(May Contain Spoilers)
There has been a fair bit of hype over Hollywood and after watching it I can see why! The series was written and created by Ryan Murphy (Pose, American Horror Story, Glee), so there was a particular style I was expecting, and I was not disappointment. I am a huge fan of Murphy’s work and this has been added to the collection. The series, being set in the late 40s post WW11, which added a period look and style to the series as well as the opening and closing tune was my favourite, it reminded me of a modern take on Benny Goodman!
Hollywood focuses on ACE studios in Los Angeles and the talent of writers, directors and actors that surround it. During this time the golden age of cinema was very white, there were rarely people of colour in the films, but this series answers the question to what would have happened if there were black people both in front and behind the camera. Enter Archie Coleman (Jeremy Pope), a black, gay man who entered his script called ‘Peg’ into a blind submission, which was chosen to be produced! Peg follows the story of the girl who jumped off the Hollywood sign, but after the racial conflicts between the studio and the talent Archie decides to push the boundaries and turn Peg into Meg where the lead is a young, black woman instead. Enter Camille Washington (Laura Harrier), who was based off the American actress, Dorothy Dandridge. Camille is an ambitious go-getter who won’t let anyone stand in her way when achieving fame and does not want to keep being cast as a maid.
Raymond Ainsley (Darren Criss), who is a half-Asian director and also Camille’s boyfriend, puts her forward for the part and through conflicts and arguments, she gets cast in the starring role. This film takes on systemic racism and attempts to breaks the boundaries to make a change in Hollywood. Meanwhile, there is a side-line, male sex worker scandal going on led by Ernie West (Dylan McDermott) where young aspiring actors need to make money so go off with women and men to make money from sex. Jack Castello (David Corenswet) is one of these people, arguably the series centres around Jack’s story, although not always the focus. Jack waits at the studio gates everyday hoping for a role as an extra to start his career, but after not getting far he meets Avis Amberg (Patti LuPone) whilst working as a male sex worker and she is the wife of Mr Ace who owns the studios and gets him his first break.
In addition, Rock Hudson (Jake Picking) whose original name is Roy, joins Henry Willson’s (Jim Parsons) agency to make him a star, however this working relationship takes a turn for the worse as Willson pulls a Harvey Weinstein and offers stardom in exchange for sexual favours. Amongst all the lies, sex and scandals, the storyline focuses on the film Meg being made and whilst Ace Studios gets a backlash of the public sending death threats or trying to set fire to their houses the film does get finished. The series penultimate scene focuses on the Academy Awards (Oscars) where Meg’s success becomes a reality and changes the way which Hollywood produces films to integrate more inclusivity. HOWEVER, my biggest annoyance about the series is that after this great ending there is a ‘6 Months Later’ ending which shows Willson coming forward about him being gay and wanting to produce a romantic film about two gay men, which starts to get made. I think this series highlighted some major issues in the film and TV industry, even now, but the whole series was about Meg and that’s where I think it should have finished.
I was a huge fan of this series, but the ending let it down, which is why I gave it a star less otherwise this would have been my first 5-star review! The series took on controversial topics like race and sexuality but showed the positive side to fighting for these rights and pushing for equality, which reflects the world we are living in even now and this was supposed to be based in the late 40s! A enjoyable and thoroughly entertaining series which Murphy’s classic flair!
Stream the whole series now on Netflix.
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