Hollywood is an American institution at the end of the day, but which Americans really run the place? Some quick facts I believe will illuminate who are the true American spiritual masters of Hollywood. Most Western Cowboy films, which I foresee will be seen as some sort of spiritual father of all preceding film, or probably already is, has a curious pattern. In lots of the classic Westerns, the Cowboy, is a disgruntled ex-confederate, upon defeat has been sent wandering west. One outstanding exception, the film Stagecoach, who’s John Wayne is no confederate, and who’s individuality and transcends even the trappings of the American civil war, still portrays the Yankee spirit as a materialistic drunkard, and he ain’t too sympathetic to that character.
Another symbol of the American Southern cultural spirit to me is actually Marylin Monroe, who’s blondie look is quite literally an embodiment of Dixie herself. This stereotype, the blonde haired, fair skinned, large breasted, and doe eyed woman of bounty and luxury, so often corrupted by modern storytelling in a thousand ways, for a thousand perverted reasons, screams to be named but never is. The Cartoon example could be found in Ralph Bakshi’s 1992 film “Cool World,” with his character “Holli Wood,” who is an obvious illusion to the Marylin Monroe archetype. If one is to think of time in a nonlinear fashion though, one may think Marylin Monroe, at least on screen, could be a reference to Holli Wood, who is in turn a reference to some spirit of Hollywood, who finally would be in reference to the Southern Belle.
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