Envy and the Hollywood actors' strike

A little over three weeks ago, my wife and I saw actor Sean Astin speak at Chautauqua Institution in western New York state.

Astin comes from Hollywood royalty as the son of the late actress Patty Duke.

He has some impressive credits of his own, starring as the lead in the 1993 movie, "Rudy", and as Samwise Gamgee in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy films.

While at Chautauqua, Astin was participating in Zoom sessions with fellow unionized actors in what we now know was an unsuccessful attempt to avoid a strike over several issues.

The most serious bones of contention involve residual payments from streaming services such as Netflix and what union leaders say is the coming threat of artificial intelligence to their future livelihoods.

The fear is as AI becomes more sophisticated, human actors could become unnecessary in movie and TV productions.

At first hearing, when I listened to Astin speak about this, his rhetoric produced in me a pretty sizeable yawn.

A few actors in "Hollyweird", as it is sometimes derisively called, earn significantly more for a single film than I'll make in my entire life.

I've had trouble, in other words, summoning much outrage.

As is the case in virtually all serious discussions of labor-management issues, context is required.

Seven deadly sins

Of the seven so-called "deadlies", which are not explicitly detailed by a list in the Bible but may be inferred in the pages of Scripture, envy is coming to mind for me.

Why should I be concerned with the well-being of fantastically-paid celebrities?

My wife used to work in local television as a reporter.

A few employees at her TV stations made big salaries -- anchorpeople and certain folks in management.

Most, however, were paid relatively modestly and my wife fell in that group.

CNN reported a data point derived from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics germane to this discussion.

The average hourly pay for actors in Hollywood last year, BLS reported, was $27.73.

In Southeast Missouri, some would consider the amount a healthy wage but in Los Angeles, with a cost of living considerably higher than in this part of the world, the money only goes so far.

Many actors are seasonal workers and some union members support themselves as restaurant servers or in other service-related fields.

Well-known film thespian Harrison Ford supported himself for years in Hollywood as a carpenter until getting his big break in the 1970s "Star Wars" franchise.

Context

The modest earnings of most actors are what I tend to forget when thinking of the likes of George Clooney and Matt Damon walking a picket line.

Envy tends to take pride of place in my mind when considering the actors' strike,

Envy is a feeling of resentful longing aroused by the possessions of another.

Jesus' parable of the vineyard may be helpful here.

Recounted in chapter 20 of the New Testament Gospel of Matthew, the story is multivalent in meaning but as I read it, envy is at the core.

It's a story of workers who show up at different times of the day to labor in this agricultural enterprise.

Those who come to work late are paid as much as the ones who had been there all day.

Fairness is a large element of envy.

In this story recounted by Jesus, the vineyard owner said the following to the disgrunted workers who had dealt with the heat for many hours and who watched folks at the eleventh hour be paid the same.

"Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I'm generous?" (20:14-15)

The analogy of Matthew ch. 20 to the Hollywood strike isn't a perfect one, admittedly. Laborers had no collective bargaining in the first century. I do get it.

Envy, however, is relevant in every age and culture.

Actors may not get what they want from studios and producers and have every right to stage a job action but it's truly none of my business.

I'm determined not to be envious in my life because obsession about what somebody else is paid is destructive and leads to no good purpose.

Stay healthy in mind, readers.

Reject envy.