Bradley University’s annual Robison Lecture took place on Oct. 8 on campus. The guest speaker this year was journalist and critic Maureen Ryan.
Ryan’s work has been featured in numerous entertainment publications, and she has been a television critic at Variety, the Washington Post, and the Chicago Tribune. Complex magazine named her Best TV Writer in America in 2013.
Her lecture focused on debunking the myths surrounding the legendary area of Hollywood.
Earlier in her career, Ryan had written a difficult story on a person who felt they had been mistreated by a powerful production company. When Ryan told her mother that she was feeling anxious about the story, her mother grabbed her shoulders and said, “That’s your job.”
“I had to come to terms with doing awkward, uncomfortable, difficult things or I had to get out of the game,” Ryan said.
Ryan gave the lecture from a seated position due to her recent knee surgery.
“If the speech flags,” Ryan said. “I can always just show you my knee scar, which is pretty gnarly.”
Those in attendance were enthralled with her speech and humorous style.
“I loved her sense of humor,” freshman nursing major, Lindsay Donlan, said. “It was really dry, but it was informative. It was entertaining without being flamboyant, and I love lectures like that.”
Rather than show off her scars, Ryan discussed the various myths surrounding Hollywood in our culture. She dispelled the “myth of meritocracy,” pointing out that prejudice against people of color, women and members of the LGBTQ community plays a significant role in determining who advances in the entertainment industry. Though she agrees the industry has improved in recent years, it has not done so fast enough.
“Just because the patient didn’t die on the table doesn’t mean the patient is healthy,” she said.
Ryan also discussed what she called “the myth of creativity,” objecting to the stereotypical image of a white male genius, and arguing that toxic or abusive environments aren’t necessary to the creation of art.
Later, she discussed the “myth of Hollywood democracy,” and said that the wealth and power disparities of Hollywood work to make the industry deeply undemocratic.
“The industry itself is a set of autocracies,” Ryan said. “Where very few people, on a set or at a studio, have the power. And those who do have the power are often not checked in any meaningful way.”
Ryan concluded by dispelling the myth of who really has the power in Hollywood. Rather than executives or directors, she said, the greatest power in Hollywood is in the hands of the individual consumer, whose money and critiques can influence what happens in the industry.
“What you think really matters to Hollywood. Like, a lot,” Ryan said. “We can all use our collective individual power to make Hollywood better.”
Students took away information about Hollywood that they can relate back to the news today.
“I thought it was very interesting,” freshman psychology major, Austa Schley, said. “Knowing everything that’s been happening, and everything in the media, and having an academic talk about it in person … it’s been really cool.”
