Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Habits of highly exploitive people 2

Andrew Bellware is concerned that I didn't mention him by name when I pointed out how he exploited actors - one of his calls for actors even ended up in "Nudity Required, No Pay" a blog I've been following for awhile.
Here's a website/blog I've linked to before (you'll remember, she's the "nest of vipers" blogger). Nancy McClernan has been writing/snarking about me specifically in some of her blog posts and yet she doesn't use my name so I didn't find out 'till just now. Dammit!
So in this post I certainly hope I've remedied the situation to his satisfaction.

I never paid attention to Andrew Bellware until Feb. 2009 when he decided to post a link to my blog, complaining because I said something unflattering about Manhattan Theatre Source there. The irony of this escapes him, utterly - he says something nasty about Manhattan Theatre Source once a month. Apparently only he is allowed to criticize MTS.

It's funny that he didn't discover my parody of his movie "Angry Planet" for over a year after I posted it to my blog (in response to his attacking me in the first place), considering that some of his friends (looking at you NC) monitored my blog through most of 2009. Why didn't they mention it to him?

Bellware posted my parody in its entirety to his own blog, without my permission, because he's as clueless as he is shameless - but when you live in a world where people work for you for free I guess you really develop a hearty disrespect for everybody else's creative work.

I emailed him to point out he did not have my permission - he then published my email address along with my email, and wrote:
Ooh! Legal consequences! Well I'll truncate the boring parts where it repeats itself anyway, that'll reduce the tl;dr part of our lives on the blog.

Repeats itself - yes because I was parodying your film. I guess the concept of "parody" escapes him.

In response to my email he "truncated" the parody - so of course the parody is reduced in effect - which I presume is what he wants. The parody is not very long in the first place - it gets in, makes its point and gets out. But as I said - no respect for other people's work.

It's amusing that he makes a point of saying what a waste of time my commentary/parody is, while he's obsessing over it.

And he can't figure out how to find the individual number of a blogger post and actually whined to me in his response to my email that I didn't provide it to make linking easier.

Like most exploiters, Bellware tries to make the issue about "prurience" - that is a favorite defense of the poor-Roman Polanski brigade. People were out to get Polanski because they HATE TEH SEX! Those puritanical Americans! As if Polanski did not drug and rape a 13-year old and then scamper off.

It's not about nudity, it's about not paying actors for nudity. Only an idiot - or someone being willfully obtuse - could fail to get that.

I do worry that if people see my parody they will want to see his movie, the way people like to see The Room, the famously bad movie.

And "Angry Planet" really is bad. It's not the actors' fault - many of them are very good in spite of the nonsensical script. And Bellware, I already explained just one facet of why your movie sucks - back in May 2009 - your "friends" seem to have let you down again.

I see that the posts on his blog, right after his attack on me, are all defensive about the fact that he doesn't pay actors - they get "points" - the film world's version of stock options instead apparently. But clearly my criticisms are having some effect - so all you actors who've donated your time and talent to his movies: if you ever see a dime, you'll probably have me to thank, at least in part.

UPDATE: Bellware's internet buddies are as clueless as he is. One of them writes in the comments:
legal consequences!?! that is five kinds of special, she reserves the right to mock and snipe at endless length and you are the target of her vitriol.


He either doesn't know, or doesn't care that:

Bellware attacked me, publicly, first in 2009.

A parody is free speech.

A creative work - which includes parodies - is property belonging to the author. There are laws about using people's work without their permission. Bellware is either unaware of this, or doesn't give a damn.

Bellware posted an annoucement offering to "hire" an actress to perform nude for no pay - this ended up on a blog that specializes in highlighting actor exploitation, specifically the exploitation of actresses who are constantly being asked to perform nude for no pay. Only a creep would make such an offer - and he's still a creep even if there are actresses desperate enough to agree to such working conditions.

It is my First Amendment right to express my opinion of Bellware's actions - and Bellware has certainly availed himself of such a right - first.

Bellware is not the only director who expects actors to work for free - the exploitation of actors in NYC is rampant. And these are the same people who throw gigantic hissy fits - as Bellware has done - if ANYBODY suggests that they might have some ethical failings. I suppose they don't get much pushback in their privileged existences, normally, and any they do get is absolutely shocking.

But if Lindsay Stewart really wants a sonnet, I can oblige - although I already have a limerick in mind, ready to go.

****

I do owe Bellware a little - thanks to the increase in web traffic he's sent my way, I'm making money through link clicks.