On Tuesday, October 8th at 7 p.m. award winning TV critic Maureen Ryan took the stage during the Communication Department’s annual Robison Lecture at the Michel Student Center Ballroom. Ryan, a former chief television critic at Variety, took the stage Tuesday night, delivering her lecture; “The Myths of Hollywood: Why Dissecting Them Matters, Especially If You Love What Hollywood Makes”.
At the beginning of the lecture, Ryan was introduced by Bradley professor Sara Netzley, who briefly described Ryan’s accomplishments as well as expressed gratitude for coming to Bradley University. When questioned about her reaction to Ryan’s lecture, Netzley again expressed her excitement saying, “I was extremely pleased to have such a talented television writer speaking on campus about timely topics. She speaks about Hollywood affectionately but also critically, so I think she’s a great person to talk about the challenges facing some of the more toxic aspects that have come to light recently”.
During Ryan’s lecture, she discussed some of the underlying problems associated with Hollywood. Depicting her thoughts of Hollywood through “myths” of what people actually expect of the people that run Hollywood. One myth she mentioned was the overarching belief that producers and executives in Hollywood bring about social change through their works, indicating that most of the time this influence of social change is usually exaggerated.
Another myth Ryan discussed was people’s general acceptance that Hollywood’s top producers and directors are also the most talented and intelligent, claiming that this is false and that some of the most talented people in Hollywood are not necessarily the most “successful ones”; mentioning most of the highest caliber acting and film awards are nearly always won by whites, which just cannot accurately depict the best and most talented people in the film industry.
Students and faculty in attendance seemed to thoroughly enjoy Ryan’s lecture, as many laughs were shared among Ryan and the crowd. Junior Sheridan Hurtig found Ryan’s lecture to be quite eye-opening, saying “It was really interesting to hear about a world that was completely different than to what we (students at a private university in Peoria) are used to. Also, to hear that ultimately, while we live in completely separate worlds, that those people aren’t much different from us”.
Students typically had the same reaction to Ryan’s lecture, for Senior Joshua Hansen he feels as if he has a new perspective on Hollywood after viewing the lecture. Stating that he, “Really feels like the myths she mentioned not only apply to just Hollywood but in real life. A lot of times the same concepts can happen in real life. I think Ryan really pointed out how important it view these people associated with the same business very intricately because it will reveal the true colors of whomever you’re analyzing”.
Overall, it seems that the Bradley community greatly appreciated Ryan’s lecture and learned quite a bit about the myths of Hollywood. Students and faculty also enjoyed a table of snacks and refreshments after the Q&A took place, making it the cherry on top to an always interesting and eye-opening Robison Lecture.
The Robison Lecture happens annually at Bradley University. Who could the speaker be next year?