Risky Business: The Political Economy Of Hollywood

Hollywood is an intense and unique culture of artists, producers, promoters, technicians, and managers. It is a community of superstars and extras, successes and failures - a place where, according to David Prindle, most "live in an emotional world characterized by paranoia, suspicion, resentment, and dread." Risky Business examines the politics and economics underlying the complex interrelationships and interior struggles that exist between Hollywood's principal players.David Prindle takes us behind the facades of Hollywood and discusses the "existential truths" about Hollywood's totality as a monolithic culture and the stresses that the industry applies to all involved. Subjects covered include the anxieties at work within the industry, with a focus on Hollywood's industrial structure and distribution difficulties; the "sociological nightmares" of Hollywood that include interpersonal relations, the awards industry, and AIDS; Hollywood's liberalism; political activism and the "good citizen" celebrity; the internal politics of affirmative action, labor and management, and artists' rights; and the issues of censorship and self-expression.The author has incorporated all the learning and theoretical sophistication of political science yet has written an accessible and colorful book. Full of details and anecdotes, Risky Business will appeal to anyone interested in a more comprehensive understanding of the Hollywood mystique.