"Hollywood" TV Series (2020)

In general, I am not the one who gratefully accepts recommendations - if you mention something nonchalantly, I might be intrigued but most of the time people tend to be really forceful and pour avalanche of titles (and opinions) all at once, like its something I must experience or else. Which than consequently, produces completely opposite effect and subconsciously I don't want to what is demanded from me. It is not just going against the main stream but also making my own way trough the world and finding what makes me happy, not following orders. Give me a handful of books that I have to read and I probably won't but if you just mention a title, I might. With TV series is even worse because I am not a TV person at all and have lived more than a decade perfectly fine without following TV programmes - I am a person who goes to cinema or read  a book - however, when two completely unrelated friends both recommended the same TV series, it became obvious that this is something that might appeal to me. So I decided to have a look. 

"Hollywood" is a heavily fictionalised account of post-WW2 atmosphere in movie industry, with several characters struggling to make their way up, trough all sorts of obstacles, prejudices and machinations. It is also a mix of real historical people and fiction - young actors who were pumping gas and servicing customers as a gigolos actually existed, as well as some producers and agents who were just given different names in the TV show. Celebrities of the times also appear - Noël Coward, Cole Porter, Tallulah Bankhead, Vivien Leigh, Eleanor Roosevelt, Hattie McDaniel and many more have cameo roles and in a way what makes this very original and interesting is that now we started to daydream and improvise on historical facts - just like Quentin Tarantino decided to completely re-write real facts and made Sharon Tate surviving her murder in "Once upon a time in Hollywood" , this series is a full blown big budget extravaganza about WHAT IF - what if people were different, braver and closer to our modern sensibilities. Of course we all know that previous generations lived in their own times and Hollywood of 1940s and 1950s was the kingdom with its own rules - there were no places for ethnic minorities, gays, etc. No matter how talented they might have been, beauties like Lena Horne and Anna May Wong were never allowed the main roles because studios dared not to break the ice of perpetual racism. So this TV series kind of apologises and creates the story with a happy ending.

It could be that I was ready to watch something and that "Hollywood" simply caught me in a good mood. It could also be that is really well made, with a tons of stars and talent. But I guess my friends were right and this was simply something that appealed to me. I reacted like a perfect audience and it was a pure escapism - I giggled, laughed, clapped hands and eventually even cried later as the story turned darker and some sweet, innocent young people got habitually abused by unscrupulous producers and agents. "Casting couch" was accepted way of opening the doors and this whole sexual premise of the story might be very entertaining to some, but I just found it sad. There is a for example a character of a young kid who tries to break into Hollywood but he is so fresh, sweetly innocent and genuinely good that its heartbreaking to see what he must go trough before he is "discovered" and re-packaged as Rock Hudson. I am binging on this TV series but unfortunately it has only seven episodes so I must take it easy and enjoy it slowly, hopefully there will be a second season.