As a 17 year resident of Hollywood, who lives close to the Boulevard, I'm calling for new restrictions on the way movie premieres and other events are handled. While I've been a movie fan for decades, the hard reality is movies are not an event anymore. Long gone are the days when a glamorous Hollywood Premiere would merit a national, (or even local) TV special that interviewed celebrity attendees and showed off the theatre. 

Premieres are now nothing more than generic photo ops that generate a few minutes of video at best. They could take place anywhere, since the venue is rarely mentioned or shown.  The actual arrivals happen in a period of less than 45 minutes, and their departures in less than 30, yet that fact doesn't stop the organizers from blocking off all public access for an entire day! And city officials routinely and thoughtlessly grant permission for it! 

I commute to and from work on the subway, and can't even count how many times I have been forced to turn around, walk back to a crosswalk (if that wasn't blocked, too) cross the street, walk past a handful of onlooking "fans" then wait for another light and cross back. That's under the best of conditions. On other occasions I have been forced to walk all the way around a three-block radius to get home. 

The worst came Wednesday January 27th, as the premiere for Disney's WHEN IN ROME stopped traffic on both sides of Hollywood Boulevard. People coming out of the subway were caught in a three-sided metal corral so a select few guests could pass the tiny "crowd" of captive onlookers from a party at the Hollywood/Highland center to the El Capitan across the street. Again the actual time required for this "celebrity" passage was minimal compared to how long passersby were forced to wait to be able to continue on their way. 

A similar offense was made by the premiere of VALENTINE'S DAY at Grauman's Chinese Theatre on February 8th.  Again both sides of Hollywood Boulevard were blocked, and there were three layers of metal barriers, cutting off two separate crosswalks,  which gave pedestrians no choices for getting around the obstruction other than backtracking almost to the corner of Hollywood and Highland and walking all the way around a 2 block radius. 

NO consideration is given to the public whatsoever at these events.   There is no good reason why premiere security and police cannot staff a simple walk-through pathway for all but the small timeframe of actual arrivals and departures, and keep the few who might stand and look moving along. Instead, the event staff act like they own the street, while attending police support this offense, often with similar attitudes.  

The very least they should do is provide some visual warning a few hundred feet ahead of the obstruction and an alternate way of getting around, like letting us cross the street.  

Public sidewalks are there for the public. The city is giving way too much control away for way too many events. This happens routinely at Grauman's Chinese, the Kodak, the El Capitan and the Cinerama Dome. 

It's time for a reality check.  Premieres are not worthy of the tight control given the Oscars. Not every movie that opens is a TITANIC.  Not everyone who passes by wants to stand and gawk at a premiere.   

The city needs to seriously cut back on the control they hand over to premiere and event organizers.  Give them no more than 90 minutes total to close off a sidewalk for any event, and for the rest of the time, let people pass along on their way.   Require a simple alternate route for pedestrians, and posted warnings a few hundred feet away.    

WHEN IN ROME will be on video in 3 months. WHEN IN HOLLYWOOD, show the public some RESPECT!

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