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 +It is [[Camille Paglia]]'s central thesis that in the [[20th century]] (which she calls the Age of Hollywood) [[pagan]] [[popular culture]] overtook and vanquished the [[high arts]]. Thanks to advances in technology, pop became a universal language, as catholic in its reach as the medieval church. Once pop art embraced commercial iconography, the [[avant-garde was dead]].
 +<hr>
 +"[[Washington, D.C.|Washington]] and [[Hollywood]] spring from the same [[DNA]]." -- [[Jack Valenti]]
 +|}
 +[[Image:Hollywood.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Hollywood]] is iconic for the [[mainstream]]]]
{{Template}} {{Template}}
-[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/{{PAGENAMEE}}] [Apr 2007]+'''Hollywood''' is a district in [[Los Angeles, California]], [[United States|U.S.A.]]. Due to its fame and [[cultural identity]] as the historical centre of [[movie studio]]s and [[movie star|stars]], the word "Hollywood" is often used as a [[metonym]] for the [[Cinema of the United States|American film and television industry]]. In fact, one can safely regard [[Hollywood]], or the American film industry, as the pinnacle of [[mainstream film|mainstream cinema]].
- +
-*[[Easy Riders, Raging Bulls]]+
-*[[Hollywood Babylon]]+
-'''''Hollywood Babylon''''' is a book by [[Kenneth Anger]], an ex-[[child actor]], [[avant-garde]] [[filmmaker]], [[occultist]], and [[author]], which details the sordid scandals of many famous and infamous [[Hollywood]] denizens from the 1900s to the 1950s. It was originally published in 1959 by [[Jean-Jacques Pauvert|J.J. Pauvert]] ([[Paris]], [[France]]) as ''Hollywood Babylone''. Anger wrote a sequel, ''Hollywood Babylon II'', in 1984 and has frequently mentioned that ''Hollywood Babylon III'' may be on its way.+== See also ==
 +*[[Hollywood Sign]]
 +*[[American mythology]]
 +*[[20th century mythology]]
 +*[[NC-17]]
 +*[[Peg Entwistle]] (1908 – 1932), an English actress who gained notoriety after her suicide at the age of 24 by leaping off of the Hollywood Sign.
 +==Namesakes==
 +*''[[Hollywood Boulevard]]'' (1976) by Joe Dante
 +*''[[Hollywood Babylon]]'' (1959) by Kenneth Anger
 +== References ==
-[[Image:Hollywood bab02.jpg|thumb|250px|right |Lightly censored ''Hollywood Babylon'' book cover]]+*''[[Easy Riders, Raging Bulls]]'', 1998, Peter Biskind, on New Hollywood
 +*''[[Hollywood Babylon]]'', 1959, a book by Kenneth Anger about the sordid scandals of Hollywood denizens from the 1900s to the 1950s
 +*''[[The Hollywood Hallucination]]'', 1944, Parker Tyler
 +*''[[The Life and Death of 9413: a Hollywood Extra]]'', 1928, short silent film written by Robert Florey and directed by Florey and Slavko Vorkapich
 +*''[[The Celluloid Closet]]'', 1981, a book by Vito Russo on how Hollywood films, have portrayed gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender characters
-Many of Anger's claims have been called into question and debated since the book's initial publication. However, ''Hollywood Babylon'''s place in the history of [[Tinseltown]] cannot be denied, nor can Anger's influence on filmmakers such as [[John Waters (filmmaker)|John Waters]], [[Vincent Gallo]] and [[Paul Morrissey]] (the [[film director|director]] of [[Andy Warhol]]'s later movies). Despite the book's popularity — it has been a perennial best seller since it was first published — Anger has been criticised for his lurid exposition, wild allegations, spurious anecdotes, rumor, innuendo, and minor plagiarism.+{{GFDL}}
- +
-Some readers are offended by Anger's choice graphic and shocking images, particularly the photographs depicting the body of [[Carole Landis]] after her suicide, [[Bugsy Siegel]]'s bullet-ridden corpse, [[Lupe Vélez]] in her coffin, [[Thelma Todd]]'s body after her mysterious death and the scene of the traffic accident which killed [[Jayne Mansfield]]. +
- +
-What was apparently the first U.S. edition of Hollywood Babylon was published in 1965 by Associated Professional Services of [[Phoenix, Arizona|Phoenix]], Ariz. The volume was a 95-cent paperback that bears little resemblance to the more familiar later editions. Instead of being divided into chapters, the text runs continuously. Many of the photographs in later editions, such as the disarrayed suite in the St. Francis Hotel in the Virginia Rappe/Fatty Arbuckle chapter, do not appear in the 1965 edition. +
- +
-The 1965 edition opens: +
- +
-:Hollywood was not yet a dirty word in 1916. It was just a junction of dirt roads, a solitary "Mission-style" hotel, some claptrap bungalows scattered in the orange groves, and the startling apparation of a Babylon orgy in full swing in the sunshine, smack on Sunset Boulevard.+
- +
-The current edition opens:+
- +
