"
This is the best of times and the worst of times.
"
This famous quote by the great writer Dickens is perfectly suitable to describe the golden age of Hollywood .
In the mid-1920s, the era of major American studios began, with the rise of sound films and the decline of silent films.
The "Golden Age" of Hollywood was born.
Countless people with dreams have used romantic light and shadow to create an unprecedented scene of prosperity here.
As the most dazzling and seductive stage in Hollywood, it has a large number of well-known screen legends.
"Gone with the Wind", "Casablanca", "Roman Holiday", "Blue Bridge";
Audrey Hepburn, Charlie Chaplin, Vivien Leigh, Marlon Brando .
It can be said that the film industry at that time accounted for half of the American entertainment industry.
However, its streamlined film processing mode has also led Hollywood to the road of full commercialization, losing the true meaning of art.
Looking back at this history again, if you were asked to rewrite, how would you choose——
Hollywood
Hollywood
Ryan Murphy, director of the "American Horror" series, took up his pen and rewrote this glorious history with NETFLIX .
This isn't the first time he's made a Hollywood story.
If it is said that the "enemy" three years ago, which tells the story of two out-of-date female stars tearing up B , is an elegy he wrote to the golden age;
Then this "Hollywood" , which tells the story of Hollywood's newcomers , is his love letter to the golden age.
He cast himself into that era again.
Take a look at what this golden age of drunken fans looks like under his lens——
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Unspoken rules - a shortcut to Hollywood's "dirty"
Jack is a retired soldier.
After World War II, with the dream of becoming a star, he came to the dream city of Los Angeles, wanting to make his own way in Hollywood.
But the reality is cruel.
His wife is pregnant, his family is poor, and he has no acting experience. Even though he has a handsome face, he still can't even be selected as an extra.
By accident, he met the owner of the gas station.
The boss took a fancy to his handsome appearance and offered him a high salary.
In order to make a living, he had to come to this Golden Point gas station to work.
But what Jack never expected was that this gas station was not just an ordinary gas station.
Ostensibly, they refuel the car;
In fact, they also "refuel" people.
Yes, this is a "special place" for celebrities (no wonder the wages are so high) .
The rich woman who came to cheer said the code word "dreamland" , which meant that the employees had to cheer for them .
In addition to ladies and celebrities, many "people in the closet" also like to come here to have fun.
There are also many high-level Hollywood executives;
If you are lucky, if you hold it to your thigh, you may be able to fight less.
There was also a little black brother who entered the gas station with Jack to work.
The little brother is a screenwriter , and he also came here to realize his dream.
But because of the color of his skin, he has repeatedly encountered obstacles.
So he worked part-time at the gas station while writing the script.
Fortunately, my brother's original script was picked up by an up-and-coming director.
This director is half Asian , but he has been hiding his identity for fear of being discriminated against.
He also knows that Asians don't have a good position in Hollywood.
In order to change the status quo, he wants to shoot a movie "Shanghai Angels" featuring Asian actors .
However, this project was rejected by the film company executives.
They believe that starring Asian actors will affect the box office.
In order to realize his dream, he had to bow his head and choose to make a successful movie to change the ideas of these high-level executives.
And the script he chose was the original script "Peg" by the younger brother .
The play-in-play Peg is based on a true story.
In the later play, the original name "Peg" was changed to "Meg"
In 1932, a Hollywood actress named Peg had a bad career;
He jumped from the "H" letter of the Hollywood sign , and Xiang Xiaoyu died.
She was originally an excellent stage actress and achieved good results on Broadway, so she came to Los Angeles to develop a film career.
peg in history
Finally, she won a role in a movie.
It was thought that the role would make her a household name movie star;
But I didn't
Her career suffered a devastating blow, and she never recovered, and finally chose to commit suicide.
For this film, Ace Films has two leading actress candidates.
Black actresses have the best acting skills among all the contracted female artists.
