Photo: King Chimp

The original plan for today was to find and write about something funny making it’s way around the internet, it being Friday and all.

Or maybe something about Halloween, its origins as All Hallows Eve, the day before the beautiful celebration of the Day of the Dead.

But instead, I feel a bit overwhelmed. Overwhelmed with being a woman, living today, in the world in which we live.

That might come as a surprise, what with me being a white gal living in America, and though far from rich, just as far from destitute.

Yet, I can’t turn off what happens to my sisters throughout the world, both abroad and right down the street. From death threats to a doctor who performs reconstructive surgery on women ripped to shreds through female genital mutilation, to the gang rape of a 15-year-old high school student by up to ten 16-25 year-olds in the town next to where I used to live, we are not safe.

We are mothers, we are sisters, we are friends. We give the gift of life to those who wish to keep us down or take our lives.

I can’t help but recount the number of women I’ve known that have been sexually abused, assaulted, or raped repeatedly. There are many more that have than not. I also can’t help but struggle with my own “maybe” and all the implications it has had for my life. Who would I be now if it, whatever “it” was, hadn’t happened?

The Power of a Single Moment

Think, for just a moment, what effect we have on each other in our passing interactions every single day. Bridges are built or destroyed by single words or sentences, intentions are paramount to success or failure, and whether we choose to scream out in anger or somehow engage in dialogue can impact us for hours, days, weeks and months to come.

Photo: Ingorrr

Now think about the long term impact of an unwanted, and as is often the case for young girls, a misunderstood advance. The repercussions are a life of mistrust of themselves just as much as others, and acting out in ways in can take a long time to process or come to terms with.

Further down the line, you have women that will never, ever, EVER experience sexual pleasure in their lives – and in a way, what it means to be a woman – because all that is left “down there” is scar tissue.

What about the ever present “rape as war tactic” that is valued by military (and apparently, peacekeepers) the world over, despite the recent UN resolution classifying it as a weapon of war? What exactly does that resolution do to change anything?

And maybe, worst of all (is this even an area for comparisons?), are those girls and women, living in “free” Western countries, who are sexual slaves. Look no further than the Houston Maria Bonita Cantina or the Asian massage parlors in San Francisco to contemplate the complete ravage of life this $8 billion international industry promotes. I’d honestly rather be dead than in their place.

The End of Oppression?

As I write, I wonder if this world will ever exist without the oppression of women. Even that word, oppression, hardly scratches the surface of what these tactics do to women; they rob part of our soul. There has got to be a word that when said, strikes at the heart of men who commit acts against women – something that implores them to feel what tremendous pain and anguish their actions cause.

At the very least, I’m amazed again and again at the resilience I see in the many beautiful women that surround me near and far. There is a small part of me that understands that even if they rob a bit of your soul, it’s regenerative, like a starfish. We have the power to heal ourselves.

But what can also help it to regenerate are the men who understand it’s not about protecting the women you love – it’s about changing the mindset of the men who don’t love women.

Please share your thoughts on this subject below.

Photo: Daily Mail Online

Last month, a Christian couple in Liverpool was charged with “criminal offense” after a religious dispute with two of their Islamic guests.

The couple, owners of the Bounty House Hotel, and the Muslim guests were apparently having breakfast when a discussion about religion ensued. Although details are scarce, it seems the couple:

…Suggested that Mohammed, the founder of Islam, was a warlord and that traditional Muslim dress for women was a form of bondage.

Ok, certainly offensive, but worth going to jail over?

Seems a little law in the UK called the Public Order Act allows police to arrest people based on offensive comments. The law was enacted, lawyers say, in order to deal with violence and disorder on the streets, not to arrest people having an argument.

Yet police say they were charged due to use of ‘threatening, abusive or insulting words’ that were ‘religiously aggravated’.

Things getting a bit out of control here? It’s hard to know exactly what happened, and the hotel owners obviously have some questionable beliefs about Islam. But going to jail over them? Man, half of America would be in jail if we could get arrested for stupidity.

Freedom of religion, freedom of speech and protection from bodily harm seemed to be getting all jumbled up here. Plus, commentary by the Daily Mail brought up another good point:

It is striking that the Crown Prosecution Service has thought fit to bring this case, when no action was taken to prevent the appalling persecution of Fiona Pilkington, whose disabled daughter was savagely bullied, who called for police help in vain at least 30 times, and who eventually killed herself in despair.

