Joan Didion Knew What Hollywood Would Become

In a literary landscape often defined by fleeting trends, the work of Joan Didion remains a haunting, essential touchstone. Her 1970 novel, Play It As It Lays, offers a piercing examination of the existential vacuum at the heart of Hollywood—a work so prophetic that its insights feel more relevant today than at the time of its publication. Shiloh Brooks recently sat down with Peter Sodnik of The Free Press to discuss why this masterwork of “New Journalism” continues to serve as an indispensable guide for understanding the crises of identity, celebrity, and spiritual emptiness in modern America.

Key Takeaways

• The Power of New Journalism: Didion utilized novelistic techniques to capture complex political and social textures that traditional reporting often missed.
• The Illusion of Celebrity: The novel exposes how fame functions as a hollow substitute for genuine human connection and meaning.
• Choosing Life Over Nihilism: While often mislabeled as a nihilistic work, Play It As It Lays is ultimately a testament to the decision to reject self-destruction.
• Universal Resonance: Despite its 1960s setting, the novel’s portrayal of emotional isolation and the struggle for authenticity remains a mirror for contemporary society.

The Lasting Legacy of New Journalism

Joan Didion was a foundational voice in the "New Journalism" movement of the 1960s and 70s. Unlike standard reportage, this style employed the tools of the novelist—three-dimensionality, deep empathy, and narrative rhythm—to place readers directly into the lives of the subjects. As Sodnik notes, the goal was not necessarily to sympathize with those being profiled, but to understand the complex, often messy, inner logic behind their life-altering decisions.

A Lost Era of Literary Celebrity

Didion, alongside peers like Norman Mailer and Tom Wolfe, occupied a unique space as a literary figure who was also a household celebrity. This specific type of writer-as-icon has largely vanished. In an era before constant digital connectivity, these writers were insulated, creating a sense of mythic mystery that the modern, hyper-exposed media cycle has effectively destroyed. We have "met our heroes," and in the process, the magic of the literary celebrity has been replaced by the mundane transparency of the social media age.

The Spiritual Geography of Play It As It Lays

Set against the backdrop of Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and the Mojave Desert, the novel follows Maria Wyeth, a former model and actress adrift in a life of profound disconnection. Didion’s choice of setting is no accident. She paints a world of vice and vapidity where the moral compass has been replaced by the frantic pursuit of appearance.

The place has become even more kind of hollowed out spiritually and is even less detached from itself or its awareness of sort of any kind of larger good.

Sodnik argues that Hollywood has only grown emptier since 1970. No longer just a studio town, it has become a subsidiary of the global attention economy, where the search for identity is filtered through screens and curated performances. The crisis of celebrity that Maria faces—being reduced to an object defined by her beauty and her association with men—has only intensified as digital culture has democratized vanity.

Confronting the Reality of Human Choice

One of the most intense sequences in the novel involves an abortion, a scene written years before the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling. Didion describes the clinical, cold reality of the procedure with a haunting eye for detail. The surrounding men—her ex-husband, the driver, the doctor—view her distress as an inconvenience. This portrayal highlights Maria’s struggle to find agency in a culture that treats her, and the existential weight of her decisions, as disposable.

Is the Novel Nihilistic?

Many critics have categorized Play It As It Lays as a nihilistic work, particularly due to the tragic, self-destructive fate of Maria's friend, BZ. However, this interpretation ignores the novel’s final, defiant turn. When Maria acknowledges that she knows "what nothing means" and decides to "keep on playing," she is not succumbing to the void. She is making a conscious, almost heroic decision to live, even when death would be the easier, more passive path.

Why Men Should Read Didion

While the novel is deeply rooted in the female experience of the late 20th century, its appeal for male readers is profound. It serves as an exercise in radical empathy. By forcing the reader to inhabit Maria’s shoes, the novel exposes the cold, chauvinistic reality of the world she navigates. In a modern culture where digital "manospheres" promote caricatured, grotesque versions of masculinity, Didion’s work offers a necessary, sobering dose of reality. It invites men to consider what true independence, authenticity, and human connection actually require.

There's nothing more beautiful that fiction can do than put you in the shoes or let you see from the perspective of someone who is alien to you.

Conclusion

Play It As It Lays is more than just a period piece; it is a vital, urgent document for any generation grappling with the emptiness of modern life. By refusing to look away from the darkness, Joan Didion does not invite us to join her there; she invites us to recognize it so that we may choose, with eyes wide open, to pursue a more meaningful existence. As we look at the legacy of the cultural shifts that began in the 1960s, returning to Didion’s spare, punchy, and relentless prose provides the clarity necessary to discern between what is merely a fleeting "vibe" and what constitutes a life well-lived.