I’ve always been interested Hollywood, specifically the process of making movies. I know a little about the processes of editing them, doing special effects, scoring and cutting trailers, etc. I can generally tell you about any upcoming movie at least a year before it is released, and also whether or not it will be any good. (Granted, I can pretty much tell you whether any upcoming movie is any good right now without knowing anything about it. The answer is “No”, because there hasn’t been a mainstream release in a long time that was any good.) I can wax rhapsodic about awesome films that never were, due to producer’s inability to agree to who gets how much of what money.
Hollywood “culture” on the other hand, is where I begin to feel lost. The politics of it all just seem so silly and stupid. Take for instance the grand Hollywood tradition of actors being presented with a star on the “Hollywood Wok of Fame”, whatever that is. I assume that the tradition has something to do with the fact that the ceremony is usually held outside of Mann’s Chinese Theater, upholding some ancient Chinese honor. As you know, cooks are practically worshipped in Asia (see Iron Chef; they’re bigger than Jesus!), and embossing one’s name onto such a revered cooking vessel as the wok is likely the highest of honors. This is of course pure speculation; I know very little about Chinese culture and am trying to apply logic to something inherently illogical. I mean Hollywood, not China; China knows a thing or two about logic.
My searching efforts have proved futile, so I ask this of you the reader: Is there one really huge wok with lots of little stars on it, or do they just have one normal sized wok with a single star on it at a time, which they presumably replace whenever an actor falls out of favor?
