ABSTRACT
Film critics have made disparagement of Hollywood so habitual as to turn the gesture into a cliché. In the process, many forget that for nearly a century it has been American directors—from Max Sennett through Billy Wilder to Kevin Smith—who have been most active in satirizing all that is vulgar, mindless, and venal in the Hollywood ethos. Significantly, these parodies do not simply amuse U.S. audiences but have a broad international appeal precisely because American films and filmmaking have made lasting impressions on national cinemas around the world. Nowhere is this truer than in Ireland.
