ABSTRACT
Speaking of a year of financial turmoil and governmental gridlock, U.S. President Barack Obama called Hollywood the bright spot of the U.S. economy in 2013. Not only were exports up, he explained, but in the film industry “no matter where you come from . . . you should be able to make it.” This American Dream “is one that Hollywood has glorified and held up, but I actually think it’s true” (Wheaton 2013), he said, fusing the industry, its physical hub, and its guiding myth. Standing in the DreamWorks studio in Los Angeles, Obama paid tribute to the industry’s core, but not its peripheries.