Hmm, makes you wonder what is really going on here.

What do you think about people being arrested for religious offense? Share your thoughts below.

Feature photo: yoshiffles

Eckhart Tolle

Though it shouldn’t come as a surprise, turns out Eckhart Tolle is a threat to all that is good and moral.

Well, at least according to leaders of just about every organized religion out there.

The Canadian magazine Macleans recently ran a feature on the man who some consider “one of the greatest spiritual leaders of our age.”

Other considerations range from heretic, to a mixer of “Hinduism, Buddhism, and New-Age Pop,” to “anti-Christ” (in a beige sweater vest, as the author notes).

What’s his sin? Well, it seems to be one thing essentially, no matter which religious leader you ask. He removes the hierarchical view of God being “above” us, and states instead that God is within each of us. We are all of, and share, the same source, so there is no need to go outside oneself to find connection or peace.

Or, as Mr. Walker, Texas Ranger himself, Chuck Norris had to say:

To me, [Tolle's success] is more evidence of the paradigm shift in our culture from its moral absolute and Judeo-Christian basis to a relativistic world view in which anything goes and everything is tolerated.

Anything goes? Has he read Tolle?

The Purpose of the Now

I’m not sure this commenter on the Macleans‘ piece has either: “Spiritual masturbation. All the good feelings without any intellectual discipline, interpersonal communion, or a perspective informed by tradition or mentorship.”

Tolle’s overall message is to always live in the present moment. To attempt living in the now, it takes extreme discipline. As Ian MacKenzie wrote in his piece, The Traveler’s Guide To Enlightenment, “‘Now’ is what you’re doing at this moment. It is you sitting in your chair, hand on the mouse, pupils reading the words on this screen.”

Are you fully in your body right at this moment, or is your mind somewhere else – thinking about checking Facebook, that annoying thing your friend said earlier today, or contemplating what sex with Eckhart Tolle might be like based on his picture above? (No need to lie, now).

In other words, it’s every day, every second, both within yourself and in connection with others, of not thinking about the past, and not contemplating the future. It means always connecting to the spirit inside of you and all around you.

I hardly consider Tolle perfect, and he certainly is making a chunk of change off of his books, videos and new ET-TV (yes, that’s Eckhart Tolle, not Entertainment Tonight, TV). But as far as I can tell, he has never claimed perfection, or being better than the rest of us; he is simply spreading a message about our own ability to achieve inner peace (a message which can be accessed at the public library for free).

God or Prophet? No. Simple, loving message? Feels more like it.

What do you think of Eckhart Tolle’s message and tactics? Share your thoughts below.

Sometimes, you just have to walk. With this idea mind, Christoph Rehage set out on November 9, 2007 with the goal of crossing 4646km through China. Almost every day, he snapped a photo to document the journey (and his beard growth).

After a year and roughly 4500km, in the desert of Gobi, Chris decided to stop walking. He boarded a plane, shaved his facial hair, and went home.

I caught up with Chris to talk about the journey, the biggest challenges, and the existential feeling every traveler has when they look at a snapshot of themselves “before” their life-altering experience.

BNT: What compelled you to go on this journey?

I am thinking about this question as well. I think it has to do with a spontaneous walk I did in 2003, from Paris to Bad Nenndorf in Germany. The memory has been with me ever since.

Why did you choose foot? What are the benefits of a walking journey?

It is nice to walk towards the horizon, not knowing what’s ahead. The good thing about walking is that it is a rather slow method of movement, so I imagine you have more time to take in more of the details on the way.

Did other famous (or non-famous) long-term foot travelers inspire your trip?

Well, my original walk from Paris to my home was inspired by an article I had read about the Roman armies, who had to walk all around their vast empire back then. That’s when I kind of got the idea. There are two more influential people though: the first one is early 19th century German traveler J.G. Seume, who traveled to Italy and did quite a bit of walking there.

The second and maybe more important one is German journalist M. Holzach, who walked around Germany in the early 80s – without a penny to his name, and wrote a brilliant book about it.

What were some of the biggest challenges of long-term travel on foot? What were your biggest surprises?

The challenges come in different stages, foot-pains being the first one. Then there are all kinds of different pains to follow, hopelessness and self-doubt being the most difficult to overcome. It sounds a bit tacky, but the biggest obstacle is always within ourselves.

