Attack of the Hollywood Cliches!

This is everything it describes itself as, a history lesson on some of Hollywood's most infamous cliches. But since Hollywood is historically a very racist, sexist and homophobic place, lots of those cliches are problematic. Pointing that out is just part of diving into the cliches, why erase history, right? That doesn't make you "woke" it makes you not racist, sexist or homophobic.

Might have been interesting, but it turned out as a very unbalanced attempt to cram a billion cliches (most familiar to discerning moviegoers) plus a few woke reminders. Netflix just cannot entertain its audience, it must preach, patronise and hammer its point of view in every single "original" show. There might be a cliche about the "white saviour" but for sure Netflix (and Prime and just about any single movie and TV show produces in States in the last five years) managed to reverse that, with their own "black saviour" cliche... and Rob Lowe is a most annoying, not funny and smug host.

While some of the tropes are funny, there were a few that remind us all of how awful Hollywood has been to certain humans, such as the tropes called White Savior, Magic Negro, and Ugly Villain, and then we are further lectured by the interviewees about how they are wrong and hurtful.

What's not to like about this bit of whimsical fluff? Rob Lowe - arguably the ultimate troubled Hollywood star cliche not named Charlie Sheen- narrates the industry's mea culpa for excessive reliance on many of its go-to gimmicks. As a very minor film critic, I also appreciate that many of the talking heads are relatively unknown reviewers. That's showing some love for the folks in the unlit, popcorn-scented trenches who variably savor or endure endless iterations of the depicted tropes so their audiences can make informed choices. My nit to pick is that other examples came to mind along the way that I would have preferred. No better depiction of the avenging-daddy's-murder theme exists than "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." It shouldda been a contendah.