Everyone, at some point in their lives, has had the ‘Hollywood dream.’ Ryan Murphy delivers another hit that takes you right back to those aspirations with each episode of the limited Netflix series, Hollywood.
In what Murphy describes as a ‘faction’ (combination of fact and fiction), the series explores the corruption, racism, and the trading of sexual currency bubbling under the thin guise of a lavish and glamourous dream machine in the 1940s, that takes the mundane and churns out a star. Evidently even in our more modern times, these topics remain salient. Hollywood follows the stories of aspiring actors, screenwriters, and directors waiting for their big break into the city where dreams supposedly come true, while facing the salacious and sordid reality of their dreams behind the scenes.
Murphy gives us a tale where minority groups are at the forefront of the industry, instead of being pushed to the sidelines. By giving a voice to the stories of the underrepresented throughout history, Murphy gives us new and different faces, perhaps faces that look more like our own, to look up to. In this alternate history, we are shown what Hollywood has the potential to be and the power it holds. Perhaps Murphy comes off as too critical of those in the Golden Age of Hollywood who didn’t stand up for the underrepresented, but he rightly emphasises the importance media has. By putting the spotlight on minority groups, we are shown we have value. As said in the show, what is done in Hollywood can “change the world.”
10/10: Dreamland.