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For my 21st birthday my model ,Sarina, got me the perfect gift: a ticket to Universal Studios. Being a huge movie buff, the atmosphere of Hollywood promised to be a dream-come true. My anticipation went wild, taunting me as I waited for a weekend that would be good for both of us to make the trip. On September 11th, we left for the city that seems the paramount of the American Dream. We left Hemet around 12:30p.m., and finally we were getting close to Universal around 2:30. As I made a turn off of the last highway on our route, there it was: the Hollywood sign.
The feeling of being this close to the city I’ve revered since childhood was intoxicating, making so many things rush through my mind: my favorite movies, the infamous Manson Family Murders, as well as The Black Dahlia, etc. On arrival to Universal, we told that the park would only be open till 5p.m. that day. I wasn’t about to waste Sarina’s gift to me on a 2 and half hour experience, so we decided to come back the next day when the park would be open till eight o’clock for a fuller experience.
On the way home, we stopped downtown to get gas & McDonalds, when it finally struck me: I was standing on the Walk of Fame! The first star I saw was right outside the restaurant, it was Marilyn Monroe’s! Soon after, I noticed only two stars away, one of my favorite musicians: Ozzy’s star! It was now that a feeling of surreal bliss was starting to overcome me. More so when I looked up from Ozzy’s star, and saw Ripley’s Believe it or Not! Since we were low on money, we just spent a few minutes looking at the displays in the lobby; then, we decided to see as many highlights of the city as we could.
Hollywood is full of eye-candy, everywhere you look: signs pulling you one way or the other, statues immortalizing the glamour of stars past, and people, huge crowds of people. The population of this city is so booming that it feels almost suffocating. The city itself seems a living thing, everywhere, itches to be scratched, hungers to be fulfilled or left wanting. My eyes lead me to believe I was inside a Carnival filled with all kinds of odd attractions and monstrosities, most notably the people. From those dressed as popular movie characters such as Edward Scissor hands (who pretended to give me a haircut) having a little fun with tourists, to the hobos and street performers just trying to get by… there’s no denying the cultural and financial diversity of Hollywood.
The sounds of the streets were like an ominous howling comprised of thousands of voices struggling to get their words out all at once, creating a language of its own like in a Pentecostal church. Sirens blared every few minutes, with the “howling” culminating into what sounded like a distorted tune playing on a warped record from the late 1800’s, with a jagged needle. It almost seemed as if there was a hidden message being spoken by the city, written by the events that had taken place there; just as many suspect The Beatles of adding secret messages to suggest an unspoken truth - never learned, but always searched for.
The smell of the city was bland, and flavorless like a jar of rainbow colored sand that had been shaken up, blending all of the colors into one. Too many aromas to possibly discern one from the other, as if to order everything on the menu at a gluttonous feast held by the victims of the black plague. The air was thick with the stench of unclean, diseased mouths gorging endlessly on a meal they know they will never live to fully digest.
To taste the city was much like the good doctor, Hannibal Lecter, described the word “trade,” in the instance of Paul Krendler’s life: “cheap and metallic, like sucking on a greasy coin.” As much as you consume of Hollywood, the taste does not satisfy; as with junk food lacking true nutritional sustenance, you always want more. And no matter how much you get, satisfaction still eludes, and you only seem to grow plump with the “fat” of greed.
Everything in Hollywood seemed to be covered in a grotesque slime, barely thin enough to feel, but thick enough to clog your lungs with each breath of it. It was like a residue of what used to be the promise of fame that had aged and decayed over the years like uneaten food left to rot in a broken garbage disposal. The atmosphere inspires a feeling of awe, yet simultaneously, disgust. The corruption of the city: apparent on its face, giving you a feeling of being crowded, rushed, and unclean.
The city of Hollywood was everything I thought it would be, overpopulated, filthy, a burden to the environment. It was sickening… beautiful, and I can’t wait to go back.
~kINGFreak
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