During our class’s stay at the Oakwood, the lot of us have met some very interesting characters, ranging from rambunctious actors and high videographers to bratty child actors and their neurotic parents. There seems to be an accepted truth that THIS was the place to be– LA This is where you make it or break it– and if you were to make it, it would be here.

Coming from New York, another big city, made this experience even more intriguing. New York, although it has great prestige as a city, is not the first place that comes to your mind when you think “Film Industry.” An aspiring director I came across at the Oakwood named Dave asked me what the difference was between the two cities. However, it was clear he was more interested in each of the cities’ “discovery rates” rather than my personal experience in LA compared to NYC. I was about to make an argument for New York, but then I realized how much of an influence the word “Hollywood” has over the general population. People flock to Los Angeles because of things like the Hollywood sign and Hollywood Boulevard, all elements made to make the industry look as flourishing as possible.

Each of these people– the aspiring actors, videographers, directors, and parents– all come to the Oakwood because LA is where it’s at. Some have given up eight years of their lives because of the illusion Hollywood has cloaked over the entire 500-square miles that is LA. The sad truth is that only 2% of its entire population is involved in the film business, producing an exploding culture of wannabes. This may have been the only thing I detested about Los Angeles– or, more accurately, the Oakwood. There was persistent vibe of people not only being prepared to be discovered– as so many successful people we have met in Hollywood have told us– but also of advertising oneself to an overwhelming extent. People left and right at the Oakwood, whether it was in the hot tub or the activities room, were advertising to us despite the fact that we were college kids in the midst of a hectic block. They still felt the need to share themselves to people who were not big in the business. Honestly, they were probably using it as practice for the real deal.

The Hollywood business thrives on the stars it produces. Whether their reputations are made or shattered is no matter to the corporations or the media. The heaviest of failures is prioritized to the same extent as the most profound of successes, if not more. Privacy in the twenty-first century world has become a privilege rather than a right, as statuses and news reports are announced internationally within seconds. Actresses addicted to cocaine are advertised as much as those addicted to philanthropy; thus, a multitude “It” girls have been born. 

The idea of the “It” girl has been in development since the first actress of Hollywood took the screen. Take “Gone With the Wind”– Scarlett O’Hara, by being the protagonist of the story, becomes the “It” girl by default, despite her lack of kindness and integrity in comparison to Melanie. Even before the grand premiere of the film, paintings of Scarlett’s face were posted along the entire street that lead to Loew’s Theatre; shops were selling dresses in Scarlett’s style and selling the latest “Scarlett O’Hara Perfume.” While Scarlett is the protagonist of the film, she is also her own antagonist whose character, to me, is despicable. She is a beautiful young woman who gets a great deal of attention from many a man, yes; she also does what she wants when she wants in order to maintain her superiority, disregarding those she wounds along the way. The idea of her character being suddenly embodied by an actress, however, had powerful influence on the female population: producer David O. Selznick had received letters from those who desperately wanted the role, claiming to have the manipulative ability to steal many men’s hearts at a time, and therefore should be cast as Scarlett. At a certain point, media becomes impossible to ignore, and even actresses who play characters with the coldest of dispositions become the epitome of a woman.

This effect of the perfect woman or “It” girl has manifested in how women think today. However, this thinking has evolved from simply imitating a character (Scarlett) to imitating the actress in real life (Vivien Leigh). Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable used to be the reigning King and Queen of Hollywood for many years, but now new Hollywood monarchs with much more dramatic personal lives seem to surface every day.

Quantity of stars has surpassed the quality of stars in the public eye. Recently, the media has taken even more advantage of famous women in order to create the next story and the next new “It” girl. Girls thrive off the newest, youngest “It” girls. Consumers of Seventeen Magazine, Vanity Fair, and Vogue are influenced by any and all exposure to these celebrities who have become the latest role models. Today, we see feature articles on the revered Jennifer Lawrence and Anglina Jolie; yet, to balance out the good apples, even more is featured on actresses like Lindsay Lohan. No matter who is portrayed as the good or the bad apple, all of these profiles of women who have had some amount of success have been eaten up by readers of People Magazine and watchers of “The Insider.” The sad truth about Hollywood is that all of the apples are still portrayed as movie royalty; each gets the same amount of attention as she gets to step out of the limo, be swarmed by paparazzi, and walk down the red carpet. In my opinion, there are so many famous actresses now that appear so many times in the media that the “It” girl no longer truly exists.