Hollywood? Sham, or Shrine?

[Rafael Domination]

Is it still the glorious home of the stars that people looked up to? Or it is just the hive of wannabes, try-hards and/or dimwits that don't deserve publicity anymore? Does it still have a chance of reaching it's past glory? Or is it too late?

Discuss! :D

[Nyx]

Hmm..well Hollywood used to be so much more glorious in the past, now it seems a home to a bunch of sluts who only got there because they knew how to poledance in a music video...:huh:

[Rafael Domination]

Good point! :D

If there were a list of people you'd remove to help restore Hollywood's glamour, who would it be?

[Nyx]

Well I don't have time to name them all but:

-Britney Spears (I would ban her from earth if I could:P)
-Paris Hilton
-Nicole Richie

[Rafael Domination]

I'll add Kevin Federline to the list

[Nyx]

Oh good choice, why don't we add Britney's little copy of herself sister too?

[Alex]

Hollywood has driven itself into the ground in my opinion and the list would be nearly never-ending of people I would remove

[Shaun]

The sad thing about Hollywood is that there really are a lot of wonderful people who work there, but the media doesn't pay attention to them. Sean Astin, for example (you know, Sam from LOTR), is a fine individual that people really should be looking up to because he truly is an amazing person with great personal integrity. Even Elijah Wood is a great person and I would almost argue that most everyone from the LOTR films are wonderful people. Yet we don't know them much beyond LOTR and we don't look at them in their personal lives. Instead we pay attention to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan and other such people because they, for whatever reason, drive people to watch them...and parents let their kids be like them and it's disgusting...
I think that deep down Hollywood isn't so bad, but we'll never really see them until we get rid of this obsession with the degenerates of the field...

[Alex]

well said, but I don't know if its quite as good a place as you make it out to be. Its fairly impossible to deny that there is an ongoing, and growing, culture of partying, drugs, and alcohol. I agree that for some reason American society decides to focus on the degenerates and not the people with integrity in Hollywood, but I refuse, whether it be for my own protection or not, to believe that we're such a poisoned country that we focus solely on a minority of people in hollywood who are degenerates.

I haven't done enough research into the subject to give any factual evidence to my argument but its my opinion know what little information I do.

[Shaun]

Just look at the magazine racks and the vast majority of the people we're idolizing are not fine upstanding citizens. Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton are far from model citizens...even Zach Effron has his faults, sadly. There are so many people in Hollywood and most of them aren't going around doing stupid stuff like drinking and driving, etc. And when they get away with stuff that none of us would it just gives the wrong impression :P

[Dr_House_4ever]

Hollywood just kind of disgusts me right now. I agree with Nyx - it used to be much more glamorous but now it seems anyone who gets on a reality show or makes a sex tape can be famous. And I'd like to add to the banishing list anyone from "The Hills." Lauren, Spencer, Heidi - they all make me want to throw up.

I'm also tempted to add Lindsay Lohan, but I'm willing to pardon her since she does have some talent when she can sober up long enough to use it.

[Shaun]

I was a fan of Lohan until she turned into a boozer. The sad thing is that a lot of people who have real talent seem to turn into despicable bastards...

[Rafael Domination]

I know...

Was it the lust for popularity or money that got to their heads, I don't know. I mean, almost all of them started out great...but something happened.

[Shaun]

Well Paris Hilton never started out great. She was always sort of a snobby witch...

[Rafael Domination]

Yeah, but she's not exactly a real human being to start with. :D


I think things can only go downhill from here.

*Anyone care to argue FOR the defense of Hollywood? Nope? Is it unanimous then? Has it turned into a total dump?*

[Alex]

yep pretty much

I was never a fan of Lohan, she always gave me that vibe of turning into this and I always thought it was just a matter of time ((or maybe not always but slightly before she fell off the proverbial cliff))

[Dr_House_4ever]

I don't think it's turned into a total dump (definitely a partial one, though). I think the main problem is that the public chooses to focus on the dump part. Everyone's scrambling to read the latest Britney or Paris gossip; meanwhile, all of the responsible, talented celebrities seem to get swept under the rug. Argh, have we really sunk this far?

[Alex]

sadly yeah we have... it really is pathetic, but I agree with everything you guys are saying, its true

[Rafael Domination]

So, maybe we should stop buying all those gossip nonsense magazines and start focusing on what really matters? I like sound of that.

