. If you take all of this into account, if you want to experience a deeply passionate sexual experience, why wouldn’t you choose a sexual position that has eye contact involved?
2. You can get maximum skin contact. When two people are fully naked and engaged in sexual activity, yes, they are going to experience plenty of skin-to-skin contact. That said, when someone is literally lying on top of someone else, it doesn’t physically get much closer than that —and the more that happens, the safer and less stressed you feel. Plus, that makes it easier for your oxytocin levels to surge which causes you to bond with your partner all the more.
3. It hits all spots. This point, I mean quite literally (andy’all can argue with science if you disagree). When it comes to making it easier to stimulate a woman’s clitoris and hit her G-spot which increases her chances of climaxing, the missionary position earns first place (especially if you have a pillow underneath your butt). Although the positioning itself plays a huge role, I’d venture to say that the other stuff that we already touched on helps with this too. Anyway, how cana position that gives more orgasms than other ones be considered “boring”? How indeed, y’all?
4. The variations are virtually endless. I think something that should go on record — not just when it comes to the missionary position but all sexual ones — is there are tweaks and “upgrades” that you can give to them all. For instance, shout out to Men’s Health for their article, “18 Missionary Sex Positions That Put a Fun Spin on the Classic Move.” It contains illustrations ‘n all of some real winners. Take a look. Prove me wrong.
5. C’mon, it’s comfortable. Uh-huh. Whoever the hater was who said that only lazy people engage in missionary sex, I’m going to swap out “lazy” for comfortable. When you’re tired or parts of your body are sore or not as flexible as you would like, the missionary position can definitely get you what you need without you having to stress yourself out in the process. To me, that doesn’t seem lazy so much as smart.
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Personally, I found the potential origin stories of the missionary position to be interesting. At the same time, it didn’t really influence me one way or another. At the end of the day, I’m always gonna be a fan of it. I mean, after all I just said, it would be silly (and counterproductive) not to be.
So-called vanilla sex or not, chile.
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