Question 3.1 - Summary · Inglés PAU Galicia Ordinaria 2022

TEXT B

When Harvey and Daeida Wilcox purchased 120 acres of farmland northwest of Los Angeles in 1886, they had plans to live a quiet life on their ranch, which they called Hollywood. This prohibitionist couple’s dream of setting up a fig farm lost strength just one year after buying the land, and as a result the Wilcoxes divided it up and sold it off quickly to like-minded buyers, imagining that a sober and deeply religious community would be established on their land. Perhaps their dream of a Christian utopia could have come true if it had not been for a clever man from New Jersey, Thomas Edison.

The predominant narrative regarding the rise of Hollywood was that land was cheap outside Los Angeles, where the weather was always pleasant, and labour was easy to find. All these factors that drew people to Hollywood are completely true; however, the major factor that pushed independent film makers out west was Edison’s merciless business style, which left film makers only one option: to escape from New Jersey and Edison’s control.

Edison had patents on over 1,000 different things, including most of the technology needed to make high- quality movies. In short, if someone wanted to be in the film business, they basically had to go through Edison. So “independent” film-makers chose an alternative option to fight Edison: they moved to California, to an area of the country where judges weren’t as friendly to Edison and his patents, and where copyright laws would not be a problem. These conditions made it possible for Hollywood to legally flourish without any threats of lawsuits or mob attacks.

Edison was probably the biggest individual influence on Hollywood as we know it today. Without his ruthless, and eventually illegal, business practices, there is a good chance that New Jersey would still be home to the film industry and that Hollywood would just be another town outside Los Angeles.

3.1. Write a summary of the text in English, including the most important points, using your own words. (Approximately 50 words; 0.75 points)