A closer look
Hollywood's iconic hillside sign originally read Hollywoodland when it was erected in the nineteen twenties as a massive, illuminated billboard to promote a segregated upscale real estate development. The final four letters deteriorated over decades of neglect and were officially removed in the late forties, conveniently transforming a crass housing advertisement into the ultimate symbol of the glamorous American film industry. It is hilariously fitting that the global monument to cinematic art and creativity is literally just a recycled real estate scam. Millions of tourists hike up a dusty canyon every single year to take inspirational selfies in front of what is essentially the vintage equivalent of a giant inflatable car dealership gorilla. The entire mythology of Los Angeles is perfectly summarized by a broken billboard that nobody bothered to fully fix
