Monday Miscellany, 5/8/23

The Navy tries the Bud Light strategy, a defense of writers, and a grab bag of links.

Navy tries Bud Light Approach to Recruitment

We blogged about our military’s difficulty in meeting recruiting quotas and how in response the Pentagon has been lowering its standards and expanding its marketing to target different kinds of potential troops to defend their country.

For example, the Navy enlisted a drag queen who is already a sailor to be a “digital ambassador” to post ads on TikTok and Instagram in an effort “to attract the most talented and diverse workforce.”

This was the same marketing strategy that Bud Light used when it formed a partnership with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney. That did not go well.

Could it be that the reason today’s military is having trouble enlisting recruits is its new emphasis on woke progressivism? That the military’s embrace of the LGBTQ+ agenda does not go over well with the young “red-blooded Americans” who historically have volunteered to risk their lives for their country?

Are the Pentagon brass as ignorant of their constituency as the Anheuser Busch marketers? Have they forgotten the purpose of having a military–namely, to fight and defeat their country’s enemies–as opposed to promoting today’s sexual agenda?

In Defense of Writers

Television and movie writers have gone on strike, paralyzing Hollywood productions. I know, I know. Boo-hoo. They deserve a pay cut for the dreck they churn out. Let them work for a living for a change, etc., etc.

I have nothing to say about the collective bargaining issues. But this does bring up something that has long bothered me. When we consider movies and television shows, most attention goes to the actors. Those more in the know recognize the importance of directors. Writers tend to get little credit.

But writers are the ones who determine what the actors say. Actors are invited to fan fests, where they are asked questions about the “universe” that the characters they play inhabit, as if they knew any more about that than anyone else. Only those who make up the stories can address questions like that, but hardly anyone pays attention to the writers of the shows they love.

Actors make millions. TV writers earn an average of $62,837. Movie writers get paid by the script and the compensation varies greatly, but the average is $75,000 per year.

As a fan of British mysteries, I have started noticing the writers listed on the credits, and I have identified some who consistently write the best stories: “This Death in Paradise episode was written by Robert Thorogood!” He is, in the words of my granddaughter whom I have mentored in this regard, “both thorough and good,” specializing in locked door mysteries and solving seemingly impossible crimes. “This episode of Midsomer Murders was written by Anthony Horowitz!” It was his idea for that show to begin with, and I have learned that he has also written some very entertaining novels.

Occasionally but rarely, a TV or movie writer breaks out and becomes a celebrity in his own right. So I’m applauding the success of Taylor Sheridan–the cowboy screenwriter who has given us Yellowstone, 1883, 1923, and Tulsa King, among many others–whose clout is such that, in the words of a paywalled Wall Street Journal article, “Paramount Can’t Say No to the Man Behind ‘Yellowstone.’”