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You're pretty amazingly optimistic about how meritocratic capitalism is. Legolas Send a noteboard - 12/10/2017 07:18:38 PM

View original postthat the reason Hollywood dislikes the idea of capitalism so much is that they operate in one of the areas where it fails the hardest. I mean, being good-looking and connected can help with a career anywhere, but nowhere nearly so much as in Hollywood, where you're truly swimming upstream if you're just a nobody who wants a job. People move to LA, scrape by on nearly nothing for years, and maybe make it in a lottery-style contest where image is nearly everything and talent is almost nothing. Is Jennifer Lawrence really the most talented actress in her cohort? Emma Stone? Is Hollywood as far from a meritocracy as it gets in the US? Do they look at the next actress over who has never had any work, or maybe think back to that friend who was also seeking acting employment and realize "She could do my job - I'm no better than her". Same with the actors, of course. And producers - Jon Peters rose from being a hairdresser to co-running Sony Pictures. Because one of his customers was Barbra Streisand.

One of the areas where capitalism fails the hardest? As far from a meritocracy as it gets in the US? Surely Hollywood is one of the most meritocratic places out there, where you can gain immense wealth and fame almost overnight based on your merit and drop back to being a nobody almost as fast if you don't perform to expectations - except of course that the merit on which you're judged is no more and no less than how popular your last movie was. Same thing on a company level, where a single big hit or spectacular flop can make or break a studio. As far as the ruthless, survival of the fittest aspect of capitalism goes, there are few better examples than Hollywood, especially where young actors are concerned.

And call me a cynic, but I don't exactly think most workplaces do such a great job at rewarding people based on their objectively measured merit, in a way that makes more sense than Hollywood's...

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Weinstein - I've long had this theory... - 12/10/2017 03:31:11 PM 935 Views
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Just because he drugged and raped a 13 year old he doesn't deserve an Oscar? - 12/10/2017 04:01:19 PM 508 Views
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umm... sure. - 12/10/2017 04:50:37 PM 433 Views
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Replied in wrong place. *NM* - 12/10/2017 06:20:38 PM 236 Views
Look at Silicon Valley - 12/10/2017 04:32:22 PM 451 Views
But what is the cause, and what is the effect? - 12/10/2017 04:43:10 PM 503 Views
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Weinstein was a virtue signaller - 12/10/2017 06:59:13 PM 493 Views
The music industry is just as bad - 12/10/2017 06:59:34 PM 510 Views
Really it is worse, much much worse. - 20/10/2017 05:55:15 PM 459 Views
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I prefer the artsie all emotion no reasoning explanation *NM* - 13/10/2017 02:09:45 PM 259 Views
You're pretty amazingly optimistic about how meritocratic capitalism is. - 12/10/2017 07:18:38 PM 449 Views
wut? - 12/10/2017 09:57:09 PM 462 Views
Movies are similar to start-ups - 12/10/2017 10:26:05 PM 492 Views
A question for the ages that has an answer: - 13/10/2017 03:09:29 PM 483 Views
Hm. You're completely misunderstanding my post. - 12/10/2017 11:09:11 PM 500 Views
I think you're making this up - 13/10/2017 03:03:18 PM 469 Views
Uh, the two sentences from your post that I quoted? - 13/10/2017 07:24:58 PM 503 Views
The two sentences you quoted don't say anything positive about capitalism - 13/10/2017 08:12:49 PM 431 Views
What actual point would that be, then? - 13/10/2017 11:55:56 PM 471 Views
You're amazingly ignorant of what capitalism consists. - 12/10/2017 11:15:51 PM 560 Views
absolutely - 13/10/2017 05:09:40 PM 594 Views
Isn't that likely the future of teaching? - 13/10/2017 05:43:15 PM 585 Views
Could be - 13/10/2017 06:05:42 PM 507 Views
Not even close. It is control environment where success is bestowed - 13/10/2017 02:16:09 PM 620 Views
See, if it were communism, everybody working on a movie would get paid the same. - 13/10/2017 07:41:18 PM 566 Views
are talked communism in theory or practice? - 17/10/2017 03:36:59 AM 493 Views

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