IT’S SHOWTIME - The Hollywood Community Plan certainly has received a lot of attention the last couple of months. Articles were written time and time again, pointing out the good and more likely the WORST of the plan; discussing myths and fiction and more over addressing the really bad parts: Extreme Densification, No Parking, Outdated Infra-Structure, etc. (for more you can visit: www.savehollywood.org, http://fixlosangeles.com or simply GOOGLE “”Hollywood Community Plan”).
However, unlike “Good Will Hunting”, which Matt Damon and Ben Affleck wrote and stared in and which ultimately won them an Academy Award for Best Original Screen Play, this production of the Hollywood Community Plan is heading straight toward the Razzies, an award saluting the Worst that Hollywood has to offer.
If this was a Broadway production we would get ready to raise the curtain for the show, but since this is Hollywood we are about to see a production we wish would go straight to DVD or into the vault instead of coming to a community near you.
By now most of you probably heard or read that on Tuesday, March 27, 2012 the Los Angeles’ City Planning and Land Use Management Committee (PLUM) listened to the City Planners present their proposed Hollywood Community Plan as well as many speakers who supported the plan and cheered the planners efforts.
It was like attending a live Film Shoot, where the script was written and the cast lined up. The set was ready, camera was rolling and the directors (aka: Huizar, Reyes and Englander) took over as the supporting cast waited in the background, ready to deliver their lines when called up.
This Hollywood Community Plan Love Fest, however, is NO ORDINARY production, in which the producers put up their money to get the movie done. – Heck, this is not even a movie, but it sure is Make Believe!
So why are so many people so excited about this plan? Some are happy, some are thrilled, and a lot of them are totally ecstatic, but even more are really upset, ticked off and utterly disgusted with it.
Well, if you break it down like this, you might get a better picture (no pun intended):
Location: Hollywood, CA (aka: Central / Los Angeles, CA)
Writers: City Planners Mary Richardson and Kevin Keller
Assistant Writers: Developers (Out of State and local)
Director: Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa
Assisting Directors: Los Angeles City Council Members (current and former)
Starring Roles: City Planners, City Council Members, Various candidates for LA City election 2013, Various Developers and of course the list goes on and on …
Supporting Roles: Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, Friends of the Hollywood Central Park, Various Hollywood Neighborhood Councils and of course the list goes on and on …
Extras: Anybody who still gets on board to support this version of the Plan
Villains: Anybody who is against the plan (and since there seem to more of them than there are Extras this could make this Hollywood Production into a Horror Movie)
And of course there are those who remain behind the scenes, like Make Up, Wardrobe, Editors, etc. –
Those “artists” will be needed now more than ever, especially since patching or covering things up might make this plan more desirable, and by editing the undesirables out in the end might make the plan more acceptable.
The only problem, however, is the fact that no matter how much lipstick you put on a pig or how much you dress it up with fancy facades and take pretty pictures the truth remains the same: a pig is still a pig.
Side Note: Please come and join the “cast”, when TAKE TWO takes place on Tuesday, April 17, 2012 at 2:00 PM in front of the City’s PLUM Committee, City Council Chambers (room 340), Los Angeles City Hall.
(Ziggy Kruse is an activist and reporter for www.HNN-TV.com. She is also a former Board Member of the Hollywood Studio District Neighborhood Council. Ziggy can be reached at [email protected].)
Tags: Hollywood Community Plan
CityWatch
Vol 10 Issue 28
Pub: Apr 6, 2012