Sinemania!

August 12, 2013
Veteran cartoonist Cossette turns a fascinated, hostile gaze on the eccentrics and perverts of the movie industry—a group that will overlook a creator’s egregious character flaws, at least while his works are profitable. Included in the book are 20-plus directors, each with flaws and a long record of offenses, ranging from habitual sexual harassment to rape to romantic entanglement with step-children—including such greats as Woody Allen, Orson Welles, and others. The pieces range in length from full chapters to almost epigrammatic passages; all include some salacious detail or act of flagrant abuse for the reader to cluck at disapprovingly. While there is ample room for a harshly skillful, incisive interrogation of Hollywood—the industry’s collective defense of convicted child rapist Roman Polanski being particularly nauseating—this book doesn’t provide it. While her art is serviceable, Cossette’s satirical prose never rises above smirking condemnations that often embrace that which they seek to damn. Still, the raw material is mesmerizing, and Cosette has clearly fallen under its spell.