What to Watch: HOLLYWOOD, Critics SUCK!
Netflix’s new series by Ryan Murphy (A New Normal, Glee & American Horror Story series) is the Hollywood tale you always heard and read about but never saw on screen. The critics are half and half when it came to the new show, the nay sayers falling in line with the last remanence of the Hollywood code system which still believe that real Hollywood does not belong on the screen. They’ve taken to the rags to call out the show as an insult to real life Hollywood. The show is pure genius! Murphy pulled out all the stops with this production. Yes he continues with his successful ability to cast favorites in his shows. From Darren Criss (Glee), David Corenswet (The Politician) and Dylan McDermott (American Horror Story) all three were perfect casting to make this show shine. One thing that I love about Ryan Murphy’s shows is the atmosphere that he creates with each show. The richness of the sets and costumes, the attention to detail is amazing. What I loved about Hollywood is the detail of every set. From the Billy Haines decor to the simple wood frames on works of art on the wall, thank you Melissa Licht.
Then there is women who launched this show and set it off. First there is Holland Taylor, the amazing Holland Taylor is an acting icon and even her lesser films are some of my favorite. Yes I am talking about One Fine Day. This actress has so many amazing credits on her resume (Legally Blond, Romancing the Stone, Bombshell, The Lot), heck she was even a regular on Saved by The Bell. You won’t be able to miss the amazing Patti Lupone as the matriarch of this delicious tale of that takes the taboo and bring it right to the foreground. The show airs all the real facts that Hollywood has been trying to sweep under the carpet for over 100 years. The show has it’s predictable moments in the earlier episode but giving us the end or truth in the end. That’s where it shines!
This show is not about taking history and recreating it by the script that has already been written. It’s about the stories that existed, the stories that were real and were extinguished by the Hollywood code and the system built on hate and ignorance. Murphy’s show makes you think and feel for yourself, giving hope in time there should have been more hope. The real Hollywood has been documented in paper for more than 50 years and Murphy’s depiction of this real Hollywood could only shine by giving the viewer, the ending that should have been. The scene with Queen Latifah (Hattie McDaniel) in the final episode is where the heart of this show lies. The best part of this show in the end, is Jim Parson giving us sleaze like sleaze never done before. That said, the show is only seven episodes, a quick watch. The inter webs is already a buzz with the hope for a second chapter for the series. Theories rest mostly on the idea of shifting the series to another era of Hollywood. Anything is possible with Ryan Murphy.
