The Hollywood Power Brokers Mugged by Reality
Everyone in L.A. has had that moment when something awful and crystallizing happens. Perhaps it was the UCLA graduate student stabbed to death in a furniture store. Or the college student shot and killed near USC. Or the 12-year-old in Wilmington struck by a stray bullet.
For many in Hollywood, it came on December 1, 2021, when a robber a repeat offender broke into the Beverly Hills home of Nicole Avant s parents. He shot Avant s 91-year-old mother in the back, killing her and later, according to court records, laughing and bragging about it. He did not expect to spend the rest of his life in prison; he figured Gascon s office would be lenient. (He was wrong.)
The message was like this neon billboard hovering over the city, the Hills, the tennis courts and Michelin-star restaurants: You can live in a beautiful neighborhood several freeway stops from the poor and the violent. You can wall yourselves off with gates and security systems. You can even hire a personal security guard, as Avants parents had. And it still doesn t matter.
You might think I really don’t like LA. But LA is vast and includes as much as several of the rectangle states. Whole cities’ worth of LA are fascinating places, filled with hardworking people and great restaurants. This part of LA, the glittery part most people think of, would be best if it just broke off and floated away. Strangely, or not so strangely, it dominates our attention and politics.