Occupy...Johnny Depp?

         

           Occupy Hollywood? This article sure thinks its a good idea- and I must say it's quite convincing. I'm as big a Johnny Depp fan as the next guy, however he said it himself, hes getting paid "stupid money." Him and just about every other Hollywood celebrity. With that said, this "is not Johnny Depp’s fault. Johnny Depp did not decimate your 401K and your children’s college savings plans. He did not foreclose your home. He did not take away your health insurance when you got laid off. He did not start charging you new monthly banking fees while awarding himself a hefty bonus. All the guy’s ever done is dress like a pirate and entertain people." (Williams 1). The entertainment industry is the issue here. I learned after reading this article that the movie business is making less movies in order to cut budgets and pay the actors (an insane amount of money). In addition to making fewer movies, they are cutting extras, costume designers, makeup specialists effects peoples, and other company employees. If they payed actors a few million dollars less, more funds could be freed up for other things. With more available funds, the industry could make more movies and "nurture new talent"- which sounds like a good idea to me.
             The author of this article is Mary Elizabeth Williams; I always seem to pick articles by her and I can always hear a specific voice in her pieces. She makes a serious matter like this, and turns it into a casual passage where she pokes fun at just about everyone. Her word choice is humorous and effective. For example, in paragraph three she writes, "And thanks to hefty album sales and a smash tour, Lady Gaga will pull in roughly $90 million. That’s a lot of lobster shoes." Another example is when she says that Depp is earning enough to "buy himself a small planet" (Williams 7). One logos piece she utilizes is that "In 2011 money, Marilyn Monroe would have clocked in at a modest under $2 million for “The Misfits.” Leonardo DiCaprio, in contrast, stands to make $50 million for “Inception.” (Williams 5). Woah! It was really surprising.  She has no problem voicing her opinion either. She writes, "We like to think of the 1 percent as evil bankers — oh, and they totally are." (Williams). She goes on to explain that its those evil banks AND Hollywood millionaires. Another effective writing tool she uses is asking the reader questions. She does it many times at the end of the article and it really gets the reader thinking about the big picture. "What if, instead of spending an hour watching “NCIS,” for which Mark Harmon will earn $13 million this year, we spent that hour working with the local outpost of Habitant for Humanity?", "That too many of us are hurting, and we need no longer accept that we’re powerless to change that?", and "Honest to God, what, aside from Will Smith’s or Angelina Jolie’s pride, would make that insulting?" (Williams) are just a few examples. I thought it was a very entertaining and informative article. (and, for the record, I still love Jack Sparrow- even if he does make enough money to buy his own planet)

http://entertainment.salon.com/2011/10/21/its_time_to_occupy_hollywood/