Reviewer Christine Zibas has spent all of her life in love with books, and most of her life working with words. She has a B.A. in Political Science from Western Illinois University and did advanced studies in politics and publishing at WIU, Oxford University, George Washington University, and Stanford.
For many years Christine was an editor in the
think tank world, editing books and reports on international
relations and military studies. She worked at the Center for
Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. and the Johns
Hopkins Foreign Policy Institute, where she served as director of
publications. In London she was the editor at the International
Institute for Strategic Studies. To read more of Christine's Reviews CLICK HERE
Brett L
Abrams
McFarland & Company, Inc. Publishers
ISBN:
978-0-7864-3929-4
In this comprehensive overview of the
development of Hollywood (particularly between 1917-1941), author
Brett Abrams demonstrates how those who crossed the boundaries of the
society’s sexual norms had a unique role to play in creating the
image we have today of Tinseltown. Today most people’s image of
Hollywood is one of a laissez faire, “anything goes” town
dedicated to the movie business. Yet it wasn’t always that
way.
Cross-dressers, gay and lesbian actors and actresses, as
well as those who engaged in adulterous affairs all challenged the
societal norms of early Hollywood, and in many ways, those attitudes
remain unchanged even now. Yet these individuals helped to form
Hollywood into the city it is today, known around the world for its
daring, exciting milieu of glamour and stardom.
This outsider
behavior allowed the middle class to get a glimpse into the exotic,
then retreat back to their comfortable world. It began with
“slumming,” when average folks would visit the highly charged
nightclubs of early Hollywood, enjoying the titillation of seeing
these “sexual deviants” from a distance, then returning to the
safety of their homes. This exposure to performers, wrapped up in the
glamorous veneer of clubs like the Coconut Grove or hotels like the
Ambassador, gave ordinary citizens a chance to be daring without
truly altering their own life styles. In fact, there was even a
popular guidebook called “How to Sin in Hollywood” that served as
a Fodor’s to these very Hollywood hangouts.
Movie stars and
studios similarly used this daring lifestyle (if not outwardly
endorsing such outlandish behavior) to gain attention for upcoming
movies or make stars’ lives into more dramatic (and
attention-getting) activities than they might otherwise be. Coupled
with coverage in movie magazines, industry newspapers, and eventually
TV coverage, it all helped build an image to sell the Hollywood
product.
In his book, author Brett Abrams has done an
incredible job of laying out the story of early Hollywood and
detailing just how sexual transgression (whether through
homosexuality, adultery, or other taboo behavior) helped to challenge
society‘s boundaries and build an image for the movie business of
excitement and daring.
As an archivist at the National
Archives, Abrams’s research for this book is impeccable, with 35
pages of notes and bibliography alone. From White House inaugurations
to newspapers’ society pages to the cross-dressing stars of early
Hollywood, he has painted a fascinating portrait of an industry (the
movie business) and city (Hollywood) that most of us take for
granted. It’s a stunning effort to go inside a historical
experience rarely covered by the general media, one that can be
enjoyed by all.