Ruthless Wall Street, Not Hollywood

I had a nice, ironic chuckle reading about David Rosenthal (“The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Ranter,” by Janet Reitman, May 5). As the neo-New Yorker walked around in idealized wonder at his new town, having escaped the evils of Hollywood, I remembered my time in the financial industry (New York City’s Hollywood) before I started to work in the entertainment business. The vile and unapologetic misogyny, racism, homophobia and ruthlessness--to say nothing of the nepotism and sickening snobbery--I witnessed on my trading floor made the behavior I’ve seen in Hollywood seem like amateur hour. Any managing director on Wall Street would make an agent seem like a Teletubby. Perhaps I’ve been lucky, but the people I’ve worked with in Hollywood have been generally enlightened and ethical. Tough at times? Sure, but guess what? It’s big business.

Eddie Dunlop

Los Angeles