Well me and a good friend had a discussion about this a while back, he was telling me "Why does actors basketball players, football players or any other entertainer out there make millions of dollars while the middle/ lower class people have to work there asses of everyday just to make a measly $50-150 dollars a day"
In my personal opinion this is complete bullshit and should change because it isn't fair that actor only has to say a couple of lines and make over a million dollars or a basketball player only has to shoot a ball into a hoop and makes over 6 million for a season.
So my question is, should entertainment change all over the world? Or stay the same. Please post a reason why it should change or stay the same.
ID:120829
 Nov 6 2011, 1:26 pm
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Keep in mind every human has traits that will make certain jobs easier for them than others. An actor wouldn't be able to go logging while a logger wouldn't be able to pour their soul into a play.
And seeing as how today's society is media-driven; it's obvious that you will make more money in the entertainment industry. If a person wants to make millions of dollars a year playing football; Nothing is stopping them from practicing and improving their skills. | |
because unlike the middle class they are good at it.
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I recently blogged about something similar to this. My conclusion was that it's actually beneficial for people like fire fighters to make less money.
http://www.byond.com/members/ EmpirezTeam?command=view_post&post=120346 Anyway, people like basketball players wouldn't make so much money if people simply stopped paying to see them toss balls around. It's the only reason why they can even exist - because there is a demand for it. If you want it to stop, then you simply stop supporting them. Don't watch their games, don't buy their shoes and cologne, etc. | |
It is simple, what these people do is a form of entertainment for a lot of people.
Basketball, preferably the NBA, is my favorite form of entertainment, and I am willing to spend some of my spare cash to watch it. It's relaxing, exciting, and something that brings my family together often. The United Center can hold around 21k people, so you can only imagine how much money a team could potentially make from just one game. It is not like the money is coming from nowhere, a lot of the lower/middle class people are buying the tickets, which funds the league. I don't call it bullshit as many of us happily give our money away to watch basketball. Just like we are willing to toss our money away to buy video games, cars, and so on. | |
To be fair, the actors and sport players probably worked their asses off too in order to be the best at what they do.
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Sandlight wrote:
To be fair, the actors and sport players probably worked their asses off too in order to be the best at what they do. Playing a game and working are two totally different things. If shooting a ball into a hoop is working, then I'm working every time I log into Heroes of Newerth. Of course you can invest hours upon hours to get good at shooting a ball or playing an MMO, but the fact still remains that it's essentially just a game and is therefore not work. | |
You can't compare yourself to a professional basketball player whose job is to actually play the game. It's like comparing myself who plays recreational basketball to a professional gamer who earns money through competitive gaming tournaments.
A job can be seen as black box and this is true for any job. You put in time and effort, you get back money. | |
Sandlight wrote:
You can't compare yourself to a professional basketball player whose job is to actually play the game. You've contradicted yourself once again. Work and play are two different things. "Play job" is an oxymoron. It's like comparing myself who plays recreational basketball to a professional gamer who earns money through competitive gaming tournaments. Just because something earns you money doesn't qualify it as a job. I could run outside naked all day. Would that be a job just because someone might be willing to pay to see me do that? A job can be seen as black box and this is true for any job. You put in time and effort, you get back money. This is just a common way of thinking nowadays. People have lost the ability to distinguish between legitimate work and something people are willing to pay for. Having a 9 to 5 and tossing a ball into a basket are apples and oranges. Grown men playing children's games is not working and the fact that they get paid to do it or that they spend hours practicing to get even better at the game they play doesn't change anything. | |
EmpirezTeam wrote:
You've contradicted yourself once again. Work and play are two different things. "Play job" is an oxymoron. Really I don't see the dividing line here. Play and work can coexists in any job and not just in sports. Just because something earns you money doesn't qualify it as a job. I could run outside naked all day. Would that be a job just because someone might be willing to pay to see me do that? By definition, yes it is, if you can support yourself with that. It'll just be an uncommon job. Of course, there are uncommon jobs everywhere. This is just a common way of thinking nowadays. People have lost the ability to distinguish between legitimate work and something people are willing to pay for. Having a 9 to 5 and tossing a ball into a basket are apples and oranges. Grown men playing children's games is not working and the fact that they get paid to do it or that they spend hours practicing to get even better at the game they play doesn't change anything. What is your opinion of legitimate work then? My opinion of legitimate work is something that contributes to society. Basketball and other sports provide entertainment. | |
My definition of a legitimate job is simply work - actual labor. Not play, not sleep, not watching T.V. And it doesn't matter to me if people got paid to do one of those three things. It still isn't work, it just happens to be something that people demand.
Having a farm and selling crops is a good example of what I'm talking about. A farmer doesn't play games all day - he gets up, tends to his animals and crops, then when he's ready to profit, he sells what he has. A basketball player plays games and receives a paycheck. Sure, he spends hours practicing, but it's still playing. You do know the difference between someone playing and someone working right? Me firing up Team Fortress 2 is playing. Me getting up at 7:00 to get ready to go to my medical coding job at the hospital is work. You're saying me playing Team Fortress 2 would be just as much work as medical coding - just because someone might be willing to give me a paycheck for playing it. Playing doesn't stop being playing just because you get paid to do it. It just turns into paid playing. It never becomes work. | |
Your definition of legitimate work/job is too vague. You make it sound like if you have fun while working, it's not a job.
A job is what something you do and you get paid for it. Whether you like to do it or not or what other people think of it is irrelevant. Like I said before: put in effort and time and then get money. That's it. | |
I agree with Empirez. 'Work', by true definition, is how much effort you put into something to get a result. But there are situations where this does not apply. For example?
I put in the effort to walk over to my computer and start up TF2. Work, right? No. Even if you get payed for it, it isn't a 'job', it's more of an action that you're paid for. | |
Sandlight wrote:
Your definition of legitimate work/job is too vague. You make it sound like if you have fun while working, it's not a job. I didn't say that. I said playing isn't working. You can enjoy your work. For example a chef loving to cook. He loves his job, and preparing food for people to eat isn't playing. A job is when you work and get paid for it. Fixed. | |
Basketball isn't that easy as you guys are setting it out to be. Acting takes lots of time.
Edit: A job is a paid position of regular employment. | |
iit doesn't matter. Because they don't need millions for a movie or sport when porr people need it to live a smart person could live their whole life with at least 1-3 millions dollars. And they're making much more than needed. Jenifer Lopez for instance makes over 20millions dollars just for being a stupid judge on american idol. Anyone can be a judge so why should she make that much?
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Anime HQ wrote:
iit doesn't matter. Because they don't need millions for a movie or sport when porr people need it to live a smart person could live their whole life with at least 1-3 millions dollars. And they're making much more than needed. Jenifer Lopez for instance makes over 20millions dollars just for being a stupid judge on american idol. Anyone can be a judge so why should she make that much? Because of tickets sold, most famous people actually do donate. | |
not most but some...
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Anime HQ wrote:
not most but some... There not forced to donate | |
It's unfair. But life isn't fair. And no one gives enough of a damn to try and make it fair.