What did you learn about the Hollywood blacklist from Melanie’s experience? How do you think the 1950s compares to today, with social media and cancel culture?
The Hollywood blacklist took place very shortly after I was born. And I have to admit that I never really delved into it, even though I had a rudimentary understanding of what went down. So I appreciated learning more about it. And seeing how Melanie was affected.
Truthfully, I didn’t learn anything new about the Hollywood blacklist from this book.
I don’t think today’s cancel culture is akin to the blacklist, but there are strong parallels to be found in social media usage. The concern underlying the blacklist was related to national security and the infiltration of foreign operatives into American society and institutions. It evolved because of the Cold War and the threat that it was believed Russia posed to our way of life and safety.
That threat exists today via social media, but not exclusively. We know that Russia has infiltrated social media platforms and spread disinformation during the last 3 national elections, at a minimum. We know that their disinformation campaign dates back at least 40 years to the 1980’s. We know that we are vulnerable to various forms of attacks upon our power-generating & management facilities, banking systems, etc.
Cancel culture is different. That is the barring of individuals from various industries and activities as a direct result of their behavior, usually targeting individuals. Harvey Weinstein preyed upon vulnerable actresses, sexually assaulting them and engaging in quid pro quo harassment. Kevin Spacey was ostracized because of similar behavior with men. Megyn Kelly’s talk show was canceled after her racist remarks, Don Lemon was shown the door at CNN for misogynistic comments. Those are just some examples of people being canceled as a direct consequence for their own wrongdoing.
I was somewhat familiar with the Hollywood black list. However, I will admit that this book had me doing some deep diving. I wanted to know when it started and how long it lasted. I also was really curious to see if I recognized any of the names that were on the list. This was all before my time, so I enjoyed doing further research on the topic. Social media is such a 24/7 affair. There is no escaping it. Plus people say things on social media without being in possession of all the facts and things they would never say to an individual directly, but they have a sense of protection on the social media platforms. Well protection and entitlement. If you have an account on a platform, it can absolutely be a free for all.
I was aware of the Hollywood blacklist but never really thought about how it affected the lives of people who were only guilty of association with other people who had been black listed.
The Hollywood blacklist and McCarthyism has played a big part in the cold war and many people were detained that were not communists but might have associated with people that were or were suspected to be. There was a campaign of fear spread then about Soviet espionage in the US. So all that background was not new and many actors in the industry had careers that were on hold like Melanie’s or destroyed all together. Today, I think cancel culture is similar, but without such lasting effects. When someone today gets ‘cancelled’ on social media, they often have a rebounding comeback at some point in another area of interest. It’s not as serious as being accused of consorting with Soviet spies or communists. With the russians current influence on our current administration though, things are reversing, but not in a positive way.
The historical aspect of this novel was not that well developed perhaps because Melanie was on the periphery being associated with an actor who was under suspicion. It would have been more interesting to me if there was more to the story. What I did learn was the true significance and impact of misinformation. That, unfortunately exists today and I fear, get worse. Social media and the media plays a roll in the dissemination of misinformation…tragic. As in the era of McCarthyism…who can you trust? Importantly, the cancel culture does not do enough to stop this.
I knew some things about this time, but I was pretty young. I actually felt the time was a little sooner than indicated in the story line. And it could have been explained with more history.