The Culture of Hollywood

The Culture of Hollywood, Can it be Re-appropriated?


This past weekend cultural icon Paul Newman passed away at the age of 83. The movie star, most famous for his roles in Cool Hand Luke and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, left behind his wife Joanne and five daughters. Newman’s interests however were much greater than just movies. He left the glamor of Beverly Hills to peruse his motor sports passion and went on to become a champion race car driver and team owner and he backed into a salad dressing business that was never supposed to amount to anything that made him super-philanthropist and introduced himself to an entire new generation of followers. Newman left behind a vibrant history capturing one of Hollywood's most unique careers.

Cultural appropriation is the viewpoint that is taken on by the opposition to a certain image or icon. For Hollywood and movie stardom, what might bring you great fame and riches can be appropriated to also bring about more struggles and anxiety than it is worth. The cultural appropriation of Hollywood is failed celebrity marriages. It is a career narrowly defined by a single success. It is drugs, DWIs and rehab. It is out of control spending, families that are split and don’t communicate. It is paparazzi tracking your every move and interfering with much sought after person moments. For those wishing to critique the glamorous life of being a movie start there is no glamor left by the end of the day.

Paul Newman was an exception as he strived to re-appropriate this viewpoint. He was a statement to the fact that Hollywood is not just a pool of narcissistic minimal talent. Instead he fought the status quo and proved that truly gifted person with a love for theater and the arts can still make it big with a career that spans generations. Newman did what he loved to do, still directing local community theater performances up until just earlier this year when his health began to deteriorate. Unlike what is wont in Hollywood, his celebrity marriage worked out and his career was never interrupted with stints in therapy to get off prescription drugs. For Newman there was more to life than just movies and basking in glory and stardom. He followed his heart and pursued his passions. His sense to give back to the community was met with his actions and his support for children's charities and summer camps. Over $250 million to date had been donated by the Newman’s Own brand. Paul Newman was a one-of-a-kind figure who re-appropriated the values of Hollywood in the way only a true icon can.

See more: The New York Times Obituary