Mickey Mouse politics

Strike up the band, 'cause the Hollywood writers' strike continues! Leslie Simmons of Hollywood Reporter reports (whew!) that striking writers picketed Disney yesterday. Perhaps in response to castigations originating on this blog, the writers upped the creative ante by wearing shirts that read "Wasted Days" in the classic Disney font. What does this mean? Explains "Ugly Betty" creator Silvio Horta: "Every day the producers don't give us a fair and decent deal is a wasted day in Hollywood."

I don't want to split hairs here, but the writers may have moved from the too banal ("On Strike") to the too complex. The shirt simply alludes to something Horta said . . . to a reporter who interviewed him. Why don't they just wear shirts that say "Available Seats" and, when asked about the meaning, explain:

The current profit share structure in the film and television industry systematically robs writers of hard earned profits and, at the same time, disenfranchises them by limiting the available seats at the bargaining table.

That's a slogan that explains just what's at stake, right? Everyone should be able to figure it out, especially if it's written in that hilariously heartwarming Disney font.

Strikers remained firmly posted outside Disney until a legion of giant Disney characters surged into the crowd in order to break the picket lines.

(You thought the Pinkerton boys were tough? Well, get the hell off this picket line or you'll learn the real meaning of zippity-do-dah, f#!ker!)

Fatigued by the ensuing melee, the strikers retreated to The Smoke House in Burbank, apparently the only place underpaid creative types can get a meal in Hollywood. It was especially hard for strikers like Mr. Horta to maintain the proletarian spirit when the only sustenance they could afford was a $19 New York steak sandwich.