You dedicate the film to Teacher Xie; how did you come across him and how did he influence your journey?

As fate would have it, we crossed paths somewhere in the Gobi desert, after I had already been walking for more than a half year. I was then to find out that he had already been walking for 26 years! Teacher Xie taught me something very valuable: “you set the rules yourself” he said, “and you are always free to change them. You only have to know what it is you want!”

You never completed your original route; does that affect your definition of a successful journey?

I don’t know. I have never really thought of it in terms of “success”, I guess.

At the end of your film, you ask the question “was it really me?” which can mean a number of things. What does it mean to you, and how have you changed from the person who started the journey?

I remember it very clearly, when I was about to start walking in Beijing, this whole thing had an immense importance to me. I was ready to put everything on the line for the walk, and I got into huge fights with my family over this. Looking back now, I think that maybe it had to be that way, but I am looking at that face on the starting day, and I recognize something strange in those eyes.

What’s the best part about having a wacky beard?

Finally a question that’s fun! Well, the best part about having a wacky beard is of course the look! I don’t think it made me very attractive at all, but I have always had a strong kind of sympathy for that goofy hairball in the mirror!

Read more about Christoph’s journey on his site The Longest Way.

Photo: h.koppdelaney

Part I: Separation

Joseph Campbell returned home from his studies in Europe soon after his twenty-fifth birthday. Inspired by the brilliant tapestry of thought he encountered there, he planned to combine modern art, medieval literature and Sanskrit into a single doctoral thesis.

Predictably, his advisors didn’t support the idea.

This prompted Campbell to abandon doctoral work completely, leaving him without a clear direction in his studies or his life. Two weeks after his decision, the Wall Street Crash of October 29th, 1929 left millions of Americans suddenly destitute.

Yet Campbell was about to embark on a quest – one which would endure throughout the Great Depression to generate a remarkable new vision.

Committing himself to an arduous program of private study, he buried himself in books for twelve hours a day, supporting himself in the evening by playing sax in a jazz combo. After five years of rigorous self-education, he emerged a formidable authority in comparative mythology and religion, fusing philosophy, psychology and anthropology with – sure enough – art, literature and Eastern studies.

The Role of Myth in Everyday Life

Photo: !anaughty!

One of Campbell’s great talents was to connect seemingly unrelated ideas into harmonious design. His most influential work came from linking archetypes, or fundamental human themes, to myths from around the world.

Campbell believed myths were more than just fanciful stories – they were guides to dealing with the mysteries of existence.

What is the best way to live? How do we explain the natural forces all around us? Where do we fit in the grand scheme of life? Myths provide grounding beliefs for these questions.

Though many of the ancient tales seem absurd to modern sensibilities, we still invent our own myths to function in a world of unknowns. And, because these problems are inherently human, we confront them in ways which follow similar patterns.

The Hero’s Path

Campbell discovered that no matter where they originate, hero myths follow a consistent outline he called the Hero Monomyth – a template that applies not only to mythic tales but to our own lives.

In essence, this means any journey or life-altering event can be seen as a heroic quest. The Hero Monomyth offers points of reference to help orient the traveler with a meaningful experience of life. Depending on the level of involvement, journeys can be deeply transformative.

According to Campbell, a hero’s journey follows three stages:

• Separation (or Departure) – the hero leaves home to follow a defining mission.
• Initiation – the hero enters the Dream World, a place where normal rules are suspended.
• Return – the hero claims a transcendent prize and returns home to share it.

Leaving The Common World

Separation has five substages, each of which addresses an element of crisis in leaving home for the “undiscovered country”. It should be noted that not every theme will appear. Every journey is unique, as well as the lessons they teach.

The Call to Adventure

The hero receives a “call” to action, a prompt to leave the comfort of home for something more. Whether literal or figurative, the call may come in as many forms. The hero may be lured by curiosity to a strange new place, awaken to a new situation, have no other choice but to adventure, take a “wrong turn”, or suffer a significant loss.

The call carries with it a sense of destiny. Sometimes it is announced by a symbolic herald, or perhaps the “invitation” is misunderstood at first. Regardless, transformation begins at the hero’s discovery of need – something which may cause great distress or confusion.



