"To tell a truthful story about how to "make it" in Los Angeles (or, more specifically, in the entertainment industry that has claimed Los Angeles as its own), you have to acknowledge the grimy sacrifices most people end up making. Whether by calculation or circumstance, every player trying to win the game inevitably finds themself making choices they'd rather not think about too hard."
"When she decides to meet the guy (Colin Woodell) for lunch at a dimly lit restaurant, they catch up, flirt, and drink (she drinks more, at his encouragement). All the while, our girl is visibly anxious. She wrings her hands, giggles nervously, and chases wine with more wine. As he smirk-smiles over his empty glass at her, she starts to shrink. She's so hyperaware of everything she's doing that she almost can't hear what he's actually saying."
I Love LA mixes slapstick comedy and frenetic banter with a growing undercurrent of darkness. Maia receives a note from her former New York boss that shifts her behavior, signaling an uncomfortable power dynamic tied to her past. She meets the man for lunch, drinks more under his encouragement, and visibly shrinks as he dismisses sensitivity and belittles a harassment victim. The episode reveals the calculative compromises entertainers make to succeed in Los Angeles. The narrative frames ambition as a series of grimy choices and shows how coercion can be normalized within professional relationships.
Read at Vulture
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]