-:WHITE ELEPHANTS — the God of Hollywood wanted white elephants, and white elephants he got — eight of 'em, plaster mammoths perched on mega-mushroom pedestals, lording it over the colossal court of Belshazzar, the pasteboard Babylon built beside the dusty tin-lizzie trail called Sunset Boulevard. +
- +
-Subjects in the first volume (current edition) include:+
- +
-* the drug-related death of [[Olive Thomas]] and subsequent scandal surrounding [[Jack Pickford]];+
-* the drug addictions of [[Juanita Hansen]], [[Alma Rubens]] and [[Barbara La Marr]];+
-* the alleged sexual masochism of [[Mary Nolan]];+
-* the statutory rape charges and subsequent trial of [[Errol Flynn]] and how it might have been ;+
-* the mysterious death of film producer [[Thomas Ince]] aboard the yacht of [[William Randolph Hearst]];+
-* the extra-marital affair of [[Mary Astor]] with playwright [[George S. Kaufman]] as told through her diary;+
-* the career declines of [[Mae Murray]], [[Pola Negri]], [[Louise Brooks]], [[Marie Prevost]] and [[John Gilbert (actor)|John Gilbert]];+
-* the relationships of [[Rudolph Valentino]];+
-* the [[lesbianism]] of [[Alla Nazimova]];+
-* [[Erich von Stroheim]]'s on-set difficulties;+
-* the relationship between [[William Randolph Hearst]] and [[Marion Davies]];+
-* the [[Fatty Arbuckle]]-[[Virginia Rappe]] scandal;+
-* the drug-related deaths of [[Wallace Reid]], [[Judy Garland]], and (allegedly) [[Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer]]; +
-* the [[shotgun marriage]]s of [[Charlie Chaplin]] to [[Mildred Harris]] and [[Lita Grey]] plus the [[Joan Barry]] paternity scandal;+
-* the murder of [[William Desmond Taylor]] and the damage it caused to the careers of [[Mabel Normand]] and [[Mary Miles Minter]];+
-* the [[suicide]]s of [[Lupe Vélez]], [[Carole Landis]], [[Peg Entwistle]], [[Gwili Andre]], [[Albert Dekker]], [[Lou Tellegen]], [[Robert Harron|Bobby Harron]], [[Max Linder]], [[George Sanders]], and [[Clara Blandick]];+
-* [[Mae West]] and the censors;+
-* the alleged promiscuity and mental instability of [[Clara Bow]];+
-* the rise and fall of [[Frances Farmer]] and her appalling treatment in mental institutions; +
-* the [[homosexuality]] of [[Ramon Novarro]] and his subsequent murder by male prostitutes;+
-* the mysterious deaths of [[Thelma Todd]] and [[Marilyn Monroe]];+
-* the death of gangster [[Bugsy Siegel]] by the hands of [[Lucky Luciano]] and Siegel's moll [[Virginia Hill]], and the death of [[Lana Turner]]'s lover [[Johnny Stompanato]] at the hand of Turner's teenage daughter [[Cheryl Crane]];+
-* the decline and death of [[Jayne Mansfield]] (who is featured on the book's cover in the 1975 publication);+
-* the death of [[Lewis Stone]] of a heart attack after chasing boys who were throwing rocks at his house;+
-* the suicide of [[Jean Harlow]]'s second husband, [[Paul Bern]] (accompanied by nude pictures of a pre-stardom Harlow);+
-* the [[Hollywood Blacklist]];+
-* the murder of [[Sharon Tate]] by [[Charles Manson]];+
-* the [[Confidential (magazine)|Confidential]] magazine lawsuits.+
- +
-Hollywood Babylon II includes:+
- +
-* the murder/suicide of [[Gig Young]];+
-* the decline of [[James Dean]] leading to his death and his alleged bisexuality;+
-* a variety of Hollywood [[orgies]], [[suicides]], and debauchery;+
-* the [[Black Dahlia]] murder;+
-* [[Busby Berkeley]]'s off screen escapades, including the drunk driving incident;+
-* the murder case against [[Paul Kelly (actor)|Paul Kelly]];+
-* [[Tijuana bible|Tijuana bibles]] spoofing celebrities;+
-* the sad downfall of [[homosexual]] actor [[William Haines]];+
-* [[Alcoholism]] and [[drug abuse]] galore;+
-* the statutory rape case against [[Alexander Pantages]];+
-* nude photos of a pre-stardom [[Joan Crawford]]; +
-* [[Loretta Young]] and [[Clark Gable]]'s illegitimate child.+

Revision as of 13:42, 17 February 2018

It is Camille Paglia's central thesis that in the 20th century (which she calls the Age of Hollywood) pagan popular culture overtook and vanquished the high arts. Thanks to advances in technology, pop became a universal language, as catholic in its reach as the medieval church. Once pop art embraced commercial iconography, the avant-garde was dead.

"Washington and Hollywood spring from the same DNA." -- Jack Valenti

Hollywood is iconic for the mainstream
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Hollywood is iconic for the mainstream

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Hollywood is a district in Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical centre of movie studios and stars, the word "Hollywood" is often used as a metonym for the American film and television industry. In fact, one can safely regard Hollywood, or the American film industry, as the pinnacle of mainstream cinema.

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Namesakes

References


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