I thought that former Cosby actor Geoffrey Owens has been handling his “job-shaming” for working at Trader Joe’s with considerable grace. My hat’s off to him. Couple that this op-ed at the New York Times on the low wages paid to workers at Disneyland and Disney World, and it reveals truths that are well-known to people who are even peripherally related to the entertainment world.
90% of members of Actor’s Equity, the union that represents the “face” performers at Disneyland and Disneyworld or Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, the union that represents film and television performers, earn less than the median wage from acting. Many hold “day jobs” to make ends meet and those day jobs are their real jobs while their jobs as performers are more like hobbies that make a little money. Yes, top performers make pots of money. They’re the exceptions and their huge earnings distort the averages.
So, good for you, Mr. Owens! There is nothing dishonorable about earning a living through honest work. The shame is on anyone who would think there is.
Having been fairly remote and out of touch for two weeks I’m not sure what the hullabullo is about. This pyramid compensation structure exists in degrees in most commercial endeavors. Tiger Woods, another entertainer, made $50MM a year in prize money and endorsements at his height. A Web.Com tour player? Negative. They borrow from friends to stay afloat. People whine about CEO’s vs the guy in the mail room. But its the same thing. And it goes on and on.
No sane person would argue against honest work. Everyone, however, makes value judgments about work’s relative worth and to what they personally aspire. I’m not sure what the point of finding and “shaming” this fellow was, or its becoming a pop culture thing for a few days.
It’s not quite the same thing. In 1970 a big company CEO routinely made 17 times as much as the worker earning the median wage in his company (in France it was 14X). I didn’t find a problem with that and I still don’t. Today a big company CEO routinely makes 350X as much as the workers earning the median wage in his company. think the notion the CEOs have become 20X as effective and are adding 20X as much value to their companies as they did in 1970 is suspect.