IN SOLIDARITY

Should You Be Boycotting Movie Theaters During the SAG and WGA Strikes?

Don’t cancel your Barbenheimer plans just yet.

The simultaneous SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes have galvanized parts of social media as much as the actors and writers currently picketing outside various Hollywood studios. Accordingly, there have been a lot of questions and conflicting takes online about how consumers can show solidarity with the artists on strike and which actions are considered “scabbing,” or strikebreaking.

Above all, it seems like supporters of the strike mainly want to know if they can keep their “Barbenheimer” plans this weekend.

Both the SAG and WGA strikes come at an otherwise exciting time in Hollywood that has many film lovers proclaiming that “Cinema is back!” Last week saw the return of the beloved Mission: Impossible franchise. And on July 21, the biggest theatrical event of the year, the dual premieres of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, will arrive after months of feverish anticipation. The two films are forecast to earn a combined $150 million at the box office this weekend, according to Variety.

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Obviously, seeing these movies means putting money into studios’ pockets, thus empowering greedy executives at a time when they seem to be blatantly screwing over artists. However, as of now, neither SAG nor WGA have formally called for a consumer boycott. In fact, according to many members of both guilds on social media, it seems like skipping out on the screenings would be counterproductive to their mission.

In a Tumblr post, author and screenwriter Neil Gaiman said, “The WGA has not called for anyone to boycott any of the streamers or to stop their streaming services yet. It’s not ‘crossing the picket line’ to watch something on a network that we are striking against. (‘Crossing a picket line’ is a very real, specific thing with a real meaning.)”

Gaiman also notes that skipping out on movies would give the AMPTP more leverage in their current labor battle. In response to a Tumblr user’s question specifically about seeing Barbie, he wrote, “Studios can say ‘Well, actually Barbie only made $X, Oppenheimer only made $Y [...] obviously, there isn’t enough money to go around.’”

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Voluntarily boycotting movie theaters would also negatively affect a business that’s already being disrupted by streaming and recovering from the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s not to mention the directors, actors, and below-the-line workers whose incomes and future career opportunities are partially determined by a movie’s box office success. More or less, there’s a reason strikers are picketing outside of Netflix’s headquarters and not AMC’s.

The same apparently goes for media you can watch from home. Television writer Franchesca Ramsey, who’s been reporting from picket lines and covering the WGA strike extensively on social media, also advised allies not to boycott streamers, tweeting, “realistically speaking there would need to be a global coordinated effort” to pull off such a thing. Julie Benson, a writer on Star Trek: Prodigy, echoed the same sentiment.

Both guilds have been extremely communicative with members and the public about their strategies, picketing locations, and ways to support the unions’ causes. Comedian and striking writer Adam Conover recently tweeted what seems to be the main takeaway from all of this boycott chatter, which is to wait for guidance from the striking guilds. In the meantime, he suggests that allies “boost [their] message on social media” and donate to the Entertainment Community Fund, which supports affected workers.”

And in the meantime, yes, you can absolutely carry on with your Barbenheimer double-feature plans.

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Kyndall Cunningham

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