Los Angeles musings…

For the past three years, I have been working with a hospital in Los Angeles.  While I like the people I work with, I cannot find anything nice to say about the city itself.  It’s incredibly dirty.  The traffic is appalling.  The inhabitants are the most shallow, self-absorbed, insipid concentration of humanity you can imagine.  Culture is non-existent.  The most entertaining aspect is all the awful plastic surgery – the Freak Show parades by you constantly.

And apparently, judging by the news items, one half of the population has been actively sexually assaulting the other half this entire time.

Now, I’m going to be a bit graphic here…

I don’t think it has ever been any secret how the entertainment industry operates.  Many an aspiring starlet has made the trek to Hollywood knowing they will (and are perfectly willing to) drop to their knees for an audition.  The casting couch is nothing new.  What I find hypocritical in the “Me Too” crowd is how they will tut-tut over this after they used the process to their advantage.  And isn’t it curious that the ones in the news lately flinging these accusations haven’t worked or been heard from in a long time?  It smacks of self-promotion, an opportunity to get some attention and jump-start a flagging career.  Or they are jumping on a bandwagon, not out of any conviction, but because it is the cause du jour.

How many times have you seen an appallingly bad actor in something and thought, “I wonder who he/she slept with to get that job?”  There are a lot of “names” who certainly didn’t get where they are due to talent.  (At least not of the thespian variety.)

In the local news yesterday was the story of a has-been starlet who is now “coming out” about her alleged abuse (at age 12!) on a movie set at the hands of a Stunt Director.  This took place over 20 years ago, according to her.  In the story, she claims to have informed her parents, who did nothing.  So either this is a pack of lies, or she had the worst Stage Parents in history.  If the latter, wouldn’t they be just as guilty of child abuse?  Was their logic really, “Well, on the downside, our Little Angel is being molested, but she is working in an Arnold Schwarzenegger film”?

Add to this the allegations that some accepted large payoffs (i.e. hush money) and signed non-disclosure agreements.  They don’t recognize the fact that they are basically admitting to prostitution (you accepted money for sex, call it what it is), yet are attempting to take the high moral ground?  One of the industry people here in Los Angeles commented that, in Hollywood, you are either the Pimp or the Ho.  It’s self-delusion to work in entertainment and think otherwise.