this is a bad take, but the takedowns are worse. both oversimplify the economy of broadway AND the economy of bootlegs and grossly misunderstand how actors play into both systems, often without any remuneration, and OFTEN for the argument of “exposure is good.” https://twitter.com/storyteIIers/status/1262856607660158976

i had *many* wonderful discussions with people after i did an instagram story about bootlegs. i—full disclosure—am very anti-boot, but it’s not bc i think they’re going to destroy the economy of broadway, and definitely not in a “you’re ruining the LIVE experience” kind of way

my primary concerns are philosophical—first, the artists did not consent to being documented in this way. any argument that by being onstage they are basically asking for it is.....so f***ed up and i have no time to dismantle that right now, but yeah

second, and more complicated; boots have their own economy, their own value within their own capitalist system — within that system, they are a product. that product is a stolen one—but it’s not stolen from producers, which is what these sorts of discussions tend to imply 1/

...and even though, within the f***ed up system of ownership of art in our society, that’s what the argument generally looks like 2/

it’s too easy to jump from that notion of “stolen” to the idea that bootleggers are robin hoods—“stealing from the rich” (producers) “to give to the poor” (folx w/o access) 3/

but you’re not stealing from producers; the *artists* are creating, every night, the thing that’s being documented, the thing that give the boots their value—that thing is being stolen from the ARTISTS, and that’s also f***ed up no matter how you slice it 4/

bc the economy of bootlegs is dependent on those artists in the same way that the economy of producers is dependent on the artists. *at least* the producers have the decency to f*** artists with contracts and legalese rather than just explicitly ignoring them 5/

simply put: i am ALL ABOUT greater access discussions. and i am also NOT invested in trying to stop the boot system, bc i want u all to enjoy art, and i know that’s the heart of it 6/

but please don’t ever pretend like the bootleg economy is about the Art in some grand way. artists are really really used to that BS, and tend to react poorly

OK STAY QUEER KIDS! AND ALSO INVITE ME ON YOUR PODCASTS BC I LIKE TO TALK