Fame often comes with a price, and these movies really showcase that price in a fascinating way.
Hollywood executives love this movie so much that they’ve remade it four times. Indeed, there has been one A Star is Born movie for almost every new generation of the last century. In fact, there might even be another one in twenty years starring North West and the great great grandson of Marlon Brando. On the other hand, there’s a reason that A Star is Born is so enduring. Whether it’s a rock musical, a pop musical, or a streamlined fable about actors, it always turns a spotlight on the pitfalls of fame. Behind the glossy mansion and glittering makeup is a real human being, haunted by their own success.
If you can get past this movie’s suggestion that a classical music conductor could ever achieve the same heights of fame as, say, Ariana Grande, then you can start to enjoy it. But actually: There is a whole plot point about Lydia Tár getting canceled that begs the question, “Was she ever subscribed?” In any case, Tár manages to explore how fame and power can corrupt even the most sympathetic souls. Hannah Montana: The Movie, this is not.
Influencers may not be the world-famous skinny legends they think they are, but at least some people might recognize them in public. Now, those people might not remember what the influencers’ names are, or which defective products they were promoting on TikTok, but they’ll at least go, “Huh, I know them from somewhere.” That said, there’s always at least one person who is unconditionally in love with the influencer they’re following – and in Ingrid Goes West, that person is Ingrid, as she goes west. In stalking her favorite influencer, Taylor Sloane (Elizabeth Olsen), Ingrid learns that influencers’ lives aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. Indeed, they’re total, tragic fabrications.
Marilyn, we didn’t deserve you. This borderline exploitative film about Marilyn Monroe will make you feel anew for a woman whom you’ve no doubt already felt for. Hollywood just simply can’t get enough of spinning tragedy out of this woman’s life. Still, Blonde takes things one step further thanks to the dazzling central performance of Ana de Armas as the tortured Norma Jean.
Though set in the theater world, All About Eve feels more like what an episode of Real Housewives would feel like if it were directed by Martin Scorcese. You see, All About Eve is about a famous woman in 1950, and famous women were never allowed to be happy. Specifically, the movie chronicles the trials and tribulations of being an aging star in an industry that disrespects older women even to this day. It’s no wonder this movie snagged 14 Oscar nominations and won Best Picture. Hollywood loves exposing its own corruption, as long as it forgives itself immediately afterwards.
Judy Garland is the ultimate victim of Hollywood – abused from a young age, misunderstood in young adulthood, and viciously rejected by those sworn to protect her. Judy pulls away each of those layers, and Renée Zellweger’s performance reveals the pain throbbing just behind Judy’s daily interactions.
Sunset Boulevard isn’t just a portrait of the iconically deluded Norma Desmond. It’s also a condemnation of the enablers, hangers-on, and power-hungry vampires around her. As Desmond leaves Hollywood ever more behind in the rear-view mirror, she must also contend with misogyny and ageism. This Hollywood does not slay.
