Ep. 36: Hollywood (The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo + The Black Dahlia)
Summary: Welcome to Tinseltown, folks! This week, Holly(wood) and Devin dive into the glitz, the glam, the seedy underbelly of the symbol of the entertainment business. Holly recently moved closer to the epicenter of celebrity, while Devin has always been terrified to visit - intimidated by all of the people who figured out how to get famous. They find that across genres Hollywood has always held a wide appeal, and in almost no other theme is the difference between romance and murder so thin.
Topics Discussed:
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The Heart (4:42): Devin discussed The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid, a novel that traces through the long life of famous actress Evelyn Hugo as she shares a tell-all with up-and-coming reporter Monique Grant. Please be aware that below is a *spoiler* but also a key plot point that Devin couldn’t avoid touching on:
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Through the interview process and early-ish in the book, Evelyn reveals to Monique that the great love of her life was actually a woman - fellow actress Celia St. James - and that she is bisexual. Devin finally understood why *everyone* was trying to push her to read a book about a celebrity with 7 male husbands.
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Reid explores the challenges of Hollywood and conformity in society writ large through the life of Evelyn Hugo - she is a woman in a patriarchal society, she is a cuban woman passing as a white woman, and she’s bisexual in an era when deviance from the norm and wlw was demonized.
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Evelyn’s grit, drive to succeed, and nimbleness to use societal expectations to craft the life she wanted is admirable and exciting to read. There is a final twist at the end of the book, though, that Devin felt was unnecessary and pushed the book from engaging to dramatic.
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The Dagger (20:13): Holly discussed The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy, a crime fiction novel from 1987 that is loosely based on the infamous (real) unsolved case of Elizabeth Short, who was found brutally murdered and dismembered in Los Angeles in 1947. The fictionalized version follows two LAPD detectives - Bucky and Lee - who become obsessed with the victim and her case. Holly’s key takeaways were:
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Ellroy is a very gritty noir writer, and the novel not only exposes the corruption, violence, and depravity that lies just beneath the glittered surface of Hollywood, but toxic masculinity and themes of violence as well.
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Bucky and Lee are friends but also rivals in love with the same woman - Kay Lake (Lee’s live-in girlfriend). There is a black-and-white film version of the novel and Kay is played by Scarlett Johansen. Their rivalry and their methods of beating suspects, use of violence to solve cases, etc. allow Ellroy and the reader to explore the moral question of if the ends justify the means.
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The victim, Elizabeth, had many aliases and was obsessed with becoming a Hollywood star; women in this novel are portrayed largely as victims or objects of desire for the male characters. The fact that this was a real crime adds a layer of gravity and reality to the themes explored in The Black Dahlia.
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Hot On the Shelf (38:29):
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What’s Making Our Hearts Race (42:40):
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Holly: Book signing event at Zibby’s with Sally Hepworth
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Devin: Season 10 of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
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