Cuz', I also think this happens: The stupid celebrities get the attention, and the talented celebrites who deserve that attention get jealous and try to pull off the stunts the stupid ones are doing (drugs, etc) and in turn, become a stupid celebrity themselves, which can lead to corrupting other celebs...it's a vicious cycle...

[Dr_House_4ever]

I never even thought of that cycle...that's pretty pathetic.

[Rafael Domination]

I know...sad, isn't it?

[Alex]

I'm not sure thats entirely accurate

if a celebrity was "good" to begin with then jealousy taking them over should prove they weren't "good" in the first place, it was just a mirage

just my opinion

[Shaun]

As Dr. House said, Hollywood itself isn't a dump, the media simply makes it seem that way. There are a lot of great people in Hollywood, but we don't give them much attention media wise. They make us good movies and TV shows and entertain us, but that's all we as a society deem them worthy of. We decide to idolize the retarded folks of Hollywood like Hilton and Lohan and Spears and Spears 2 and the like.
When the media focus changes we'll get a better picture of Hollywood. Sadly...immorality and disgusting behavior sells...

[Alex]

testament to where our country is now much? While I agree with anything and everything thats been said up until this point what do you guys think of the over exaltion of a small group of people in hollywood... I'll use Oprah as an example

Oprah is exalted to no end about her 2 million dollar facility she started up in South Africa. I realize its a great thing, and it is, for an entire people in need, but should she be exalted for giving 2 million of her 2 billion dollar net worth to charity while some average joe who is worth 100,000 will give 1,000 to charity and nothing will be heard about it

Of course there are alot of people who will give 1% of their earnings to charity and because it isn't a huge amount it wont and shouldnt be noticed but should Oprah really be exalted for giving 1% of what she makes? I hear from so many people that Oprah is SUCH a great person for doing this, and she is a great person, but this isn't why.

Maybe its something that bothers just me, and I know its good to hear about something that, in such a corrupt industry, shines out but is it really that big of a deal?

[Shaun]

Well I think the bigger concern is whether that 2 million is actually doing anything. One person cannot affect change. The idiot who started that rumor should be shot for lying through his teeth. It doesn't work and never has. One person cannot change the world. It takes a lot more people.
But Africa is actually get worse and worse and worse, so is Oprah's little 2 million doing much of anything there or is she wasting her money? Sure, maybe a few hundred end up changed, but will they do anything in the country? Probably not. I'm less concerned with what people like Oprah do in countries where they are wasting their efforts and more concerned with what they do where they can actually change something. Oprah has done a lot of things in the U.S. that have actually done a lot of good (most particularly helping to start up facilities in bad districts of U.S. cities that help kids and adults get through college and the like). She's helped a hell of a lot of kids here in the states with her money and she should be commended for that.
I think what makes Oprah a great person isn't that she gives up her money to charity, it's that she encourages other people to do so and uses her influence, typically speaking, for good. Granted, she's been wrong a few times, but she's also human. Still, the guy throwing out 1,000 bucks isn't wandering around on main street getting people to donate or get involved. Oprah does do that by encouraging her millions of viewers to get involved. Most of them don't, but a handful do...that's what she should be commended for.

[Alex]

I see what you mean, but I think that might be a little harsh for my view.

I think her 2 million that she did donate could have been used for something better than an all-girls school in the second richest country in Africa, South Africa. Maybe anti-mosquito nets for people to sleep under so they don't get malaria in their sleep? I don't know I'm just channeling things I've heard.

I know, of course, that Oprah deserves more accolades than some random person who donates 1,000 dollars but should something, like you said, relatively of little use be regarded so highly?

I'm not trying to sound like a pessimist, but I beleive that instead of finding one person who is doing good and giving them all the accolades to try and counterbalance all the shit on magazines ((lohan/spears/paris/richie)) maybe we should try 'spreading the wealth' as the saying goes and finding more people in hollywood and including them in this positive advertisement

I think if we did this as a culture ((and yes I beleive we can quite easily)) then it will help counterbalance everything that comes out negatively from the presses

[Rafael Domination]

Any suggestions on how the public can help?

[Alex]

Pretty simple, stop buying the trashy magazines

I don't think it stretches much farther than that. Business people are smart people, if they see that something isn't selling they won't produce it and problem solved.

[Rafael Domination]

But what's stopping those people from broadcasting it some way else?

I say we assassinate those gossip-magazine directors and feed their carcasses to ligers...

