Hollywood is not a normal place. There is nowhere else quite like it. Sure it can be glamorous, after all, dreams are made here, stars are born, billion dollar deals are made and everyone seems young, beautiful and rich. But you don't need me, or any commentators, anonymous or not to tell you that it also has a very dark side. Everyday we read about bankruptcies, breakdowns, rehab, arrests, drugs, overdoses, etc. People willing to do anything, including selling their souls for fame and money.
When you live here, the dingy and depressing side to Hollywood quickly seeps into everyday life, and it becomes difficult to escape. The girls who never eat and spend the night in the bathroom. They're desperate for acceptance and attention and are hanging off anyone who can promise them a meeting or an audition or an introduction. The men who talk big and fast, who are always richer and more successful than the next guy. They're always working on a big deal, scoring a big movie, or producing one, or directing one, or filming one, or blah blah blah. It gets tiring, all the fakeness, all the insecurity, all the desperation.
It's like everyone is wearing a mask, and I often wonder who these people used to be. Very few are born and raised here, most come out west chasing a dream. Out of those few that do make it, many end up throwing it away or are so desperate to hold on to it, terrified of some up and comer, that they can't handle the pressure and need some kind of mental escape. Most never make it of course and after years of rejection, not being pretty enough, skinny enough, tall enough, young enough, ripped enough, they are left with the shell of what they once were. It's sad, and it's been happening since the beginning of Hollywood and will continue long after this blog is gone.
Satara Stratton, 24 year old actress originally from Tennessee moved out to Hollywood from NY last year. At some point she became addicted to heroin and went missing in November. Her mother says that Satara was abducted and held captive for four months by a registered sex offender who tortured and drugged her. Satara was found at an LA hospital and is being treated for some external injuries, bruising and drug withdrawal.
Prior to her disappearance, Satara was arrested several times, once for possession of drugs inside a hospital. Police are now looking for her captor.Such a heartbreaking story, but sadly one that is not that uncommon.
I hope that Satara gets her life back and her captor is found. Whether or not she was in fact kidnapped is another story.