Hollywood
Netflix, now streaming
Ryan Murphy’s Hollywood is a series of two halves. One of them – a recreation of postwar Tinseltown in its golden age – is pretty good, but the other – a fantasy alternate history of the movie business – is just plain kooky. For the first few episodes of the seven-part drama, it feels like Glee and Pose creator Murphy is dissecting showbusiness in the same razor-sharp way he did with Feud, his dramatisation of the twisted relationship between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. He introduces us to a gaggle of actors, studio bosses, agents and creatives, some based on actual legends like Rock Hudson (Jake Picking) and talent agent Henry Willson (The Big Bang Theory’s Jim Parsons), others purely fictional. It’s a world where those on the lowest rung, the would-be stars and people with actual talent, are grotesquely exploited by those who wield power, a potent reminder of the harsh reality behind the glamour. And it’s fun to watch Vivien Leigh (Katie Mcguinness) drunkenly reciting a speech from Gone With The Wind at a party populated by young gigolos. But then it slowly becomes clear the series is actually rewriting history, so that the talented young things trying to make it back in the 1950s somehow overcome the racism, sexism and homophobia of the time, even if they’re gay or black, or both. As this fairy tale takes over from the dark truth, the series grinds to a dramatic halt. There are still plenty of fabulous moments, like Queen Latifah playing groundbreaking Oscarwinner Hattie Mcdaniel, but it’s frustrating that we don’t get to see the full reality of Hollywood instead of this weird half-fantasy.