Shame on Sally
I was very disappointed to learn that Sally Field has joined a group largely consisting of other highly paid actors in signing a petition to Screen Actors Guild which seeks to disenfranchise lower-earning actors. The petition asks that actors who don't play, on average, at least five principal parts a year or get fifteen background jobs a year (or some combination of the two) be excluded from voting on SAG production contracts. While the signers of this petition number about 1000 (less than 1% of the SAG membership), their action is despicable and demands condemnation.
What a shame that these mostly wealthy performers are willing to sell out their fellow SAG members so that they (the petition signers) can ingratiate themselves with management! The buzz is that they (Sally Field, et al) want to keep the actors who don't get as many jobs from voting, as the lower-earning actors are more likely to favor a strike (since they have less to lose as a result of striking). It is pathetic that Ms. Field and other of the petition signers care so much about protecting their income that they are willing to, figuratively speaking, throw fellow SAG members under the bus. Perhaps the higher-earning actors have forgotten that they themselves were not always at the top of the heap.
Tell you what, though. I will never again pay admission to view movies made by the signers of the petition. They include Meryl Streep, Jason Alexander, Charlie Sheen, Kathy Bates, Gwyneth Paltrow, Glenn Close, Ethan Hawke, Patricia Heaton, Eugene Levy, Alfred Molina, Chris Noth, Tony Roberts, Tony Shalhoub, William Shatner, Gary Sinise, and Harris Yulin. While I respect these people's talent and performances, I think their treatment of actors who are less fortunate than they is shameful. How much money can you spend?!!!