Unfortunately, her skin color limits her acting.
Even with her outstanding acting skills, she can only play roles like maids and maids that are insulting.
And her competitors, although not as strong as her;
But as a white-skinned and blonde actress, she has more opportunities than the former.
The story of "Hollywood" revolves around the movie "Peg".
Will the movie go smoothly?
Can five Hollywood newcomers with different personalities succeed with this movie?
(spoiler alert)
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The "Hollywood World" is crueler than the series
At first glance, the show seems to be telling a piece of history.
Exquisite makeup and costumes, seductive handsome guys and beauties seem to bring people back to the golden age of splendor.
But when you look closely at the comparison, you will find that Murphy actually just built a fantastic parallel world for us to see.
The real Hollywood is far more cruel than what is portrayed in the play.
In addition to the little transparent Jack mentioned above, there is also a newcomer who is fighting with him for the male lead role of "Peg", Fitz .
They also have standard American handsome faces, but Fitz is more "lucky".
He has an agent who leads him into the business, Henry .
He saw through Fitz's characteristics at a glance, he was big but looked fragile;
Men won't hate him, women will be madly in love with him.
So he packed Fitz inside and out, and gave him the star-like stage name Rock Hudson .
But Fitz was also unfortunate.
Because all the resources he obtained from Henry were obtained by selling his own body.
That's right, Henry is a gay who "unspoken rules" to all his male artists.
This striptease is amazing!
In fact, Hollywood does have a male star named Rock Hudson.
Rock Hudson
His handsome and handsome appearance has made him repeatedly rated as "the most manly actor in America" and is the dream lover of countless women.
Although the actors are all upright tough guys;
But in fact, Locke is a downright gay.
At that time, Hollywood could not face the sexual orientation of homosexuality;
So Locke kept it a secret, and even married the secretary of his agent in order to quell public suspicion.
The truth of the matter was not known until the news of his death from AIDS broke .
The real Henry Wilson and Rock Hudson
Of course, in addition to "unspoken rules", there are many other established rules in Hollywood.
For example, sexism against people of color is Hollywood's "traditional arts".
The play tells a story about the Asian actor Anna May Wang, who missed the Oscar.
With a perfect score in the audition, she should have been the best choice for the heroine of the movie "The Earth";
In the end, because of her skin color, she watched the white actress take away the Oscar queen that originally belonged to her.
The prototype of King Anna May is Anna May Huang, the first Chinese actress to star on the Avenue of Stars and enjoy an international reputation .
The real Anna May Wong in history
The story depicted in the play also really happened to her.
Anna May Huang's performance in Hollywood is good enough, but because of the existence of the "yellow peril theory" bias;
She still can only play the negative roles of "a famous prostitute smoking opium" and "exotic temptress";
Never been nominated for an Oscar.
Ryan Murphy made up for her regret in this play, and at the end she won the 20th Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in one fell swoop.
But in reality, until now, no Chinese actor has won an Oscar for acting.
She has the same experience as the black actress and screenwriter mentioned earlier.
Just because of his origin and skin color, all his efforts are denied.
Actresses can only play maids and maids forever, even if my brother writes an excellent script, he cannot sign.
Although the finale made everyone's dream come true by overhauling the roster for the 20th Academy Awards.
In the play, the director gave everyone a fairy tale ending.
He once said in an interview that the reason why he filmed "Hollywood"——
"If those with high positions of power can take a brave step forward at a critical moment in history; then a lot of progress will come decades earlier; this is the central idea of my filming "Hollywood."
But he may have overlooked that the world of freedom and equality he built is still not realized in reality.
Thus, "Hollywood" became his unrealistic fantasy;
And this has also turned a subject with a very critical significance into a sweet and greasy sugar water.
However, Murphy abandoned all the tone of ridicule and satire and chose this seemingly too perfect "Hollywood-style" happy ending;
Perhaps, it is precisely the dream for these marginalized people in society.
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