Hollywood: what's in a name?

"Remember that a person's name is, to that person, the sweetest and most important sound in any language.”

- Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People

This is expressly true in a town where your name is your pay cheque, your legacy, your glut, and your piece of real estate on rag-racks and billboards. Without a doubt, Tinseltown loves to hear its own name. This is about as ambiguous as Elton John’s wardrobe.

Hollywood’s love affair with itself traces its origins back to the emergence of the Studio System in the 1920s. That’s when all the major studios became factories for film, and moved into Studio City, California. As a quick aside, Hollywood the place (not the idea) is a depressing cesspool. Sorry to break the 4th wall and tell you if you didn’t already know. The ‘burb of Hollywood in Los Angeles is like Niagara Falls - cheap tourist thrills, strip malls, neon lights losing their sheen and a thick layer of the settled dust of broken dreams. Studio City, Culver City or even Burbank are what people think of as “Hollywood”, just so we’re clear.

In 1927, The Jazz Singer became the first full length studio “Talkie”. It marked the end of the Silent Era. The narrative follows Jakie Rabinowitz, a young man who defies the traditions of his devout Jewish family. He wants to be an entertainer! He wants to be a Star! So he changes his name to Jack Robin, and headlines as a renowned jazz singer. He made it. The “town” (read: industry) embraced him. We learn that however deeply-rooted the struggle, ambition will always come in conflict with self. Baby, there’s nothing more Hollywood than that.

The Jazz Singer was the proverbial lit match on an industry already fueled by it’s own ego. At least thematically. From the top, Dale Carnegie helped me make a point about the sweet sweet sound of ones own name. Hollywood has the prosaic tendency to reward story lines where it is the “star”. I’ll save you the Google search black hole:

• Sunset Boulevard (1950) - 3 Academy Awards, 3 Golden Globes

• Singin’ in the Rain (1952) - AFI’s #5 Movie of All Time, 2 Academy Awards, 3 Golden Globes

• A Star is Born (1976) - 5 Golden Globes

• LA Confidential (1998) - 2 Academy Awards, 1 Golden Globe

• Adaptation (2003) - 1 Academy Award, 2 Golden Globes

• The Aviator (2004) - 5 Academy Awards, 3 Golden Globes

• The Artist (2012) - 5 Academy Awards, 2 Golden Globes

• La La Land (2017) - 5 Academy Awards, 6 Golden Globes

That’s not even mentioning films like Tropic Thunder, Hail Caesar, The Player, Mulhullond Drive, Bowfinger, Barton Fink or the two OTHER (now three) A Star is Born(s). The "making it" in Hollywood theme is played out, but almost always hits commercial, cult and/or critical success.

Tonight, I have a ticket to see the latest love story to Hollywood, A Star is Born. The darling of the Festival circuit will finally reach the big screen. If history repeats itself (like bell bottoms, platforms and the colour mustard) we will see A Star is Born at every Award show this season - as the legitimate front runner. I don't even have to have seen it to read the tea leaves. Even though it’s only been 2 years since La La Land, we are ready for more. I’ll be the first to admit, I’m like the ladies of the night that stand on corners in West Hollywood, ready to give Hollywood the ego-trip of its life for the price of a ticket. I’ll shamelessly say its name over and over and over again. Will you?