Sunday 26 July 2009

Welcome to Hollyweird

Every day hundreds of people pack their belongings into bedsheets, tie it to the end of a stick, throw it over their shoulders and make their way to the land of fame. Well, if they were a cartoon. Nowadays they just use a suitcase. Much easier.

The epitome of wealth, Hollywood is the place to fulfill one's dreams. Or so they say. I'm not sure who 'they' are. I just know 'they' are foolish, as are most of the poor souls who gravitate there; hopes and dreams a heavy burden on their backs.

In popular culture Hollywood is promoted as THE place to be. The young and beautiful drive expensive cars, pour themselves into designer clothes and live in hilltop houses. Life is so perfect, so peachy, why would you want to live anywhere else? Well. The above do exist. In abundance. But sadly it's a lot seedier than one can imagine.

Rejection stands lonely on street corners, it screams from sad waitresses in every bar. Barbie's walk painfully on dirty faded stars on the street; hair bleached to breaking point, starved faces pulled tight, lips injected with so much botox I'm surprised they can read their lines in auditions. Broken dreams fill every bus ride along Hollywood Boulevard, on the hour every hour.

'Hollywood' doesn't exist. In yesteryear the term was culturally and historically significant in American cinema. It was the place where it all began. It meant something. Today it's just superficial. Fabricated. Dirty. It's Hollyweird. You don't need to be an actor or singer. Talent is no longer a requirement. You just need to be desperate. Fame hungry. Pathetic. If you have these qualities; celebrity and notoriety, here you come!

It's all rather tragic. This wealthy place, once the symbol of glamour and greatness, has now disintegrated into nothing. Just a has-been shell of its previous life. This kills me. I rather like the old fashioned importance of working hard; honing one's craft because you can't bear to do anything else. In today's society, people flock to 'make it' in Hollyweird because they don't want to get a real job. Working hard is too exhausting. They want it easy. And Hollyweird gives it to them. Modern practices; an emphasis on fame, wealth and beauty as paramount have resulted in standards slipping. Hollyweird now represents everything that's wrong with our contemporary world.

It's definitely questionable. Who wants to be in a place where the stars are stuck on the ground? They shine better in the sky...

8 comments:

  1. 'if they were a cartoon" = hilarious line.

    Don't you wish life was more like a cartoon sometime? I do.

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  2. I agree! If there was no hollyweird maybe our teachers, cops, firefighters, and other "everyday heros" would get paid what they deserve. As it is though they barely make it day to day while "stars" make enough to live in luxury 20 times over!

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  3. X: Yes I really do wish life was like a cartoon. Then I could go super fast like the road runner. That would be fun!

    Crystal: It's true. So many nurses and Doctors and teachers etc have such shitty pay and there are talentless idiots getting paid for doing nothing. Sometimes if i thought too much about these things I'd drive myself insane with the anger it makes me feel. There's no justice really, is there? :(

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  4. Great post and the last paragraph ends it wonderfully!

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  5. I loved your blog. I just moved back to Ohio in February. I didn't go to LA for the fame and fortune, I went for other reasons. Its a beautiful life out there if you can afford it, if you have your family with you, if you have been there, or had been there when housing was affordable and could afford to make your house payment AND eat!! I miss some of the things there, but home will always be so much better. Friends and family, my house here was 68k , my job is paying the same as my job out there, and my head... is where it always needed to be. Thank you so much for sharing this. I love your blogs!! Mair

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  6. Money for nothing and chicks for free. Welcome to Hotel California!

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  7. hehe...thanks autiem4cabs! I'm really pleased you're enjoying my blog. Please keep the comments coming! And there's something about home being the best place. For the last four or so years i've lived away from home during my 2 degrees and although during the summer holidays i was always desperate to get back to Brighton or Swansea or wherever my uni life was, when i finally got there i always wanted to be home again! There's no place like it- cliche intended! :)

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