solving the wrong problem really well (5m34s)
here's a frightening realization:
it's possible to get really good at solving the wrong problem
for example, i've spent a few hours over the last year thinking about desks and computer work systems.
how can we make the desk + chair + computer interface better for working long stretches of time.
but...
why "long stretches" of time?
if we solved that problem, the desk system problem becomes moot. so do some child care issues as well as transportation issues and... I could go on and on.
re: time & giving it up
I’ve spent years closely monitoring & analyzing my creative output.
here's what I've learned:
- It’s a fixed amount of time per day.
- It’s far less than 8 hours.
This is consistent with the accounts of dozens of established and talented writers, etc.
Whence the 8 hour day?
Or the 8 hr shift at McDonald’s?
(What is automation for? or, for whom is automation?)
Are we being seduced by the performance of labor as penance?
to what extent is the "8 hour interval" a function of efficiency and to what extent is it a function of habit, tradition, superstition?
to what extent is the 8 hour day labor having to bend the knee?
a performance that is not productive.
you can see where the question leads.
(or, watch the first 5 minutes of the movie Trading Places, where Dan Aykroyd's character shows up at work, pushes a button, completes a transaction, and is DONE for the day)
but, Jose, what about labor that requires many hands at once?
let's say the 8 hour interval is about creating sufficient overlap between workers to help them collaborate.
(set aside asynchronous digital technologies that bend time and space.)
let's just focus on physical labor that cannot be automated.
I don't know enough about construction crews, but I know just enough about film production to be dangerous.
here's what happens on 12 hour days for most involved:
hurry up and wait.
intense short bursts of activity for one group while another stands idle.
it's a scheduling / sequencing problem that leads to an outsized interval.
hence, the 12 hour production day – or 50% more than what office workers will clock.
now, i’ve seen some remarkable things happen at hour 11 of relatively big shows.
some wondrous. some terrifying.
as a lapsed executive who still plays one on Zoom, i ask:
are the rewards of a 12 hour work day sufficient to outweigh the risks?
could capital be reorganized so that film workers also work 8 hour days? (as they have in the past.)
what are the aggregate costs of impaired decision making at hour 10, 11, 12?
who pays those costs?
who reaps the rewards and who bears the risk?
I distinctly remember being promised a vision of the future that has not arrived for most.
IOW: could capital be reorganized so that all people work just enough hours each day?
(emphasis on "just" because justice matters always, in all human endeavors. or it doesn't matter at all.)
sci-fi and economics predicted an explosion of leisure time. it has arrived for some, but not most.
we need political science to explain why that tomorrow keeps slipping away.
again, i return to the question:
do we perform excessive / unproductive amounts of work to prove (to capital) that we are worthy of our pay?
what assumptions (unexamined beliefs) are setting our value as humans engaged in work?
if your answer is "the market", lol, come on now, let's be serious. the history of economics is also the history of human relations. they're one and the same and the literature going back to Adam Smith is rich with questions of justice and progress.
again, we can become exceedingly good at solving the wrong problems.
when we do that as civilizations, we die.
and/or, we kill hundreds of thousands of people.†
unjustly.
re: what to watch
I encourage you to watch the movie Minari, now in wide release, which is beautiful and funny and strong.
on my Insta, I wrote one more reason why you should watch it. LMK what you make of it!
Little known fact: The Terminator was written as a response to shitty labor conditions on Piranha II: The Spawning. In our house, it's a labor film.
re: the imaginary state we're in
the CPAC coverage as well as that of the transgender equality bill make me wonder if the only way to cut through the current mythologies is exploitation films.
so here's a modest proposal:
a popular porn star goes on the run when her trans status is revealed and more than a few of her right wing fans threaten to hunt her down.
while on the run, she runs for elected office and wins!
yeah, ok, it's no Legend of Billie Jean, but...
the below metaphor has stayed in my head for 30 years, so...
Y'all know I'm a believer in vulgarities.
I believe John Waters, Pedro Almodovar, Mary Harron, Bong Joon-ho et al show us the way.
In the meantime, our drama about zombies, capitalism and misogyny will be released in June by... an Amazon company.
And with that, thank you for your time!
Footnote
I'm avoiding talking about natural constraints such as "chasing the light" (i.e., when the idiot writer / director insists on shooting during a Magic Hour because it is indeed fucking amazing looking) because I think they can be overcome.
Just as we no longer rely on salmon runs to produce salmon meat, we can find ways to cheaply and safely produce the Magic Hour any time of day.
†The cult around Elon Musk working 200 hours a week is a sickness. see also: cutting off your ear to paint like van Gogh.