The beautiful came to this city [Hollywood] in huge pathetic herds, to suffer, to be humiliated, to see the powerful currency of their beauty devalued like the Russian ruble or Argentine peso;to work as bellhops, as bar hostesses, as garbage collectors, as maids. The city was a cliff and they were its stampeding lemmings. At the foot of the cliff was the valley of the broken dolls.
Interpretation
This quote reflects on the painful realities faced by those who chase beauty and fame in Hollywood.
Salman Rushdie's quote critiques the seductive allure of Hollywood, illustrating how many individuals, drawn by the promise of beauty and success, ultimately face humiliation and degradation. By comparing their journey to that of 'stampeding lemmings,' he emphasizes the tragic outcome of blindly pursuing fame, leading to a valley filled with unfulfilled dreams—symbolized by the 'broken dolls.'
In practice
During a speech on the dangers of fame, this quote could provide a powerful anecdote.
I've been fascinated by Machiavelli since I was very young. I've always felt that he had a bad rap from history, and that he was actually a person quite unlike what we now think of as Machiavellian. He was a republican. He disliked totalitarian government.
Killing people because you don't like their ideas - it's a bad thing.
faith without doubt is addiction
I am clearly vulnerable to these more passionate and volatile unstable relationships. I am trying to not be so vulnerable.
In India, as elsewhere in our darkening world, religion is the poison in the blood. Where religion intervenes, mere innocence is no excuse. Yet we go on skating around this issue, speaking of religion in the fashionable language of 'respect.' What is there to respect in any of this, or in any of the crimes now being committed almost daily around the world in religion's dreaded name?
Reality is a question of perspective; the further you get from the past, the more concrete and plausible it seems - but as you approach the present, it inevitably seems more and more incredible.
Any pleasure that does no harm to other people is to be valued.
The glory of creation is in its infinite diversity.
So while I can't tell you if bringing a child into this world is the morally-responsible to do, I can say that the future, much like the present, is going to be a whole lot better than you think.
If you have a group of people come together around a vision for real discipleship, people who are committed to grow, committed to change, committed to learn, then a spiritual assessment tool can work.
It is a terrible, an inexorable, law that one cannot deny the humanity of another without diminishing one's own: in the face of one's victim, one sees oneself.
It’s no company at all, when people know nothing and say nothing,’ she muttered.
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