[Alex]

Well that just sounds fun and delightful =]

[Nyx]

I don't think there's any way to stop trashy magazines from being people's favorites. It's so sad...

[Alex]

I don't think sad is the right word

more like pathetic if you ask me

[Shaun]

I think her 2 million that she did donate could have been used for something better than an all-girls school in the second richest country in Africa, South Africa. Maybe anti-mosquito nets for people to sleep under so they don't get malaria in their sleep? I don't know I'm just channeling things I've heard.

Well I agree that her money could go to better uses. Although I think you need some background on SA to really understand why an all-girl's school is actually a good thing.
SA has a really high rape percentage and women are being heavily subjugated by the men there as part of the 'AIDS crisis'. There are a lot of rumors spread by their religious affiliates that having sex with a virgin will cure you. So, really a school for women puts them in a better position to protect themselves from such abuse as they could get good jobs and live in safe, gated communities, which have also sprung up everywhere. Such communities are guarded by armed men...
On a side note, malaria isn't really as big a deal as the media wants us to think. Africa has a natural immunity to it built into the genetic structure of human beings :P

I'm not trying to sound like a pessimist, but I beleive that instead of finding one person who is doing good and giving them all the accolades to try and counterbalance all the shit on magazines ((lohan/spears/paris/richie)) maybe we should try 'spreading the wealth' as the saying goes and finding more people in hollywood and including them in this positive advertisement

Oh I fully agree, but unfortunately none of that sort of stuff sells.
The press reacts to what we buy into. If none of us are interested in Hilton, then she disappears from the magazines...

[GeorgeMichael]

Oh I fully agree, but unfortunately none of that sort of stuff sells.
The press reacts to what we buy into. If none of us are interested in Hilton, then she disappears from the magazines...

I'm dreaming for that :)


anyways, I do believe that Hollywood has lost some of it's credentials in this new century. Sure before they made some bad movies and some people were just as bad (but they weren't as overexposed back then in the 1900's) but today Hollywood has taken a plummet for the worse. They've always made horrible films but in recent years the number of awful films made multiplied like bunnies and they've added to the mix remakes which are horrible 90% of the time, beauty over talent, and sometimes lose the true feeling of cinema through CGI'ing every little fish splash in their movies.

As for the celebrities, AKA Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, etc... The reason we probably think less of them than stars of previous decades is because nowadays not only are clubs much more plentiful and watched but paparazzi today take a picture of everything, Jessica Alba takes a bite out of a French Fry and they write a whole article about how depression might be surging her into an eating frenzy. The fact that people today can pretty much know every little private detail about celebrity's every day lives gives people more reason and evidence to immediately judge them. Marilyn Monroe was never as overexposed and criticized (well actually...) as Lindsay Lohan or any other girl is and I don't hear many actresses out there being accused of having an affair with the president, (That was Clinton's card) but today anyone could write an article like that in "People" magazine or something and everyone would buy it. You could say that Tom Cruise never lets Katie HOlmes or his baby out of the house, show a picture of them in their own house, and people will buy it. The celebrities are just, unfortunately for them, too closely watched to really do anything that they'd like to do. Some of the things that these people are judged on are things that many other people do everyday, but apparently we hold celebrities to a higher standard and I truly feel sorry for many of them (except for Paris Hilton, I just really don't like her, I mean really. What in the world has she done?)

[ScottyMcGee]

Lotta people are dying in Hollywood.

Look at Heath Ledger. Which is breaking news as of right now btw.

I miss the good old days of cinema. When you had genuinely big stars like Robert Redford, Steve McQueen, and Paul Newman. Those were REAL famous people. Not this bullcrap we have now with divorcing and arguing over babies and drug overdose.

Also the movies were more genuine too. Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Bullitt, The Thomas Crown Affair, The Great Escape, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Those were GENUINE movies. Now everything's either a remake or based on a book.

[Jessica]

Lotta people are dying in Hollywood.

Look at Heath Ledger. Which is breaking news as of right now btw.

I miss the good old days of cinema. When you had genuinely big stars like Robert Redford, Steve McQueen, and Paul Newman. Those were REAL famous people. Not this bullcrap we have now with divorcing and arguing over babies and drug overdose.

Also the movies were more genuine too. Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Bullitt, The Thomas Crown Affair, The Great Escape, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Those were GENUINE movies. Now everything's either a remake or based on a book.

sorry, have to point out: Evreything's only a remake or based on a book because we're either to lazy, or all the good ideas are taken.