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Burn It Down: Power, Complicity, and a Call for Change in Hollywood Hardcover – June 6, 2023
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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • LOS ANGELES TIMES BESTSELLER
An NPR Best Book of the Year
In this spectacular, newsmaking exposé that has the entertainment industry abuzz and on its heels, Vanity Fair's Maureen Ryan blows the lid off patterns of harassment and bias in Hollywood, the grassroots reforms under way, and the labor and activist revolutions that recent scandals have ignited.
It is never just One Bad Man.
Abuse and exploitation of workers is baked into the very foundations of the entertainment industry. To break the cycle and make change that sticks, it’s important to stop looking at headline-making stories as individual events. Instead, one must look closely at the bigger picture, to see how abusers are created, fed, rewarded, allowed to persist, and, with the right tools, how they can be excised.
In Burn It Down, veteran reporter Maureen Ryan does just that. She draws on decades of experience to connect the dots and illuminate the deeper forces sustaining Hollywood’s corrosive culture. Fresh reporting sheds light on problematic situations at companies like Lucasfilm and shows like Lost, Saturday Night Live, The Goldbergs, Sleepy Hollow, Curb Your Enthusiasm and more.
Interviews with actors and famous creatives like Evan Rachel Wood, Harold Perrineau, Damon Lindelof, and Orlando Jones abound. Ryan dismantles, one by one, the myths that the entertainment industry promotes about itself, which have allowed abusers to thrive and the industry to avoid accountability—myths about Hollywood as a meritocracy, what it takes to be creative, the value of human dignity, and more.
Weaving together insights from industry insiders, historical context, and pop-culture analysis, Burn It Down paints a groundbreaking and urgently necessary portrait of what’s gone wrong in the entertainment world—and how we can fix it.
- Print length400 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherMariner Books
- Publication dateJune 6, 2023
- Dimensions6 x 1.15 x 9 inches
- ISBN-100063269279
- ISBN-13978-0063269279
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"Burn It Down is a Howard Beale-style, 'mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore' manifesto directed at the overlords and ladies of show business, complete with a multi-point plan for their redemption.... [Ryan] is a dogged and dedicated journalist." — New York Times
"[A] breathless compendium of malfeasance, which provides a valuable service in giving voice to those who have long gone unheard." — Los Angeles Times
"Galvanizing." — New Yorker
"This book is urgent and necessary, and I am excited to see Maureen Ryan bring it into the world. So many of the books about misconduct and abuse in the entertainment industry focus on One Important Man, and we know the problems are deeper and wider than that at every level. An examination of the systems and traditions that enable abuse and prop up abusers, helping them fail upwards and ensuring there will be a bottomless churn of vulnerable workers for them to exploit is so needed right now. Burn It Down is that book." — Erin Keane, Editor-in-Chief of Salon and author of Runaway
"Maureen Ryan is a dogged, clear-eyed reporter, legendary for her miles-deep exposés of Hollywood abuse, toxicity and bullying. In Burn It Down, she makes a powerful case for a less romanticized view of the entertainment industry, one that rejects the ugly traditions of the past, holds bad bosses accountable, and marks a path to a better future." — Emily Nussbaum, Pulitzer Prize-winning critic for The New Yorker and author of I Like to Watch: Arguing My Way Through the TV Revolution
"Maureen Ryan is a rigorous thinker and a lovely writer and does terrific and necessary work to trace the places where entertainment and injustice intertwine with profit and abuse." — Rebecca Traister, New York Times bestselling author of Good and Mad and All the Single Ladies
"Burn It Down does the heavy lifting in helping to uncover not just the ugliness of the behavior of high-profile individuals, but the mundane abuses common in the broader television and movie landscape. Maureen Ryan is a tenacious and meticulous reporter, a sharp and passionate writer, and an advocate for a fairer and better industry. There’s a reason a lot of network personnel with a lot they’re trying to keep in the dark hate nothing more than to see Maureen coming with a flashlight and a pen." — Linda Holmes, New York Times bestselling author of Evvie Drake Starts Over and host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour
"Maureen Ryan is not only a keen critic with a fair and far-reaching eye. She is also a leader in dismantling systems of oppression and abuse in Hollywood. Her reporting has single handedly brought consequences for abusers in positions of power. I am continually inspired and grateful for her work in my industry. She makes the entertainment world safer." — Felicia Day, New York Times bestselling author of You’re Never Weird on the Internet and Embrace Your Weird
"Maureen Ryan is a necessary agent in questioning the status quo, and Burn It Down masterfully takes on Hollywood power structures that need to be reckoned with and changed." — Ira Madison III, co-host of the Crooked Media podcast Keep It and author of the forthcoming essay collection Pure Innocent Fun