Photo: h.koppdelaney

Refusal of the Call

In many cases, heroes are reluctant to face impending destiny – instead of answering the call, the hero hits the snooze bar.

The longer a hero denies fate, the more they or their loved ones suffer. This “converts the adventure into its negative,” and the hero becomes a victim to be rescued. Often, heroes are unaware of qualities that mark them for the quest. To join the adventure, heroes must escape the paralysis of doubt, or act in spite of it.

Supernatural Aid

After accepting the overture of destiny, a hero may encounter a helper with unique insight. Their purpose is to aid the journey with protective knowledge and tools. The patron appears mythically as a little man of the woods, a good fairy, a kindly crone, a blessed virgin, a respected wizard, or an innocent bystander. With luck, the hero will recognize an aide’s form when it arrives.

The Crossing of the First Threshold

The hero crosses the barrier separating the ordinary from the fantastic, a symbolic commitment to face the unknown. The crossing is seen as a subtle but meaning-laden “coincidence of opposites”, an intersection of normal and exotic, comfortable and alien. Defending the boundary may be a “threshold guardian” that chases off casual or unprepared travelers. Part of the test ahead is to respect the nature of the guardian – secretly, an embodiment of the hero’s fear.

The Belly of the Whale

Once past the barrier of extremes, the hero enters the Outlands: a dreamlike, hyperreal place where rules no longer apply and nothing can be assumed. This stage of “passing beyond” is key to a discovery of purpose; from outside, it resembles a kind of annihilation or death.

The new world reveals a fullness and dimensionality of life to the hero.

But the “betweenness” isn’t entered into lightly; the foolhardy or overconfident are soon undone. A hero’s task is to integrate the personal and cultural ghosts projected in this realm: some cannot, defensively blocking out the full experience.

Without honoring their commitment, there’s little to save the hero from defeat. But for others, their potential awaits.

What do you think of Joseph Campbell’s Hero Monomyth as it pertains to travel? Share your thoughts below.

Read the Series

• Part II, Heroic Travel: Navigating the Mythic Journey.
• Part III, Heroic Travel: The Mythic Art of Homecoming.

Photo: notsogoodphotography

When I flipped over the handlebars of the bike I’d rented in Vancouver, BC, I earned some impressive bruises, a badly lacerated spleen, and new fears stifling my wanderlust.

Luckily, I was hospitalized in an English-speaking country only a few hours from friends and family in Seattle. But what if an accident like this happens on one of my pipe-dream adventures elsewhere in the world?

Turner Wright previously published a piece at BNT about how to handle medical emergencies on the road. It gives good advice, such as learning the word for hospital in the native language and cultivating patience.

But even if I’d been prepared with traveler’s insurance and – had I been in a non-English speaking country – learned the words I needed to communicate, I would still have had to cope without the support network I have at home.

Simply being in another country without my friends and family made my problems more complex.

Future Plans

During my five nights in the hospital, I thought about how my ordeal would affect future travel – my dreams of backpacking in remote places or spending a year living abroad. Would the fear of potential injury or illness change me?

Photo: delicategenius

I fluctuate between feeling that I’ve paid my dues to karma and can’t possibly have any more bad luck, and the rather jarring realization of my body’s fragility.

As J. Raimund Pfarrkirchner notes in his piece, The 5 Deadliest Travel Fears (And How To Defeat Them), “Fear of the unknown hails from something deeper, something practical at times…had the dodo been frightened of visitors to its native Mauritius, where it had no natural predators, the dodo might be flourishing today.”

While I’m eager to continue traveling – and cycling – I don’t actually have any plans for the foreseeable future. I may feel differently when plans and ideas become more concrete. Inspiration comes from people such as Robin Esrock, who was hit by a car while driving his scooter, and ended up on a stretcher instead of going to work that day.

Instead of staying home and buying a car, Robin decided to buy a solo round-the-world plane ticket and backpack around the planet.

The Stranglehold of Fear

It’s likely these fears will fade and I’ll get back to my normal, travel-hungry self, but there will probably always be a part of me that wonders if this can happen again. Phobias can take hold at any time in one’s life; author Samantha Ang discusses how, after being “born traveling,” she developed a fear of flying based on overhearing a mother’s words to her child about the dangers of take-off and landing.

