'The Player'

An edited text of a lecture about the feature film 'The Player', given to VCE English students by Gary Simmons. 'What is important is what the film is saying about Hollywood as a dream factory and what it says about the values of the corporate players within this rarefied and self-enclosed world. The film makes an honest appraisal of the greed, cynicism, egotism and insularity at work in Hollywood, acknowledging its daily and pervasive incursions into our lives as viewers. We are left in no doubt as to Altman's intentions. His satire and parody hit many targets.'