Hollyworse

So earlier this week, it seems Catwoman peppersprayed Jack Sparrow. Allow me a moment to digress and explain.

If you don't live in Los Angeles you may be unaware of the comings and goings on Hollywood Boulevard. Due to a lack of any kind of institutional control the stretch of the Boulevard that passes in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater and the (soon to be re-named) Kodak Theater/Hollywood and Highland complex is a nightmare. Due to a large influx of tourists that part of Hollywood is overrun with people trying to hustle a buck from the out of towners. The worst offenders are people dressed as movie characters who pose for photos with tourists for tips. Legally they aren't allowed to ask for money but that protocol has long fallen to the wayside. I've seen them yell at people who wouldn't give them money. To be fair, some of the costumed characters have spent some real time on their look and they are harmless and do give the area a little bit of atmosphere. The majority of them are creeps who buy a $25 Halloween costume and wear it around. Many of them are lascivious in their behavior. A guy who dresses as SpongeBob got arrested recently for groping women. So there's them.

There are also amateur rappers trying to hock their basement made CDs and DVDs. Then there are the tour companies who send out employees to act as carnival barkers trying to entice tourists to take a bus ride to see the gated homes of famous people. Add on to this the homeless who are begging for change. And then there are the people who are varying degrees of mentally ill. A couple of weeks ago a guy went nuts and had to be taken away by police after assaulting people in a bank.

This time of year it isn't as bad as it will be in the summer months at the height of the tourist season. The bigger the crowds of guests, the more people will be out on the street trying to fleece money of the tourists. For people who actually live in or work in the area it's horrendous. It's also dirty and badly maintained.

Which brings us back to Catwoman. This week a woman who dresses up (sort of) like Catwoman maced a guy dressed up as Jack Sparrow and a guy dressed up as Ozzy Osbourne. What a delightful vacation moment that must have been as horrified families looked on to see beloved Captain Jack get sprayed in the eyes!

Which raises the question from me, why in the hell do the people in charge allow this part of Hollywood to be such a shithole? With the exception of possibly Disneyland, the section of Hollywood Boulevard between Orange and Vine is very likely the most popular tourist destination in the city. The area boasts the Walk of Fame, both Grauman's Chinese and Egyptian theaters, the Disney El Capitan theater, both the W and Roosevelt Hotels, the new Cirque show Iris, Madame Tussads, the Guiness and Ripley museums and the Hollywood and Highland mall. Why on earth would you let a tourist destination with this much to offer be this level of sketchy?

It's bad for business to be sure but it also shows a sharp lack of concern for history and city culture. People want to see the Chinese Theater with it's world famous hand and footprints because they want to see the history of the motion picture industry. And that industry has been extremely vital to the economic and cultural development of Los Angeles. Why would anybody let that be disrespected so much?