When labor and management gear up to negotiate a new contract, everyone's an actor. Union bosses bemoan the suffering of exploited workers.
Corporate chieftains plead poverty and prophesy devastation at the hands of greedy strikers.
But in this week's labor-management drama, the acting is distinctly professional. The Writers Guild of America is taking on the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers over how well Hollywood writers should be paid and treated. It's often said that Hollywood is unlike any other part of the country. But the debate between the writers and producers is easier to understand once you recognize the parallels to issues beyond the studio gates. Fairness vs. freedom.