Rose McGowan was born in one cult and came of age in another, more visible cult: Hollywood.
In a strange world where she was continually on display, stardom soon became a personal nightmare of constant exposure and sexualization. Rose escaped into the world of her mind, something she had done as a child, and into high-profile relationships. Every detail of her personal life became public, and the realities of an inherently sexist industry emerged with every script, role, public appearance, and magazine cover. The Hollywood machine packaged her as a sexualized bombshell, hijacking her image and identity and marketing them for profit.
Hollywood expected Rose to be silent and cooperative and to stay the path. Instead, she rebelled and asserted her true identity and voice. She reemerged unscripted, courageous, victorious, angry, smart, fierce, unapologetic, controversial, and real as f*ck.
BRAVE is her raw, honest, and poignant memoir/manifesto—a no-holds-barred, pull-no-punches account of the rise of a millennial icon, fearless activist, and unstoppable force for change who is determined to expose the truth about the entertainment industry, dismantle the concept of fame, shine a light on a multibillion-dollar business built on systemic misogyny, and empower people everywhere to wake up and be BRAVE.
Non-Fiction Book Review Blog: Brave
First things first, I have been a fan of Rose McGowan ever since I saw her portraying Tatum Rose in Wes Craven’s Scream. Did I think she was pretty? Of course, I did. But, I dug her character and the toughness that she spewed. I had never seen this actress before and expected to see more of her after the success of Scream. The next time I saw her was in Phantoms, alongside Ben Affleck, which I enjoyed – well, at least the first 75% of it. When I saw Rose, my initial reaction was, hey, that’s the girl from Scream. Really, it was more of an afterthought. Despite her having done other projects, the other body of work that I remember her from was Robert Rodriguez’s Planet Terror, which he made in collaboration with Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof in Grindhouse. The fact that she worked in these three films, all of which were products of Dimension Films, a subsidiary of Miramax, meant little to nothing to me at the time other than the fact that they were churning out some rather decent horror films like Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, Hellraiser: Bloodline and the other aforementioned films above. But of course, there was more than meets the eye and a nasty little secret that was not privy to the simple folk outside of the Hollywood circle. And the common denominator with Rose and the studio that released said films, of which I am a fan, was helmed by Hollywood mogul, Harvey Weinstein.
For those living under a rock, he was outed for having inappropriate relations with numerous women. As one would imagine, this created a firestorm throughout the industry that resulted in Weinstein being forced to step down as the head of Miramax Films. Rose was in the middle of this whole debacle as she was, much to my dismay, one of the said actors assaulted by the mogul. I was shocked and upset. How could he do such a thing, who did he think he was, and why would a man with so much power do such a thing? Oh, right, because he has so much power – I guess.
McGowan’s journey begins in Italy, where she was born to a mother and father heavily engrained in a cult of sorts. I was fascinated. For starters, I did not know she was born in Italy let alone in a cult. Knowing what happened to her in Hollywood, years apart from her life in Italy, I knew that there would be more to what happened to Rose. I braced myself for the ride that was to come. Let me say that the ride was wild, sad, and encouraging. In my opinion, most people would have thrown in the towel. Although Rose does not say, I had the impression after reading a few passages that she was on her way to doing just that.
She talks about her family life (or lack thereof), her growing pains, running away from home, shady encounters with older men, her time with Marilyn Manson, and her life in the limelight. It is here, in the shadow of popularity where one would think that she had it all but, where she hid, confined to her own emotions. In reality, fame may very well have been all a facade. But, what really captivated me was the actions that revolved around the parties around the Miramax camp that included Weinstein, Ben Affleck, Quentin Tarantino, and Robert Rodriguez. The last two of whom I am a fan. Of course, it doesn’t matter who was at the helm or was, at the very least, aware of the accusations. These were well-known prominent figures that I looked up to, in particular, Rodriguez and Tarantino; I once wanted to be an aspiring filmmaker like them. These were the guys who proved they were able to succeed through their tenacity, perseverance, and passion for the craft. It is here, among other passages in the book, that proved to be disturbing because there was a light shed upon these people whom many are a fan of that paint them in a different light. I, for one, sympathized with Rose regardless of whether or not that is the emotion that she wanted to elicit. Hollywood aside, her life was filled with many ups and downs, and for a girl who had no desire to be famous, she sure made a name for herself.
Brave was not just a tell-all because, despite her not coming right out and naming names, she made it pretty obvious to whom she referred. Instead, it is McGowan’s story of how she was able to overcome these shortcomings brought upon her. Could things have played out differently for her? I would say yes, possibly, but these were the cards she was dealt, and she still came out on the other side thrashing, kicking, and screaming. This was Brave – her story and I would say, her real success in being able to speak about her experience be the voice of courage and empowerment