I'm the One That I Want
by Margaret Cho
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Book Summary Information
Author: Margaret ChoEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2002-04-30
ISBN: 0345440145
Number of pages: 224
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Book Reviews of I'm the One That I Want
Book Review: A candid look at sexism in Hollywood
Summary: 3 Stars
Margaret Cho's "I'm the One That I Want" is the opposite of pre-packaged, phony interviews that you see everytime you turn on TV. While actresses go on TV and claim to just LOVE their co-stars, and to be "naturally" thin, Cho tells it like it is. She triumphed where many others failed -- her years as a traveling standup paid off when she got a TV deal,. Unfortuntately, misogony and racism in Hollywood turned her dream into a nightmare. Cho details the callous treatment that she, the star of her own show, received when things went wrong on the show. Her weight became the central focus to some execs, and some Asians groups turned on her when the show was received as stereotypical and backward. What should have been the pinnacle of her career turned into a time she would rather forget. Alcoholism and dead-end relationshops ensued.
This book is basically a cathardic (we presume) rant by Cho. It is an outrageous story, particularly in the same industry that routinely makes TV stars of rotund male standup comics (everyone from Kevin James to Chris Farley). The double standards are made all the worse when you consider that Cho wasn't fat. She was victimized by the Hollywood white male power structure, and women and minorities who internalize that message and turn on each other.
Although I appreciate the manifesto-style quality of this book, some of Cho's solutions seem a bit naive. It is going to take a lot more than women liking themselves to see attitudes in Hollywood change. Sexism and racism are institutionalized, and every high grossing movie starring an emaciated babe is contributing to that tradition continuing. It will take dismantling those institutions, or working from within, to see that change. Show biz is way behind the curve when it comes to gender equality, but it is also dangerously influential. Cho, and others like her, could spearhead a grassroots campaign to get big audiences for movies that show positive messages of women. Take it from the evangelicals and "Passion of the Christ"... money talks.
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