And what if another accident does happen? If I endured serious injuries in a first world, English-speaking country a mere three hours from friends and family, what are the chances of something happening while traveling solo, to remote places, or to countries with less advanced medical technology? Pretty high.

I hope this fear will teach me to be as prepared as possible, but there’s always the possibility of an accident, a mistake. There will always be factors out of my control.

Tragedies can happen even to the most careful people.

Has fear or risk ever prevented you from traveling, or changed your plans in some way? Share your thoughts below.

Cover of Nov’s Wired magazine.

Chances are, you may know someone that has contracted swine flu. There’s also a good chance that they got sick, were laid out for a few days, and then got better (just like the regular flu season).

So why the global hysteria around getting the flu vaccine?

Everytime I turn on the news, the reporters are citing a new study that says H1N1 is even more potent than ever; in fact, it affects YOUNG HEALTHY ADULTS the worst! Public areas are plastered with signs shouting foreboding messages like “Take your life into your own hands. WASH THEM.”

Now, with the “second wave” of the flu season upon us, Obama declares H1N1 a national emergency.

It’s enough to scare everyone into being first in line for the flu vaccine. And that’s exactly what some people have done.

On Saturday, Oct 24, the Omaha News reported that:

Hundreds of people [stood] out in the cold, trying to avoid getting a cold. So many people showed up to get their shots, the clinic was forced to turn dozens away.

And yet…not everyone is buying into the flu shot. In fact, some polls say 48% of Canadians will not get the shot. In the USA, that number has climbed to 60%.

The Culture Of Fear

I’m one of the those Canadians who is suspicious of the flu shot. While I have nothing against vaccination, I find myself at odds with the H1N1 vaccine, likely stemming from a number of factors:

• the vaccine felt rushed out the door, and in fact, had been approved with no testing by Health Canada.
• the severity of the flu seems vastly over-hyped;
• and perhaps most importantly: why has the media been so eager to whip up a culture of fear?

Sure, scary headlines sell newspapers and help their ailing bottom line. But even so, I’m suspicious of a hidden agenda when I see not one, but TWO cover stories on prominent magazines telling me I HAVE to get the flu shot or HUMANITY WILL PERISH.

Take the Wired issue this month. The cover features an innocent child with the word FEAR emblazoned above its head. The lead story is titled: An Epidemic of Fear: How Panicked Parents Skipping Shots Endangers Us All.

Likewise, Maclean’s (Canada’s Time magazine), ran a blood red cover story this week: SWINE FLU FIASCO: Everyone needs the H1N1 vaccine. Says the article:

People are being bombarded by “on the one hand” and “on the other hand” studies and recommendations. “There is confusion,” says Dr. Sarah Kredentser, president of the College of Family Physicians of Canada. “And I think it’s warranted confusion, because the messages keep changing.”

Killing The Shot

I don’t consider myself a conspiracy theorist – which is why I’m not bothering to attribute the vaccine to some nefarious Illuminati plan to initiate a mass die-off before ushering in of the new world order.

Yet everytime I consider changing my mind and getting the shot, I’m hit with another demand to get the vaccine or face CERTAIN DEATH. And so, ironically, my resistance to rolling up my sleeve stems mainly from the frenzy created by public health officials and the media.

This is a huge blunder on their part, explains a Washington Post article from 2005, when the news was all about Avian Flu (remember that one?):

To promote vaccine use, many in the public health community have overstated the risk of flu-related death and the effectiveness of the vaccine in preventing it. While the flu vaccine may have some important benefit (less flu-related illness), we really do not know whether it reduces the risk of death.

The dangers of hyping fear are serious:

Public health officials should not exaggerate risks or benefits to promote vaccination. Exaggeration carries a price: Not only do some people get scared and engage in behaviors that increase their risk (like waiting in a crowded clinic for a flu shot). They may also grow cynical and end up ignoring health messages that really matter.

What do you think? Do you plan on getting the flu shot? Share your thoughts in the comments!

The infamous Hollywood sign / Photo: T Hoffarth

I attended a typical art festival recently, complete with emo-haired candlemakers and sexually liberated painters.

Eventually I spotted two normal-ish young gentlemen (what were they doing there amongst the oppressed peoples of the upper middle-class?) and what they were peddling: angry bumper stickers with a revolutionary message: F*$# Hollywood!

