Why is writing not considered work? Is it because from a young age we are exposed to images of police officers and firemen, instead of seeing hard working journalists? The following passage from the article stood out to me...
"My son is almost five. He is just beginning to understand what I do as a concept. If I drove a construction crane he'd have understood it at birth. And he'd probably think I was King of all the Lands in my fine yellow crane. But writing - especially writing a movie or show, where people other than the writer are all saying things that they're clearly (to an unschooled mind) making up right then - is something to get your head around"
This exemplifies how our ideologies are formed early on. This blog made me wonder if there are any other jobs like this that aren't considered work because of certain beliefs people have?
-Ali
That section of the article also stood out to me, Ali.
I think people deserve credit for what they write and the ideas they come up with; but at the same time, I find the idea of Copyright and the laws applicable to Copyright Law are a huge downfall to our society. Although I understand why the Writer's Guild has gone on strike (numerous times) and can feel some sense of sympathy for their financial losses to the big, mean, evil, corporations. Shouldn't they just be happy to have their work showcased on such a large medium? I mean, really, how cool would it be to have your creative work pushed to millions of people? Isn't it good enough to know that you're providing a script for a fantasy world that allows viewers to escape (if only for a half-hour) from the mundane, stress, and sorrow of everyday life?
I thought that was interesting as well. Writing and other more art-related types of work it seems are often not considered "jobs", especially to kids. They aren't necessarily the things that come up as something to be when you grow up unless you have grown up around them. For example, my mother is an artist - that is her job. She works out of the home then and as a kid a lot of my friends assumed she was just a stay at home mom or didn't get that that was her job. Creative jobs seem to me almost more stressful than what most people probably think of when thinking of work, since hitting writer's block or not finding inspiration for a new painting (or people to buy them!) is really challenging to deal with.