Natalie Rose

“Hollywood” is a well made miniseries on Netflix. It reimagines the 1940’s show biz era from behind the curtain. Aside from the glitz and glamor lies a world plagued with the harsh realities of racism, hypocrisy, misogyny, addiction, abuse, etc... culprits of shattered dreams for many. If people were free to live honestly, that is, to take the good, the bad, and the ugly, then perhaps we, as a society and our future generations, would be better off. Perhaps the rumors and prejudices (some of which were tied to real-life characters of that day) could have made room for open dialogue and compassion instead. The show is brilliantly executed, I’ll admit- my only drawback is you can’t rationalize mid century grievances with a post modern worldview. When it comes to the topic of homosexuality, it is heavily saturated in 21st century thought. In one scene, Ernie schools Jack Castillo on the everyday suffrage that homosexuals face. During his spiel, Ernie commends these men for not having to hide who they really are at a party. However, back in the 1940’s, homosexuals didn’t view their own behavior as natural. There was no “born this way” mindset or “love is love” mantra, because they understood it to be a licentious act rather than a personal identifier. **SPOILER ALERT: So when Rock Hudson and Archie Coleman decide to walk hand in hand down the red carpet and declare their “love”, it placates to the LGBTQ+ mentality that didn’t exist back then. That school of thought didn’t originate until the 1970’s and it evolved from there. Also, homosexuality and racism were two entirely different playing fields, albeit, treated with the same level of degradation. While I get the director’s intent, it completely ignores the actual beliefs and thought process of those who lived in that era. Nowadays, we’re all about individuality with little regard to how our personal actions and lifestyle impact society. Back then, it was the opposite way around. It was far from a perfect system, but it was one that SOUGHT to love your neighbor as yourself.

Wholesome family flick with a wonderful message at the end! I adore Anna Kendrick and hope to see her in more leading roles.💜 Not sure why this movie received such low ratings? Understandably, the graphics could’ve been better (e.g. the reindeer) and there’s a slight cheesiness to it- which is typical of most Disney films. But the entire cast did great, the writers developed a good storyline, and best of all, no political garbage! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 Overall, I loved ‘Noelle’ and will be adding it to my Christmas movie collection to watch every year. 🎄