I’m no stranger to hearing the H-bomb, which is what happens when the somewhat oblivious dilettantes express their anti-mainstream sentiments towards many hard-working citizens in showbiz. Why must we always envision a maniacal development girl on her cell phone shoo-ing away scripts with any class in lieu of ‘high concept’ pieces with the magic formula?

As any traveling American (or Canadian who has been mistaken for one) will tell you, it’s hard work facing stubborn opinions of our culture. The fast food, the big cars… perhaps rightfully so. But I’m starting to enjoy defending this particular cornerstone of it.

During political turbulence, Hollywood usually plays a starring role: think Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Full Metal Jacket, Inherit the Wind, The China Syndrome…

However – and I’m paranoid of sounding snobby when I use this disclaimer – I’ve worked at an international film festival for years, so I adore indies just as much (usually more). While that might give me incentive to drop the H-bomb everywhere, I usually don’t. Here’s why.

The Beauty Of Escapism

When I come out of a foreign cinema with any qualms whatsoever, I’m pelted with: “But you’re American. You just didn’t like [insert scene/actor] because it wasn’t Hollywood. It was realistic.”

Batman impersonator / Photo: don.lee

My nationality invalidates my taste, brands me with the Scarlett (Johansson) Letter. Suddenly I’m back in junior high, wondering why people are dissing my Batman slippers. Doesn’t everybody like Batman? The answer is yes, but it’s much cooler to splatter paint and write cuss words in magic marker on your Converse until you get detention. Now that’s art.

You see, movies learned to walk (and talk) during wartime. Not the kind we’ll all yell about tonight when we’re inebriated and angry about oil, but wars where college students were nurses, stockings were turned into parachutes and sailors kissed their sweethearts in Times Square.

“Going to the pictures” was escapism, because we needed and longed for it, as much as butter and paperclips. Cliché and unrealism were beautiful. In 2009, when ten seconds is too long to wait for something and we’re stuck in our idyllic suburb bubbles, now we’re longing for reality in a box.

Today, more ‘indie’ films are born daily than there are awkward clauses in a Michael Cera movie. That’s not a bad thing, as long as it’s understood that rewarding trailblazers and their minimalist mise-en-scene is not exactly world domination.

It’s evolution, and the last thing a butterfly should do is spit on a caterpillar.

What About Frodo?

You know what the real problem was? Not the bumper sticker itself, but that I’m pretty confident both its hucksters owned at least two copies of the Lord of the Rings between them.

If those maniacal production devils weren’t brave enough to bank on an obsessive, geeky nutcase (God bless you, Mr. Jackson), we would all be Frodo-less today, and probably Vader-less too.

Films like Star Trek, in spite of its anticipated brilliance and undeniable fun, are now out of fashion because of a lack of gritty reality or controversy, Spock’s eyebrows aside.

So come now, children, less complaining. The average moviegoer doesn’t have the stomach for The Machinist or the patience for Gus Van Sant’s occasional cinematic modern dance. They want Aniston. That’s alright.

And H-bomb-droppers still might see Tom Cruise’s movies because they’re usually good. Admit that at least a few of your favorite films had someone’s big fat wallet behind them, and that your life may be a tiny bit better for it.

Supporting Indie Films

Most importantly, actually start watching the films that need your support – that means paying for them, by the way. Helping an indie involves being one of its tiny statistics, not one of the moochers who appreciate it in silence.

You can’t just stare; you must put the bill in the thong if you want the stripper to feed her kids and come back tomorrow night.

The irony is amusing once you get it: some people justify their video piracy with “not financing rich execs who value profit over quality”… and yet said pirates clearly save money by sacrificing viewing quality. Hardy har-har, no?

My advice: when traveling, embrace opportunities to support foreign films in their home countries, not just the lucky films that get bought, shakily subtitled and shoved into Netflix. Also, indie means independently produced, not necessarily controversial.

Lastly, the exception proves the rule, so if you prefer the quirky exceptions, respect the mainstream rule. It’s possible to love both Parker Posey and Natalie Portman. Heck, you probably already do.

Now all I need is to fit all that on a witty bumper sticker.

Community Connection

Don’t miss 10 Movies Guaranteed To Blow Your Mind, and the aptly titled follow up 311 More Films Guaranteed To Blow Your Mind. Many of the picks are in fact, courtesy of big budget Hollywood.

What do you think of despising Hollywood? Share your thoughts in the comments!