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Something's Gotta Give

© James C. Hess

Snake oil.

Many years ago, by way of equal parts trial and error, the Hollywood Machine, in its attempt to survive and endure, came to a certain, albeit ugly truth: Within a certain economic model quality and quantity do not matter or, perhaps, exist: What matters is not what is sold but how it is sold: Tell people--specifically members of the Great Unwashed Masses--they want something, and the odds are good they will respond in kind by not clammering for it. Tell people, comparitively, they need something, they must have something, hinting, perhaps, that possessing It can lead to better sex, longer lives, and whiter teeth, and they will stampede, as if lemmings to the sea, by way of a high cliff made of loose rock and shale.

In other words: To succeed, at least within the Hollywood Machine, one must sell the sizzle, not the steak, and the world's yours.

Ah, but there's the rub: How to attract those would-be consumers to your sizzle? What to do to convince Mr. and Mrs. America that your sizzle is best? Have a draw, an attraction, something that will all but secure interest.

Again, the rub: What sort of draw or attraction works best for such efforts?

When it comes to the Hollywood Machine the answer is ever-simple: A star.

Engage the services of a star to endorse your product and the rest is easy.

Or it is? Given the erosion that currently takes place with regards to morals and ethics within the Hollywood Machine finding the right star to promote your effort is not as easy as one might assume: Hire this star and find next week, he has a curious and very disturbing interest in young boys. Hire that star and find, at the most inconvenient moment, she doesn't like men.

So what's to be done, when it comes to finding the right star to promote your work? The simplest solution is to seek out the star who signifies, embodies, and represents the everyman. Given there are so few such stars nowadays who would do the job at hand best is simple:

He's back.

Jack.

For the past several years Jack Nicholson has made a career of making films and movies that appeal to the masses. There is nothing wrong with that. But what does give cause for pause is a question that lurks just below the surface of all these flicks: Is this Jack Nicholson we are looking at, or is it Jack Nicholson playing a character who resonates strongly of Jack Nicholson?