Arod......

The New York Times reports that Major League Baseball is investingating rumors that Alex Rodriguez, third baseman for the New York Yankees, occasionally plays very high stakes poker (hundreds of thousands of dollars often change hands in the space of an evening), with Hollywood movie stars such as Ben Affleck, Tobey Maguire, Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio.
Rodriguez could be subject to discipline, up to a suspension, if found to have violated baseball's gambling regulations. Arod previously acknowledged using steroids in 2003, before baseball began disciplining ballplayers for their use.
What does this have to do with visual effects?
Only this: it is ironic that Major League Baseball regulates and monitors its stars use of steroids and participation in high stakes gambling; since those activities affect the integrity of the game. The Motion Picture Industry does no such thing. Stars are indulged with personal trainers, private chefs, masseuses, bodyguards, and personal assistants. And, when the star is using drugs, or drops a half a million at the table, the studio looks the other way. Twenty Million Dollars is the going rate for some of these stars. They open movies. People go to see them on screen.
And........you know where I'm going with this, don't you?????
You guys open movies too. People go to see your work product. The biggest hits of summer 2011 were more notable for the visual effects than the dazzling performances of whatsisname.....
Oh, but don't bother to ask for medical insurance. We can't afford that!!
Call me a fuzzy thinking liberal; but I think Hollywood needs to rethink it's treatment of the spoiled stars, and it's mistreatment of the little people.
(By the way, I am a Boston RedSox fan, so I'm not exactly objective about Arod and the New York Yankees either.....)
let me know what you think??
vfx@iatse-intl.org.

Jimmy