Lady from the Black Lagoon Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick

bookclub4m non-fiction entertainment industry genre book 2

This was so much fun to read. It's not just an informative, affecting account of a little known creative person's life. It's also a paean to fandom in genre film like horror films, and a stump post to why allowing sexism to run wild in any industry destroys what women bring to the table to protect male egos and leaves us all poorer for it (can you imagine what we could have had if not for winey-man-babies with too much power????) Also I need to watch The Shape of Water now.

This was really interesting even though I wouldn't cal myself someone that knowledgeable or interested in film. Especially horror and monster movies. But I learned a lot about the film industry of today and yesterday. It also made me really want to watch the Creature from the Black Lagoon. (I've seen the sequel and This island Earth, another movie Millicent work on thanks to MST3K!)

This is an important story about women and the cost of bucking the system. There is an acknowledgment of the personal struggle. She talks about her feelings toward all of this and how Millicent could have felt after all the struggle. It is compassionate and unflinching. It is honest and hopeful and frustrating.

I really like how we are told Millicent's story along side how the story was uncovered. I appreciated the look inside Hollywood as a woman in Ms. O'Meara's story and the statistics. It makes for a powerful story of success on your own terms and the toll that revolution takes on you.

I was completely sucked in by this and I have to say that I know NOTHING about the film business or this era of Hollywood. That said, I was still whipping along, totally interested in Patrick's life. I took a night off from reading to watch Creature from the Black Lagoon.
This was pretty great. Shout outs to the librarians and archivists who were able to help O'Meara with her difficult research!