After waiting nine years, Los Angeles’s Museum of Motion Pictures has finally transitioned from a dream to reality. Its opening date is scheduled for Sept. 30, and people can’t wait to get a chance to see the wonders of the world of film that are being displayed in the museum. 

The goal of the Museum is to honor Hollywood’s History in multiple ways. One of the features of this museum is it will screen different movies every day. This, however, is not the only part of the museum. The Stories of Cinema exhibition alone covers three stories of the building. The room dedicated to the Oscars includes some of the best Oscar speeches as well as around 20 Oscar statues. An exhibit dedicated to hair and makeup has beauty products used during the 1930s and 40s, prosthetics, and wigs. The museum has many more rooms and exhibits, which are the ones people are looking forward to the most. 

The long wait for the opening of the Museum of Motion pictures was a result of a multitude of delays and obstacles during its construction. When the concept for the museum was first announced, $100 million was raised to build it. This large sum of money wasn’t enough creating a massive debt of $300 million. By 2017 announcements were made that it’s opening date would be that year. The date got pushed to 2018, then 2019, and later in 2020, Tom Hanks, a well known actor,  stated that it would be open to the public the following year. Unsurprisingly, these plans were put on hold as a result of the pandemic. However, after nine years of problems, the museum is finally complete and ready for the public. 

The Academy of Motion Pictures also wanted to include the history of racism in the previous years of the film industry. The museum confronts “the dark legacy of exclusion and discrimination in the industry,” and strives to educate and inform about Hollywood’s actions throughout the previous years. 

To exemplify the exclusion, exhibits display how slowly progress has been made. For example, the Oscar room shows some of the first monumental Oscar Nominations from women, African Americans, and anyone who is a part of the minority. The hair and makeup exhibit displays makeup that was used for blackface and yellowface, and the animation exhibit shows the long history of racist films that were made. 

“It matters to Los Angeles to have this Museum,” said Hanks who later stated that it would be the Parthenon of all other museums dedicated to film. 

This is not only because of its size but also because of its location as Los Angeles is well known for its movies. 

“The museum will be able to offer a space to actually see how far we’ve come in storytelling,” stated American talk show host Oprah Winfrey. 

She talks  about the improvements in the film industry’s inclusion and by honoring those who made movie making history. 

The Museum of Motion Pictures is a monument for Hollywood’s film industry. Not only does it display incredible advancements in technology and some of the best movies in history, but also it honors the people who opened the doors of opportunity for minorities in the industry. It recognizes the immorality presented in older movies and how far they have come since then. Actors cannot wait for the museum to open as its release has been delayed for so long, and lastly, because of all the incredible features it has to offer. 

Photo courtesy of FLICKR.COM