Charles Bukowski delivers an unconventional tour of Hollywood
Despite what the studios might have you believe, the world of Hollywood isn’t a flourishing land of magical opportunity where you might be able to bump into Steven Spielberg on the sidewalk or Brad Pitt in a coffee shop. Instead, it resembles the bizarre cultural hellscape seen in movies such as David Cronenberg’s Maps to the Stars or David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive.
Indeed, the world that such aforementioned movies present is one that bubbles with insidious capitalism, where actors are treated as fodder and studios are seen as faceless corporations. Such is self-evident when one steps outside of the main streets that boast the Hollywood Walk of Fame and ventures out into the land beyond the iconic sign, which is rife with poverty.
This facade is something that the American poet and novelist of such books as Hollywood and Women, Charles Bukowski, explored in a bizarre short video where he can be seen in the passenger seat of a car giving a brief tour of the streets of LA. An iconic resident of the area, the novelist takes no time at all to give us a tour, not of the Hollywood strip, but of his neighbourhood, 5124 De Longpre Avenue.
Pointing out all the major landmarks you’d want to know about, including the local “dope dealer” and a liquor store he’s been in “many a time…great place”, Bukowski’s tour is a lot better than anything an official guide might tell you. “Here’s a strange place,” he adds, “You wanna get stuff about the devil? Go in there, you can get all kinds of powder, you mail them to people, they die, for 15 cents, you can kill someone. It’s nice.”
Going off on a wild tangent towards the end, he adds, “I miss a little of that dirty action now and then, I gotta admit it. Teaches you where humanity is, you never want to forget that.”
Passing away in 1994, Bukowski was extremely influential in the shape of late 20th-century culture, inspiring such iconic musicians as Bono, Tom Waits, and The Arctic Monkeys over the years.
A subversive icon of counter-culture, Bukowski once penned a letter about how much he despised the nine-to-five working schedule, stating: “And what hurts is the steadily diminishing humanity of those fighting to hold jobs they don’t want but fear the alternative worse. People simply empty out. They are bodies with fearful and obedient minds. The colour leaves the eye. The voice becomes ugly. And the body. The hair. The fingernails. The shoes. Everything does.”
Sit back, relax, and allow Bukowski to give you a short tour through Hollywood below.
