Just up the street,SAG-AFTRAwas already undermediasiege.
July 13, 2023: It was a hot one in Hollywood, and about to get hotter.
As Didion said of the Sixties cultural crisis, The center was not holding.

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Over lunch, the immediate question was how long do you think the strikes will last?
I was as clueless as everyone else in the house.
Of course, thats whats scary about the present disorder.

In the Yeatsian phrase, from his poem The Second Coming,anarchy is loosed upon the world.
TheEmmysare floating free, without a date certainhow do you give and get prizes with no actors or writers?
With screen talent sitting out, San DiegosComic-Conis receding toward what it once was, a comic-book convention.
The end of days?
Some big, intriguing films are still slated for releasethis week alone will bringOppenheimerandBarbie.
And anyone who has made a rudimentary study of Hollywood knows about itshysterical morbidity.
The film business has been perennially declared dead or dying since it began.
But even sober professionals seem shaken by the current breakdown.
So this downward spiral could last for a while.