Babylon (2022) | The Definitive Explanation

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Reader Interactions

Discussion

  1. I was bewitched by the film until the scene where Tobey Macguire’s character takes them down into that subterranean hell-hole. What on earth was that meant to mean? The crassification of Hollywood? The dangerous freakshow that was/is Hollywood? I was totally lost.
    Any guidance would be much appreciated.

    • Hey, Paul! Yeah, I think you nailed it. It’s essentially the fact that Los Angeles/Hollywood has this truly darker side to it. Like Maguire’s character and his cave club represent all the ugly stuff that goes on in Hollywood. Like we see all this awful stuff happen throughout the movie. The lack of humanity. The people hurt at parties. The people hurt while filming. The people existentially ruined by the demands of the industry. The Maguire stuff is a way to not only represent the illegal stuff that goes on (like gambling and s*x work and what have you) but also feels like the embodiment of all the awful stuff we already saw happening to other people on movie sets and in the industry.

  2. I got taken out of the film at the beginning by the elephant set piece. The elephant could have just walked up the hill.

    • Travis and I both had difficulty with that too. It was a bit silly. And gross.

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