Michael Cieply: Two Weeks Out, The Academy Museum Preps A Cautious But Correct ‘Hollywoodland’ Opening
deadline.comTwo weeks from today, finally, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will open its new permanent exhibition, Hollywoodland: Jewish Founders and the Making of a Movie Capital.
For many, it amounts to an act of completion. A Hollywood film museum without a special tribute to Jewish roots has felt for the last two-and-a-half years like a church without a tabernacle, a history made up of footnotes without the text.
Something big was missing. Arriving now—amid strife over Gaza, rising anti-Semitism, and threats to Israel’s existence—the exhibition is born at a time heightened sensitivities, to put it mildly.
Universities are a war zone for Gaza-related protests. Political conventions are bracing for trouble this summer. Not two months ago, the film Academy’s Oscar broadcast was delayed (slightly) by anti-Israel action in the streets.
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