Hollywood Has a Hollywood Problem

Since the start of the 20th century, Hollywood has brought to light previously unheard stories about people, places, and events from all times and walks of life. It’s created extraterrestrial beings, alternative timelines, and fantastical worlds. It has brought storybooks to the silver screen, putting magnificent images to the words we had only read. Hollywood has made us laugh, cry, grieve, and gasp for over a century. 

One world remains shrouded in darkness even today, unseen by the public: Hollywood itself. Anyone with an eye on the film world would tell you there is a dearth of movies about the industry. 

Hey, Hollywood, we’re sick of seeing the same Chicago suburb and reasonably affordable New York Apartment (Is it rent-controlled? Viewers of a certain nineties TV show may never know). Moviegoers all over America are yearning for films chock-full of niche references to Los Angeles street names and the stories of producers ten minutes deep into the credits. The struggles of an actress isolated by her fame or a director who can’t secure his star are universal if you look deep enough within yourself. Hollywood is representative of the larger world. Just on a gold-plated scale. With craft services. And personal stylists.

To combat the blatant erasure of Hollywood’s stories, The Rambler is proposing a new Oscar category: “Best Movie About Hollywood.” The hope is that this will incentivise a spike in the production of this systematically dismissed genre. 

Recently, Walt Disney Studios has been all about sequels, sequels, sequels. It makes sense, fiscally, to bring back beloved characters. But an untapped market remains: “Making of’s.” Every film ever made, from Casablanca to Sonic the Hedgehog 3, could have a behind-the-scenes movie- nay, a trilogy- showing every detail from the lead grip’s morning routine to the CGI artist’s harrowing experience in their high school’s A.V. club. Better yet, a limited series to capture the full, uncut exploit of each production in eight short hours. 

This is a call to Hollywood to stop masking itself behind the stories of others. “Who wore it best?” in U.S.A. Today no longer suffices for the content-hungry masses. We are waiting with wide eyes and baited breath for each wardrobe malfunction, messy co-star relationship, and artist’s journey from rat-infested apartment to villas encircled with topiaries trimmed in the shape of their busts. It’s time, Hollywood. Show us the real you.