The Quarantine Diaries: How Netflix’s “Hollywood” Rewrites History…and Not in a Good Way

We are now two months into quarantine, and the future is still as uncertain as it was in March. And although it is frustrating and scary in these times of isolation, I have been trying to find as many silver linings as possible, many of which are stemming from all of the content that I have been able to watch (and have discussed in my last post). However, my latest binging experience, the Ryan Murphy produced Netflix series Hollywood was not exactly my cup of tea. I feel it is important to reflect on why this revisionist history does not work, and how the creative liberties taken are irresponsible and detrimental to the mainstream perception of classic Hollywood, both in its highs and its disturbing lows.

Spoilers for Hollywood below.

Hollywood is set in the late 1940s, in a post-WWII, pre-Vivien Leigh in A Streetcar Named Desire age for Hollywood. The greatest and most detrimental misstep the show takes is having real life Hollywood figures in the same story as a world of completely fictional characters. While this mode of storytelling has worked in other films, most recently in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time…In Hollywood which featured fictional characters living in the same story as Sharon Tate, Roman Polanski, and Charles Manson, in Hollywood, there is not enough separation between fact and fiction, and no clarification as to where the line of history is drawn.

The story main’s protagonist is a fictional character, Jack Costello (David Corenswet), a struggling actor waiting to get his big break, while also trying to financially support his pregnant wife (Maude Apatow). Aside from Jack and fellow fictional characters Claire Wood (Samara Weaving) and Raymond Ainsley (Darren Criss), almost all of the storylines are straight out of a fairytale.

There is aspiring screenwriter Archie Coleman (Jeremy Pope), who has been sidelined by the industry because he is black and gay, two minority groups who had no place in 1940s Hollywood; however, in Hollywood, studio executives (Joe Martello, Holland Taylor, and Patti LuPone) fight for him and his script, Peg. Except Peg is only the working title, as it is changed to Meg when the studio decides to cast a black actress, Camille Washington (Laura Herrier) in the titular role. The stories of Archie and Camille are heartwarming, but are completely unrealistic for the time, and even more damaging, underscore the struggles that actors and filmmakers of color experienced during that time.

A version of Hollywood with these fictional characters in a utopian Hollywood might have been a better project, but alas, Ryan Murphy decided to set these characters in the real world of 1948 Hollywood, and that is where the show falls of the rails.

Some of Hollywood’s biggest icons make small cameo appearances, such as Hattie McDaniel (Queen Latfiah), George Cukor (Daniel London), Tallulah Bankhead (Paget Brewster), and Vivien Leigh (Katie McGuinnesss), the latter two being portrayed as drunken and hysterical caricatures of the real actresses. Their appearances are brief and more forgiveable, but portray all of these legends as difficult, or neurotic, without telling even an abridged version of the struggles they faced in the industry, because in Hollywood, everyone gets a happy ending!

But there are three unforgivable offenses that Hollywood portrays. Number one, is the treatment of Anna May Wong (Michelle Krusiec). Anna May Wong was the first Chinese-American movie star, who was never even given a fair shot in the industry. Perhaps one of the most talented actresses of her time, Wong, like all other Asian actresses, was subjected to playing “exotic” and “oriental” temptresses, never receiving proper recognition. The most infamous moment of her career was when she was denied the leading role in the movie The Good Earth, which instead went to Luise Rainer, a white actress, who went on to win Best Actress for her portrayal as an Asian woman. However, in Hollywood, Wong is given respect, is fought for, and ends up winning Best Supporting Actress in the season finale. A touching story, but not one that addresses what actually happened to Anna May Wong.

The second unforgivable offense is the portrayal of Rock Hudson (Jake Picking). Hudson, one of the most famous actors of his time, struggled with his sexuality his entire life, remaining in the closet to maintain his career, and later dying of AIDS-related complications. Hudson’s real story is one of tragedy and ignorance, as he never could live his life freely and the way he wanted to in order to still be a movie star. Hollywood ignores Hudson’s hardships, making him Archie Coleman’s proud boyfriend, and letting him have a successsful career while not being shamed for being gay.

And finally, the third unforgivable offense is the fact that Camille Washington wins Best Actress for Meg. The black community has had to fight for roles, representation, and recognition in the industry for decades (and still continue to do so). The show briefly addresses backlash to casting a black actress in the lead role of a major studio production, with someone throwing racial slurs at Camille, while studio lawyers trying to burn the footage of the movie to eradicate it completely. But all of that is overridden in the finale, when the movie breaks box office records, and wins Best Supporting Actress, Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Actress at the Academy Awards. Camille’s win completely underscores the struggles that actresses such as Dorothy Dandridge, Diahann Carroll, Lena Horne, and countless others endured during their careers, as well as Halle Berry’s actual historical win in 2002, still remaining the only black woman to win the Best Actress Oscar.

What makes these portrayals so offensive is that, unlike the Manson murders of Sharon Tate, or the events of World War II that are revised in Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, the stories of Rock Hudson and Anna May Wong are not widely discussed; they are Hollywood’s dirty secrets that they sweep under the rug. Hollywood had the opportunity to portray what 1948 Hollywood really looked like: a period in which minorities were not respected, where actresses like Vivien Leigh and Talllulah Bankhead were drugged and poisoned by the demands of fame, and where audiences were not ready for a black woman to lead a major motion picture. But that is not what this show does, and it changes stories that are too vulnerable to be changed in mainstream media; most people who watch Hollywood are not familiar with the real life history, and the show makes little effort to fill in the blanks.

I think that Hollywood has good intentions, as at the end of the day all it wants to do is give happy endings to people who didn’t get them in their time. But the harsh reality is is that they did not get those happy endings, and making a show where not only do they get them, but get them so easily, is lazy and irresponsible storytelling. The show’s creative license is taken too far, and therefore creates a frustrating viewing experience that does not even have robust enough plot lines or, quite honestly, performances to outweigh the historical negatives.

Hollywood is available for streaming on Netflix…and Anna May Wong’s movies The Thief of Bagdad and Bombs Over Burma are on Amazon Prime Video!!