Hollywood is a strange place if you're in trouble. Everybody thinks it's contagious.
Interpretation
The quote reflects the perception of social stigma surrounding problems in Hollywood, suggesting that people distance themselves from those who are struggling.
Judy Garland's quote highlights the peculiar nature of Hollywood, where the troubles of individuals are often viewed as infectious. It suggests that instead of offering support or understanding, people may choose to avoid those in distress, reinforcing feelings of isolation and misunderstanding in a highly scrutinized environment. The statement underscores the broader human tendency to shy away from discomfort, which can exacerbate the struggles of those in difficult situations.
In practice
In a motivational speech about mental health in the entertainment industry.
My [singing] style really has no style, because I try to sing each number differently. I’ve always believed that if style takes precedent over the words and music, the audience get’s cheated. It’s like when people see a fine play or movie. They imagine themselves in the leading role. I want them to imagine that they’re singing - not just listening to someone else.
I try to bring the audience's own drama - tears and laughter they know about - to them.
I think there's something peculiar about me that I haven't died. It doesn't make sense but I refuse to die.
When you get to know a lot of people, you make a great discovery. You find that no one group has a monopoly on looks, brains, goodness or anything else. It takes all the people - black and white, Catholic, Jewish and Protestant, recent immigrants and Mayflower descendants - to make up America.
The greatest treasures are those invisible to the eye but found by the heart.
I'm a woman who wants to reach out and take 40 million people in her arms.
...Americans...automatically equate dissension with disloyalty. They view any criticism of our existing social, economic, and political forms, as sedition and subversion. ...(" The growing reluctance of Americans to criticize, and their increasing tendency to condemn those who, in ever dwindling numbers, will still voice dissent") is disturbing, deplorable, and truly dangerous.
I'm never gonna die, never heard of death, energy can never be destroyed only the flesh, so when you try to murder me with bullets to the head this is why you can't kill me niggaz, I'm already dead.
Men are not hanged for stealing horses, but that horses may not be stolen.
People haunted by the purposelessness of their lives try to find a new content not only by dedicating themselves to a holy cause but also by nursing a fanatical grievance. A mass movement offers them unlimited opportunities for both.
Above or Love, Hope, Hate or Fear, It lives all passionless and pure: An age shall fleet like earthly year; Its years in moments shall endure. Away, away, without a wing, O'er all, through all, its thought shall fly; A nameless and eternal thing, Forgetting what it was to die.
The test of all beliefs is their practical effect in life. If it be true that optimism compels the world forward, and pessimism retards it, then it is dangerous to propagate a pessimistic philosophy.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.