Jenny said -

...

what the writer says goes.

This is not the opinion of the screen writers that I know (*)

It doesn't correspond to the reality of the production process either. The 'writer' is in many ways the lowliest member of the production team, and the one most likely to be over-ruled. There is a joke to this effect in 'Shakespeare in Love' for example (I know a joke isn't proof, but the joke was written by Harold Pinter, and he obviously felt it would have resonance with people watching the film). There is going to be a screen-writers strike (well, actually I think it has been called off) in Hollywood, this summer, specifically about this very issue. So literally millions of dollars are resting on the fact that no definitive answer has ever been provided to this issue.

In the realm of TV the situation is slightly different, but if anything in a multi-authored production like B7 we can be even less confident that the product represents a single unified vision, where all ends have been tied, and no ambiguity remains.

I think the relationship between script and finished product is a complicated one, whether we are talking about theatre, TV or film. The relationship between such finished product (play, TV show or whatever) and 'truth' is also a very complex one. These are my opinions. IMO if you like. You may disagree with my opinions, but it is an objective fact that many informed people have over the years put forward a *range* of opinions. There are hundreds of books on the subject. That is what I am emphasising, not my own particular opinion, but that many different opinions exist, and have intellectual credence even among people who disagree with them.

So we are dealing with a situation where the very premises of debate: who is the auteur, who has control over the finished product, where does meaning rest (with the author or the viewer or elsewhere) are themselves far from being decided. We don't have to dredge up all these heavy issues, every time we discuss Blakes 7 (thank god) we just have to be a bit tolerant of differences of opinion, because we have each of us built our case on shifting sands.

Alison

(*) I would be interested in DMs take on this too, if he is subscribed at present - insider's view DM? Do you feel that what you say, goes?

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