Who killed the author?

Ronald Barth was the first person to acknowledge the plight of an author when he made a study on structuralism and post-structuralism in linguistics.

When you write even a simple essay it requires a structure which has three parts- Intro, Body and Conclusion. When screenplay writers write their plays, they also need to follow a structure, like a thriller generally has a three act structure.

As I started my journey of a writer, some producers asked- are you an unconflicted writer? Reading between the lines, I gathered the meaning of unconflicted, which is; a writer is a hyphenated creature.  For him there is no conflict of interest, there is only maximization or juggling of interests of the producer. It doesn't count how you have perceived the idea and written the script. It’s the Producer how he sees it and how he wants to bring it on the screen. For that if you have pitched him a three act structure for a thriller; he had agreed on it and consented to it then mid way, the structure goes for a toss and acts keep on getting added as the actor’s role needs to be screened more.

Conflict of interest is part of the consensual and legal package of modernity. It is only when society rationalizes and becomes more functionally systematic; when there is separation of roles and responsibilities that conflict of interest becomes an act of corruption. One has to draw lines between roles and functions.

Mr.S.Visvnathan has explained this term well. Our society is suddenly interested in conflict of interests. The media present it as a curiosity, when it has been a way of life. Mahendra Singh Dhoni is not the first of these cases; memory goes back to Shastri, Kumble, and Gavaskar. Gavaskar has a long series both as a commentator and chairman of many cricketing committees. The question was clear. Can one be an independent commentator and a committee member and perform both tasks with equal integrity? 

By separating roles and responsibility we eliminate such a temptation. Independence is guaranteed through division of labour. So when division of labour is the charter then why does a Producer or a director bore over a writer to shelve his idea and jot his pen to the idea of the producer’s fantasy?

Is it because as Alexander Pope said-Some people will never learn anything, for this reason because they understand everything too soon.