"As a journalist, Mo Ryan saw the need for #MeToo coming years before it went viral. And that means that even though the constant headline-grabbing virality has subsided, Mo knows that there is still much more work to do. There are unfortunately many more painful truths about show business that have to be dug up. And there are also more skeletons in closets that need to be dragged out into the light. Mo is fierce, funny, unbossed, and unafraid." — W. Kamau Bell, New York Times bestselling author of Do the Work: An Antiracist Activity Book, director, and executive producer
"Fascinating. Devastating. Important." — Kerry Washington, actor, director, producer and organizer
"Film and television journalist and critic Ryan has written the kind of book the phrase 'searing indictment' was invented for: a straight-shooting, rigorously researched and documented exposé of Hollywood’s culture of abuse.... This appears to be the book Ryan’s career has been building toward: she’s always been an advocate for people who work in the entertainment industry, and she’s never shied away from exposing Hollywood’s darker side. This powerful, angry, shocking, and important work should grip all readers interested in the truth about the entertainment industry." — Booklist
"Ryan exposes the ugly truths about the entertainment business and the harmful behaviors that have been accepted and normalized in Hollywood for more than a century.... By breaking down the various myths that entertainment workers are told to believe, the author dismantles the argument that there is no changing the business; she also offers solutions. Readers will come away with a better understanding of what creatives have gone through to make the shows and films people love to watch. Some readers may even recognize similar harmful behaviors in their own work environments." — Library Journal
"Vanity Fair contributing editor Ryan has been writing about the film and TV industries for many years and has collected a huge number of stories about abuses. While the revelations about Harvey Weinstein shone a light into shadowy corners, the author argues that a propensity for abuse is effectively institutionalized.... Ryan has the experience and insight to explore Hollywood’s dark underbelly, and she finds plenty of monsters." — Kirkus Reviews
"Filled with revealing behind-the-scenes stories and blistering analyses of the industry’s failings, this makes a convincing case for rebooting Hollywood." — Publishers Weekly
"A searing indictment of abusive behavior and work practices in the U.S. entertainment industry.... This is the proverbial look inside the sausage factory, revealing the offal, sorry, awful truth about how those shows you love are made. Indeed, if you enjoy watching television, you owe it to yourself to read this book and see what's really going on.... Burn It Down is a heavily researched, beautifully written book that leaves no Hollywood throne unturned.... Constantly engaging and illuminating." — Haaretz
About the Author
Maureen Ryan is a contributing editor at Vanity Fair and has covered the entertainment industry as a critic and reporter for three decades. She has written for Entertainment Weekly, the New York Times, Salon, GQ, Vulture, the Chicago Tribune, and more. Prior to joining Vanity Fair, Ryan served as the chief television critic for Variety and the Huffington Post. She has served on the jury of the Peabody Awards and has won three Los Angeles Press Club Awards.
Product details
- Publisher : Mariner Books (June 6, 2023)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 400 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0063269279
- ISBN-13 : 978-0063269279
- Item Weight : 1 pounds
- Dimensions : 6 x 1.15 x 9 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #377,208 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #644 in Movie History & Criticism
- #1,034 in Communication & Media Studies
- #5,221 in U.S. State & Local History
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As the book notes, she and the leading man had great chemistry...in front of the camera. The behind the scenes accounts of their animosity towards one another pales in comparison to the alleged differentiation the leading lady experienced re: the inability to carry the show.
This was well written and each chapter was rife with details, some with people who went on the recording, lending credibility to the stories.
The writing flows well although, the last chapters of the book lose some steam.
If you are interested in the inner workings of the industry, this is a must read.
*And it just made me even angrier to know how showrunners could almost deliberately tank a show that should have run for the seven years referenced in S1 Ep1.
Reviewed in the United States on July 2, 2023
Top reviews from other countries
Ryan deconstructs the belief that bad behaviour is not only acceptable if you are a “creative genius” it’s actually part an intrinsic of being creative.
Ryan doesn’t only look at the explicit abuses, but the often less obvious forms of exclusion and discrimination and the myth of meritocracy which impacts people from marginalized groups, even though as she notes, these days we have plenty of data that demonstrates the reality of it.
