“Hollywood, Ending” is John Green’s first adult fiction novel, and his first novel in nine years. Coming off of the success of “Everything is Tuberculosis” (which I had just finished reading before this book), “Hollywood, Ending” is a welcome shot out of left field. It explores themes of professional versus private life and overcoming trauma in the midst of rising fame.
Juniper Castillo is quite used to the attention that comes with being an actress. She grew up starring in a Nickelodeon sensation titled “Star Catcher,” and her mother put her in just about every show, commercial, and movie possible since she was six years old. Dealing with her mother’s abuse through alcoholism, and later her death, Juniper has seen and experienced it all. Now, all she wants to do is become famous and book a project large enough to kickstart her career once again. She places the entirety of her self-worth on whether or not she has a role, and she’s known for being very opinionated and hard to direct.
Kai Laramie is the complete opposite of Juniper. He grew up performing in local theater programs, playing baseball, and quietly dealing with the trauma of being sexually assaulted by his classics teacher. That trauma is quickly forced onto centerstage, as Kai must relive his assault as the testimony of the student who initially reported the teacher was discarded due to a marijuana-related charge. Now, he’s grappling with being forced to relive his trauma publicly, and his newfound love for Juniper (now his costar) on the set of “Andy Warhol Never Gets Old,” a biographical movie starring Matthew Malone — a revered actor in the role of Warhol himself — about Warhol’s final months of life. Kai had been in commercials and secured small parts in TV shows before, but nothing as professional and highly-budgeted as this movie. Though he finds it difficult to tap into emotions on set due to his past trauma, he has no problem professing his love for Juniper every chance he gets.
After the filming of “Andy Warhol Never Gets Old,” Juniper is left with concerns about the quality of her character and therefore that of the movie. But her concerns seem to have been needless, as the premiere and early Rotten Tomatoes scores launch the movie straight into the sky. Juniper’s posts about the creative processes of the movie mixed with fantastic reviews turn them into stars overnight; Kai for his first time, and Juniper for her second.
Juniper, having been a child actor and used to her life being for the public, has it all laid out for her. Her publicist, Katie, presents her the script for a new movie called “Gods of Andromeda,” which Juniper falls in love with and actively pursues. Juniper has barely had a waking moment off camera, away from public prying eyes. She has nothing left for the media to turn into a scandal, though that does not stop them from criticizing her reputation within film.
Kai, on the other hand, is not having as great of a time. He is auditioning to be Juniper’s husband in “Gods of Andromeda” while attempting to keep up with press tours and his very obvious lack of media training. All seems to be at a shaky incline until a Twitter post reveals his teacher’s molestation of him and quite a few other students. The post paints Kai as a hero, but suddenly forces him to make peace with trauma he can barely stand to think about, and to act as if it was his idea to report the teacher for his wrongdoings. Though this is extremely challenging for him, he has Juniper and Matthew by his side, telling him all will be alright.
The press seemed to love Kai’s heroism. And combined with a staged stalker fan incident staged by Juniper’s publicist, the internet was loving the star Kai was becoming. At least, that was until the student who really reported the teacher came out about their experience and Kai’s “stolen valor.” The internet exploded, claiming Kai had painted himself a hero, and that his publicist and the movie team exploited his assault for publicity. Later, in a half-drunk conversation with Matthew, Kai discovers that it was him and his team who went looking through school records and originally leaked Kai’s assault to the internet without any sort of pretense.
Feeling betrayed by Matthew’s publication of his private information and Juniper’s brushing off of the whole situation, Kai disappears to a beach resort in Jamaica. It is here where Juniper is forced to track him down to recover her career and secure her spot in “Gods of Andromeda,” and here where she discovers what she really wants: to be in this movie with Kai, and Kai only. She does not want to do it without him, and would sooner give up her own part. After a few drunk days on the beach, Kai finally agrees to sit and talk with Juniper about his sudden disappearance. They talk about expectations: the expectations of Juniper’s late mother that still haunt her from her grave, Kai’s expectations of stardom and how wrong he was, and Kai’s desire to take back the exposure of his assault. Though most of their problems don’t have solutions, they found comfort (and the agreement to do the movie) in being with each other and finally being completely open and transparent with each other. They finally get over the “obstacle” that was in the way of them being together for more than just sex.
“Hollywood, Ending” by John Green is what I can only describe as entirely human. There is no larger-than-life climax, no overarching supervillain, but rather the experience of being human and being within the movie industry. Kai is a young kid from Indianapolis, starry-eyed and beautiful. Juniper is from LA and has already had her hope crushed by the industry. The only thing keeping her going is her genuine passion and determination for the arts. They are entirely human in their passions, in their misunderstandings, and their willingness to succeed. Flight is an entirely human reaction to stress, helping readers to see themselves in Kai. We tend to run from our problems, especially when they get uncomfortable, or we have no control over them. I deeply enjoyed this perfect display of how healing from trauma is neither linear nor the same for everyone, and how it is okay to be scared and intimidated.
