Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

Burn It Down: Power, Complicity, and a Call for Change in Hollywood by Maureen Ryan

9 reviews

fkshg8465's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

4.25

Sadly, nothing new (only in that this BS has been happening since Adam). Will be hard to watch Lost in the same way ever again, though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Ableism, Alcohol, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Self harm, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Rape, Violence, Body shaming, Sexual harassment, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Racism, Suicide, and Physical abuse

saucy_bookdragon's review against another edition

challenging dark informative sad slow-paced

3.5

A very dense book that could have done more with its reporting. I'm involved enough with discourse around Hollywood that the systemic problems discussed were not surprising, but I did find a lot of the specific examples fascinating.

Some especially eye-opening discussions were the ones about how entry-level workers are abused, how Nicole Beharie was abused on Sleepy Hollow, the racism on Lost, the lack of diversity with the 2015 Muppets show, SNL's toxic environment, and the positive environments of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and WandaVision. I applaud the author's in-depth reporting and thorough research!

I did find the book a bit too dense, at times feeling like a textbook. It also felt repetitive at points, especially when it tried to discuss the overall systemic issues. The book is much stronger in how it talks about specific examples. I also found part two of the book weak, although there's good ideas presented for how Hollywood can change, a lot of it is too broad or vague (advice like "fire bad people" or "don't be racist") or it's not considering alternative systems enough. Especially the advice on how entry-level people can protect themselves is weak.

Overall, Burn It Down is well researched and eye-opening in many ways. Though it is not as radical as the clickbait-y title suggests and its prose is far too dense and dry. I'd recommend the whole book for people who aren't familiar with Hollywood's systemic abuse, for people who are familiar I'd recommend maybe skimming around the novel for whatever shows or examples you're interested in reading about. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Racism, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Homophobia

jackiepreston's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

The two halves of this book feel very different. I understand the purpose of part 2, but it's not nearly as compelling as part 1. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Racism, Sexism, and Homophobia

rachelingrisano's review

First of all, I’m not sure of the motivation of the author. She seemed very knowledgeable of the industry – as a critic. But I don’t really understand why she was writing this book, and then constantly defending herself of why she was writing this book. I would’ve rather heard from an actual industry insider. Many of the stories are so vague that it’s hard to become invested. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Body shaming, Bullying, Cultural appropriation, Homophobia, Fatphobia, and Alcoholism

atomicbritt's review

challenging dark informative sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Sexism, Xenophobia, Gaslighting, Racism, Homophobia, and Adult/minor relationship

wlreed312's review against another edition

challenging hopeful informative slow-paced

5.0

Brilliant, challenging, at times infuriating. I especially liked the discussion about SAG-AFTRA in one of the later chapters, given the strik that is currently happening. It offered a lot of insight 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual harassment, and Homophobia

Minor: Alcohol and Drug use

geenawrites's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

 Maureen Ryan's expose on the Hollywood machine is something else.

I've heard of and watched a lot of the situations Ryan details, lived in the moment as some happened in real-time.

And I'll be honest, I really only got this book to hear the chapter on Sleepy Hollow and the horrors of what happened on that set. I know a lot of other readers who did the same.

Not out of some masochistic need to hear it read to me all over again, but to know and see the pain actors like Nicole Beharie and Orlando Jones are seen and acknowledged. Surrounding the SH debacle is a plethora of stories of people who entered creative industries like Hollywood to tell stories, only to be harmed and pushed out by self-important personalities who thrived on a culture of abuse.

"Burn it Down" is a hard read. I stopped more than once to cry and to take a breather. I started reading this at the start of June and only finished it today.

Feelings of despair and anger were a constant, but they didn't leave me hopeless. Instead, I'm hopeful for the work that people are doing to, as Ryan puts it, "burn the old temple down". It's happening everywhere, and I truly hope to see the fruit of this labor.

I heartily recommend this book to anyone invested in social change and community action and collaboration. Just pace yourself. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Homophobia, Rape, Racism, Sexism, and Sexual violence

scottnap's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative medium-paced

5.0

This is a hard read but a necessary one for anyone looking to go into the entertainment field.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Racial slurs, Racism, Gaslighting, Grief, Homophobia, Cursing, Sexism, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

jeoonwoo's review against another edition

challenging hopeful informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Physical abuse, Homophobia, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, and Racism