![]() Psychologist Bo Travis suggests ways for offenders to identify their personal shortcomings and correct them. Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg shares advice for offenders on being better and seeking redemption. The second part of “Burn It Down” offers solutions. The ex-fiance of reality star Lala Kent faces the collapse of his company amid a trail of lawsuits, civil fraud charges and allegations of abusive behavior. The geniuses say and do offensive things while enablers look the other way - a price purportedly worth paying for art.įor Subscribers The man who played Hollywood: Inside Randall Emmett’s crumbling empire Here, Ryan sharply targets an array of institutions and ideas, including the overriding myth of the “genius” (a book could be written on the misuse of the word), who in Hollywood often assumes the shape of a jackass, usually white and male. The book’s first part consists of chapters titled with various myths to be debunked: “The Myth of Necessary Monsters,” “The Myth of Meritocracy,” “The Toxic Myth of Creativity” and so on. None of it is right, but it should not come as a surprise when the underdog loses. Human-resources procedures and other safeguards are primarily invested in quashing or avoiding controversy so as not to tie up production. ![]() Sure, there are avenues by which complaints can be lodged, but the power structure usually sides with successful showrunners over writers and actors. Most new transgressions cited in Ryan’s book are not unlawful, leaving those who feel mistreated little or no recourse. And sometimes in democracies, bad guys lose at the polls. Sometimes in democracies people have recourse against those who abuse power. Even while acknowledging that the entertainment industry is autocratic, she applies democratic notions of fairness, a concept commonly trampled within organizations driven only by profit. Insofar as these behaviors are connected, they might be considered symptoms of a fundamental gap between how Hollywood works and how many, including Ryan, feel it should work. Wiseman and Goffman are alleged to have targeted “Sleepy Hollow’s” Black co-star Nicole Beharie with an ugly whisper campaign. “Lost” showrunners Cuse and Lindelof are accused of overseeing a frat-like writers room fueled by racist and sexist humor, and ignoring comments from Black cast member Harold Perrineau about representation. Sanz was accused of grooming and sexually assaulting an underage “SNL” fan when he was a cast member, in a case settled last year. Culprits include the usual suspects - Harvey Weinstein, Scott Rudin and Les Moonves, but Ryan adds to the scroll of shame alleged miscreants such as Horatio Sanz, Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof, as well as “Sleepy Hollow” executive producer Len Wiseman and showrunner/executive producer Mark Goffman, among others. ![]() ![]() That’s the gist of journalist Maureen Ryan’s new book, “ Burn It Down: Power: Complicity, and a Call to Change for Hollywood,” a partial overview of cretinous and sometimes felonious behavior in the TV business. If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from, whose fees support independent bookstores.īreaking news: Hollywood is sexist, racist, transphobic and homophobic. Burn It Down: Power, Complicity and a Call for Change in Hollywood ![]()
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