Hollywood’s Terror Industry:

Idealized beauty and The Bluest Eye

Abstract

Toni Morrison’s novel The Bluest Eye (1970) examines the effects of 1940s American white cultural hegemony on her black characters: Claudia, Pauline, and Pecola. The dominant influence of white society, specifically white ideals of beauty, are perpetuated through film and exemplified by such actresses as Shirley Temple and Greta Garbo. The terrifying nature of the Hollywood ideal is borne from its influence and ubiquity and is highlighted by Pecola’s deranged pursuit of this impossible standard of beauty. Ultimately by attempting to realize this paradigm, blacks are disenfranchised while the ideal is recharged with the power of those who continue to pursue it.