Keith Watanabe * NET 2.0

I caught a very interesting documentary on Run Run Shaw, former head of the Shaw Brothers.  The most interesting piece was his take on payment to his "stars."  The stars of the Shaw Brothers never really earned that much, the way Hollywood stars do.  The effect of this was that despite having fame, these stars did not have the fortunes to match it.  Naturally, the probably were compensated in other ways (probably by other groups) but the fact that he had everyone treated the same on his sets made people equal.

While the documentary was old, the principles still hold true.  The commentator mentioned how there was no "Primadonna" types on the lot, the same way Hollywood has produced these overrated stars.  Instead, the focus was on how to sell a movie and how the movie plot and story were the things in the end that would carry a movie, moreso than the actors.  I truly wish Hollywood and the music industry would follow Shaw's example.  It is a bit egalitarian, but the beauty of it is that you'd avoid these massive ego trips from stars demanding overly huge salaries and royalties, the strikes in Hollywood, the problems of unions, etc.  People would quite possibly focus more on creating good scripts to motivate people into buying a ticket to the theater or the concert, rather than having cynical people like myself typing behind a keyboard about how pathetic recent music and movies have been.

What a different landscape Hollywood and the music industry would be if such lessons were learned!  No more bitchy Paris Hiltons, no more crap movies like Stealth, no more shitty songs from overly advertised whores like Britney, a lot less strikes in Hollywood, no more ego trips from shitty TV shows only broadcasting the wealth of an undeserving select few, no more reality shows about some reject 80's/90's star.  Perhaps a very good story that talks about what's going on in the world instead of the more recent insider jokes that proliferate TV and film (since that's all Hollywood writers know about).  Or music that varies in beat, rhythm and structure compared to the one hit wonders that only have three to four chords, two main verses with generic, mindless lyrics and major chords that are varied enough not to let the artist get sued.