Activisim in Entertainment

It isn't shocking to hear celebrity names plastered across all sorts of controversial topics, today. Ian Somerhalder speaks out for animal rights and also environmental protection. Russel Brand has become a political commentator and voice for the "little guy." Alicia Silverstone is a raw vegan who kinda gave all of us vegans a bad name! But, no matter the cause, there could be an entertainment icon attached to it.

Recently, controversy has struck a facet of the industry that, while different than the field I am pursuing, still has potentially far reaching impacts into the entire industry. Seaworld profits have dropped 33% over the last year or so due to allegations that they abuse their animals. They have also been accused of imprisoning their animals in enclosures entirely too small for them.

To me, this is a very positive thing. Even as a little girl I was deeply disturbed at how we use animals for entertainment. I never enjoyed circuses or zoos or places like Seaworld. I never would have dreamed of asking my mother to go to a place like that because they made me sad! Now, I am all for having animal sanctuaries, and even making a profit from these safe havens by allowing the public to come view animals in a more natural habitat, but zoos and their ilk never made sense to me.

The impact of Seaworlds lost profits and the outrage that the negative environments these animals are in, could potentially reach the industry as a whole. PETA and other animal rights groups have been pressuring movies and television for years to stop using animal actors. They consider this exploitation and abuse. Now, I don't agree or disagree with this. I believe that if an animal is a pet and it doesn't stress the animal to appear in a film, that is no issue. It is only when animals are yanked from their natural habitat and forced to learn to perform by a handler that I start speaking out against it. There are already laws and practices in place that protect animal actors almost as much as they protect child actors. 

I would love to see this trend continue. As a vegan and an activist of many things, myself, I know how important a few voices can be. And when those voices combine, the roar can forever change an entire society!

Ever in the search of whimsy,

Marissa S.

Entertainment for Change

I have always loved nearly every facet of entertainment that one can imagine. As a child I was a voracious reader and that turned me into a writer; a spinner of tales and fantasies. As I got older, my interests continued to grow with me. I discovered television and film and poetry and games. Video games, especially, have helped change my life for the better.

I enjoy TED talks because the presenters are always so real and so visceral. Often you can't help but cry along with them as they weep out their stories on stage. While doing research for this blog I decided I was going to narrow my focus to games and how they can be a conduit for change. Games can transform the very structure of your ideals.

Brenda Romero does a great job of explaining how a board game changed not only her life, but the life of her mixed race daughter. During Black History month, her 7 year old daughter game home and discussed the middle passage in a blase tone that suggested she didn't fully understand the far reaching impact and ramifications of such horrendous acts against human rights. So, in the only way she knew how, Brenda created a game for her daughter to play.

They spent a few hours creating "families" out of little figures, coloring them in to show the differences between families. While playing, the girl was rolling high and not doing well and realized that things were going south very quickly. She asked her mother "what do I do? We aren't going to make it, are we?" And her mother replied, honestly, that no, they likely would not. She explained to her daughter that many families were separated forever during the middle passage; be it from disease, starvation or drowning. And that, even those who made it to America, didn't fair much better. Entire families were destroyed, never to see one another again. Children were taken from their parents and many people died.

Her daughter cried when she realized that, as her mother put it, "the middle passage wasn't just a cruise that some people went on." It had horrible impacts on the human condition. And was the foundation for a terrible event in American history as well.

This ability to educate and inform through gaming is something that I hope I can do when I break into the entertainment industry. Whether I am writing a novel, a script for a show or film or whether I am writing a script for a video game, I want my work to have an impact. I want people to come away transformed and forever different because of their experience.

The Road to Greatness

I have always loved writing. My mom would regale anyone who would listen with fond memories of my childish literary scraps of writing. A sweet, well written (for a five year old) letter; a roughly penned short (perhaps a page or two) story about talking animals; a dreamy paragraph about space travel. All of these things are points of pride for her, and origin stories for my career ambitions. I have always been a goal-driven individual. I had a 5, 10, 20 and 30 year plan at age 12. At this point in my life I still have plans in place, goals I want to attain at certain points of my life.

Currently my plan looks something like this: get recognition for my work.

That's it. The full extent of my plans all center around this simple concept. In my 5 year plan I have levels to attain this.

1. Write a super glamorous script.
2. Intern with an awesome production company.
3. Sell script idea.
4. Gain recognition in the industry.
5. Start writing for television or film as an actual career and not just write as a hobby.

All of this I want to have completed within the next 5 years. My 10 and 20 year plans are very similar to this one. They mostly consist of items related to success within my chosen industry and, after a LONG time, begin to branch out into the possibility of 'settling down' and 'starting a family.'

Within these goals are smaller (though in some ways much larger) goals I have for personal achievements - a "bucket list" so to speak. I want to work with Joss Whedon - it could be on rewriting the dictionary and I would be content. I also want to work with some of my favorite producers and directors and sit down with some of my favorite novelists - Stephen King, Holly Black and Cassandra Clare to name the top three at the moment.

I read today, on a random Facebook post, that 99% of scripts don't get read. Less than 1% of submitted scripts actually get read and then less than that get purchased. After hearing these odds I have decided to add to my list of goals - EDIT my glamorous script. Editing to ensure that the first few scenes especially are killer and breathtaking, I hope, will help me on my path to success!

Equality in Entertainment

Feminism is quite the hot button issue of late. It seems that people are often confused about what feminist ideology is and how it fits in our society. Many celebrities have been speaking out on equality, two of which are idols of mine - Joss Whedon and Felicia Day. I am a writer by trade but I am also an activist. I don’t call myself a feminist for many reasons but I do believe in equality for everyone. Feminism has had a bright spotlight recently with the Gamergate scandal and Emma Watson’s popular and inclusive speech for the United Nations. Women have long been underrepresented in numerous entertainment industries but that certainly seems to be changing. With successful and popular female writers, producers and directors such as Felicia Day, Julie Plec and others, an entire avenue of positions is being opened.

Joss Whedon recently talked to the Huffington Post about his views on feminism and how he doesn’t understand why this is still even an issue in 2014. Whedon came from a household with a strong female role model who was also a very creative influence in his life also. He has long been known in Hollywood as a feminist figure and his writing portrays his views. Buffy, the take no prisoners protector of humans and killer of the undead is one of his most popular characters.

Felicia Day has also worked to show that women are powerful and can be a creative force in the industry. She writes, directs, stars in and hosts her own web series “The Guild” that has been wildly successful. She recently got together with “Can’t Stop the Serenity” a group that is working with equality for all to spread equality to women across the globe. This organization realizes that the issue of equality reaches far outside the confines of our own country.

I hope to help spread social activism and equality across various mediums through my writing. My goal for as long as I have known Whedon and his work has been to represent the best in humanity, just like he always has.