And lest you think this all sounds too depressing, there are examples from actors and writers who worked in functional, supportive environments, so demonstrate that it is possible!
Importantly the book gives a lot of space to looking for solutions, both in the form of restorative justice on a personal level, and strategies the studios and the industry could implement, some of which are part of the demands by the currently striking writers’ guild.
Ryan has an easy to read conversational and personal style of writing, that is backed up with extensive interviewers and evidence. Highly recommended.
In many ways it's brilliant to see the lid blown off this industry that many of us love so much, but for me the author gets in the way of her aims.
For a start, Ryan places herself at the centre of EVERYTHING. She has to pass judgement and opinion over every tiny thing she mentions, refusing to allow her audience to make up their own minds about anything, or even for the stories to tell themselves.
Often there are references to "harrowing" tales... but they're left out of the book, and their alleged existence is used as evidence that we're supposed to take at face value. I'm sure there's truth to that claim, but it undercuts the central narrative when the apparently "worst" stories are left out.
The more I read, the more I realised this is Ryan's personal take, not an attempt at an unbiased piece of journalism. In many ways feels like an extended blogpost, with all of the lack of self-awareness that such a medium can bring.
For example, she frequently gives herself a pass for falling prey to shilling Hollywood's myths during her many years as showbiz journalist, but now she has zero sympathy for anyone who isn't as enlightened as her. She mercilessly lambasts anyone who says the things she used to say without any sense of self-awareness: She openly admits she was once just like them... but now everyone else is labelled "awful".
And where was the editor? As others have pointed out, the excerpts in Vanity Fair were tight and readable... but the finished book is overly verbose. Frequently what could have been said in a paragraph is spread over two pages. The same points are often repeated from different angles. Which isn't to say Ryan isn't eloquent or coherent. She absolutely is. But her insistence on verboseness and commentary keeps us at the periphery a lot of the time: People's stories often aren't shared in detail, instead we see snippets of them, and Ryan comments on them, telling us how to feel and think.
It feels like 50% hard evidence and 50% commentary. I don't think I've ever read a non-fiction book that placed its author so front and centre to everyone else's story. And there's a whiff of Jordon Peterson-style "I've figured out something important, and you all must listen to me! I have the solution!" self-importance throughout.
The way she ends her opening chapter is indicative of the importance she places on her own voice:
'The day before I interviewed Wood, I had lunch with two established writer/producers. Both are people of color. As we consumed an impressive number of coffees, one of them observed that the industry was notably different than it had been in the '90s, when he started out.
'"True," I answered. "But back then, the bar was set in hell."
'Neither disagreed.'
For a book that wants to give a voice to the downtrodden, it's somewhat maddening that Ryan has to insert herself at every opportunity.
It's especially maddening because I wanted to desperately hear those stories. Sometimes we do, to be fair, but takes a long time to get there, and even then I just wish Ryan would get out of the way.
Also, forget about shades of grey or counterpoints.
A brief example, later on in the book she throws HBO under the bus for featuring nudity in its shows. There's definitely something worth exploring there, as it has often felt like there's been a nudity quota per episode that needs to be hit, but her account doesn't pause to consider the other side: American TV is stymied by conservatism. Guns, violence and gore... they are fine for primetime TV. It doesn't matter if children see them... but a naked human form, a swear word, an allusion to adult themes... they must be removed at all costs!
HBO addressed this puritanical trend, filling a gap for adult audiences because adult themes simply weren't available elsewhere in US culture. Did they cross the bar sometimes? Almost definitely, but there's more to be said than just taking a few quotes out of context to support a wider narrative. And plenty of their most acclaimed shows featured no nudity at all.
Ryan simply skates by, taking pot-shots and not bothering to stop to check if any of them landed, and its indicative of what's really going on here: This is her take, her manifesto, and her anger spilling onto the pages. Everything is angels and demons, black and white. There's no room for nuance while she excises her stress migraines, and certainly no counterpoints.
And if there's no counterpoints, then how do we know how accurate her portrayal is? The one-sided, opinion-driven style of the writing sometimes defangs its central arguments.
Does this mean Burn It Down is without value? Absolutely not. This is a book that you won't forget. It opens the window and lets you peer inside Hollywood, exposing its hypocrisies, corruption, and abuses. It's absolutely worth your time and worth reading... but it is a slog.