Last year, the Hollywood Walk of Fame was named the worlds largest tourist trap according to Stasher, using a variety of metrics including Instagram posts, TripAdvisor ratings and "other factors". When I was in Los Angeles, despite knowing how much of a tourist trap it is, I went anyway! I figured, how bad can a free attraction be, and wanted to see the stars of the Original Series and the cement hand-prints at the
Chinese Theatre. Considering it is always shown on TV as being this glamorous, upscale redcapetesque place when celebrities are getting their stars, it's really quite the opposite. It's kind of dingy, disgusting and for being a tourist spot, there are a lot of less than reputable characters wandering around, some of which are dressed as Elmo, Woody and other childhood characters. I've read that the Walk of Fame isn't as much of an honour as it seems, and a lot of times, people either campaign or pay to have a star on the walk of fame. Not to mention the instances where celebrities fall from stardom and people revolt by smashing or defacing their star, such as Donald Trump and Harvey Weinstein. I think that their is some good to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, it is sometimes used as a place of memorial (such as James Doohan pictured below), and is legitimately a great idea. If it were in a nice area with lots of shops and interesting things to do, it really does make for a great time to search out and find your favourite stars. Lastly if nothing else, it is amazing that every member of The Original Series including Gene Roddenberry have stars on the walk of fame! When I was there, I had only two goals, to find all the Bonds on the walk and to find all the Original Series cast members!! It didn't take too long, and it wasn't as magical as I imagined it would be, but it made for a fun morning, and I was glad that I did it!
Last year, the Hollywood Walk of Fame was named the worlds largest tourist trap according to Stasher, using a variety of metrics including Instagram posts, TripAdvisor ratings and "other factors". When I was in Los Angeles, despite knowing how much of a tourist trap it is, I went anyway! I figured, how bad can a free attraction be, and wanted to see the stars of the Original Series and the cement hand-prints at the Chinese Theatre. Considering it is always shown on TV as being this glamorous, upscale redcapetesque place when celebrities are getting their stars, it's really quite the opposite. It's kind of dingy, disgusting and for being a tourist spot, there are a lot of less than reputable characters wandering around, some of which are dressed as Elmo, Woody and other childhood characters. I've read that the Walk of Fame isn't as much of an honour as it seems, and a lot of times, people either campaign or pay to have a star on the walk of fame. Not to mention the instances where celebrities fall from stardom and people revolt by smashing or defacing their star, such as Donald Trump and Harvey Weinstein. I think that their is some good to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, it is sometimes used as a place of memorial (such as James Doohan pictured below), and is legitimately a great idea. If it were in a nice area with lots of shops and interesting things to do, it really does make for a great time to search out and find your favourite stars. Lastly if nothing else, it is amazing that every member of The Original Series including Gene Roddenberry have stars on the walk of fame! When I was there, I had only two goals, to find all the Bonds on the walk and to find all the Original Series cast members!! It didn't take too long, and it wasn't as magical as I imagined it would be, but it made for a fun morning, and I was glad that I did it!
Comments
Post a Comment