by Pa Rock
Television Junkie
For those like me who are still sitting at home desperately seeking something to stream that will be entertaining and perhaps offer a bit of education or history in the process, I would like to heartily recommend the new Netflix series "Hollywood." The show, whose first season has recently been released, is just seven episodes long, but nevertheless it offers a panoramic view of Hollywood in the days just after World War II.
Some of the characters in the tale are lifted, by name, right out of Hollywood history (Rock Hudson, Hattie McDaniel, and the soulless agent, Henry Willson), while others are approximations of the people who ran and populated the film industry at a time when movies were the primary means of escapism in America.
On September 3, 2019, I did a review in this space of Quentin Tarantino's new film, "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," a movie that looked at the Manson family as it prepared to exact some revenge on director Roman Polanski and his wife, actress Sharon Tate. In that piece I noted how Tarantino - the film's writer and director - had taken an actual historical event that occurred in 1969 and twisted the historical dial just enough to create some small changes that wound up impacting history in really big ways.
That same idea was at play in Netflix's "Hollywood." A small group of diverse characters with an array of skills began coalescing due to circumstances over which they had limited control, and that little group, almost inadvertently, started crafting a movie that would change the social trajectory of America. Yes, it's fiction, but like Tarantio's film about the Mansons, it also presents a strong case for what could have been if just a few things had occurred slightly different manner.
While the series offers up a strong focus on race relations in America in the post World War II era, it also shines a spotlight on some of the gay individuals who were prominent in the entertainment industry at that time. Those today who remain intractable in their opposition to interracial and gay relationships, would probably not be able to sit through these highly thought-provoking and beautifully crafted episodes.
I don't want to give too much away about the plot except to say that "Hollywood" is glitzy and glamorous, yet grounded in reality and believable - for those who want to believe. (And isn't that what the actual Hollywood was - and is - all about?) The writing and acting are superb, and viewers with even a semblance of humanity will quickly be drawn into what is occurring on the screen. Old friends carry the tale, familiars like Patty LuPone, Rob Reiner, Queen Latifah, Mira Sorvino, and Jim Parsons - as well as a host of newer faces who are destined to take their places among the familiars.
"Hollywood" was created and chiefly written by Ryan Murphy, the same talented writer who created such television hits at "Glee" and "American Horror Story." Many of the professional critics seem to be panning "Hollywood," but, by and large, the public thinks otherwise. Yes, it twists the reality of what Hollywood actually was, and it creates what some would see as a false sense of feeling good, but in these exceedingly hard times we all aren't necessarily looking to have our faces rubbed in reality, and some of us relish an opportunity to "feel good" for a change.
"Hollywood" is a grand time, and I recommend it without reservation.
Television Junkie
For those like me who are still sitting at home desperately seeking something to stream that will be entertaining and perhaps offer a bit of education or history in the process, I would like to heartily recommend the new Netflix series "Hollywood." The show, whose first season has recently been released, is just seven episodes long, but nevertheless it offers a panoramic view of Hollywood in the days just after World War II.
Some of the characters in the tale are lifted, by name, right out of Hollywood history (Rock Hudson, Hattie McDaniel, and the soulless agent, Henry Willson), while others are approximations of the people who ran and populated the film industry at a time when movies were the primary means of escapism in America.
On September 3, 2019, I did a review in this space of Quentin Tarantino's new film, "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," a movie that looked at the Manson family as it prepared to exact some revenge on director Roman Polanski and his wife, actress Sharon Tate. In that piece I noted how Tarantino - the film's writer and director - had taken an actual historical event that occurred in 1969 and twisted the historical dial just enough to create some small changes that wound up impacting history in really big ways.
That same idea was at play in Netflix's "Hollywood." A small group of diverse characters with an array of skills began coalescing due to circumstances over which they had limited control, and that little group, almost inadvertently, started crafting a movie that would change the social trajectory of America. Yes, it's fiction, but like Tarantio's film about the Mansons, it also presents a strong case for what could have been if just a few things had occurred slightly different manner.
While the series offers up a strong focus on race relations in America in the post World War II era, it also shines a spotlight on some of the gay individuals who were prominent in the entertainment industry at that time. Those today who remain intractable in their opposition to interracial and gay relationships, would probably not be able to sit through these highly thought-provoking and beautifully crafted episodes.
I don't want to give too much away about the plot except to say that "Hollywood" is glitzy and glamorous, yet grounded in reality and believable - for those who want to believe. (And isn't that what the actual Hollywood was - and is - all about?) The writing and acting are superb, and viewers with even a semblance of humanity will quickly be drawn into what is occurring on the screen. Old friends carry the tale, familiars like Patty LuPone, Rob Reiner, Queen Latifah, Mira Sorvino, and Jim Parsons - as well as a host of newer faces who are destined to take their places among the familiars.
"Hollywood" was created and chiefly written by Ryan Murphy, the same talented writer who created such television hits at "Glee" and "American Horror Story." Many of the professional critics seem to be panning "Hollywood," but, by and large, the public thinks otherwise. Yes, it twists the reality of what Hollywood actually was, and it creates what some would see as a false sense of feeling good, but in these exceedingly hard times we all aren't necessarily looking to have our faces rubbed in reality, and some of us relish an opportunity to "feel good" for a change.
"Hollywood" is a grand time, and I recommend it without reservation.
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