Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 638: Year of the Dragon Released
"Did you get Cher's autograph?" Ronald asked Tom Cruise as he left the wedding reception.

"Ah...yeah, I got (her phone number)." Tom smiled like a good boy from "Crazy Boys Too."

"Have fun," Ronald glanced at several members of the "Kids Gang". They drank some alcoholic drinks, recovered a bit, and started to play wild, looking for phone numbers from pretty girls on the scene.

"The nature is exposed again," Ronald shook his head and got into the car, it was none of his business.

Back at the apartment, Ronald found that the lights in the living room were still on, and his accountant, Lawrence, was waiting for him.

"Are you from the Chinatown Association?" Ronald remembered that Lawrence also went to welcome the state guests, and said that he would go to the movie premiere with some friends in Chinatown to promote the Chinese zodiac culture.

"Oh, Ronald, I'm very angry... They actually..." Lawrence saw that Ronald was back, hugged him, and began to curse the movie "Year of the Dragon" in Cantonese hurriedly, with Director Cimino scolded him all over the place.

"What's going on?" Ronald noticed that Lawrence's face had turned red. He was obviously very angry, and he cursed in his mother tongue because he hated using English for not being able to enjoy it.

Well, but I love to hear it.

Who made the director Cimino have trouble with himself, and the producer Dino De Laurentiis also took advantage of the danger, trying to force himself to sign multiple film contracts, so that he would not be allowed to direct this Chinese-American film that took place in Chinatown. story.

"The movie premieres tonight, and as soon as it is shown on the weekend, our Chinatown will suffer again. How many families will lose their jobs, how many travel agencies will go bankrupt, and everything will be like [-]."

As Lawrence spoke, his eyes turned red.

"Don't be angry, what's the problem with this movie, you speak slowly, and we will find a way to solve the problem."

Ronald was taken aback. Why was it involved in Chinatown's economy? He quickly bought the accountant a cup of black tea to calm him down.

"When I was young, I worked in Chinatown. In [-], the 'Chinatown' portrayed Chinatown as a dirty place where no police dared to go. As a result, I traveled to Chinatown that year. More than half of the project directly went bankrupt, and many old Americans dare not come to Chinatown for special tourism.

The retail business of other normal souvenirs and specialty products also plummeted.I had no choice but to go out of Chinatown against my parents' wishes, find a job at a Manhattan accounting firm, and finally move out of Chinatown.Didn't expect all of this, and this nasty movie has to do it all over again. "

"Nisita", after listening to Lawrence's complaint, Ronald knew that he was worried that the film would affect Chinatown, so he picked up the phone and called his agent.

"Is the year of the dragon bad? My accountant says it will cause a Chinatown depression."

"Almost, I didn't watch it, but I heard that Mickey Rourke is like a bull in heat, and the female reporter in Chinatown is going to chase him. But the young man who plays the boss of Chinatown is very explosive... ..."

"No, no, I'm not asking about the artistic value of this movie, but whether it will make ordinary Americans' impression of Chinatown worse, and even affect Chinatown's economy."

"To be honest, there is a possibility. In [-], the Chinatown movie came to me once. However, the audience's reaction to this movie is not clear. The actor who played the Chinese boss Joey Tai has a good temperament. Maybe there are audiences. It’s possible to fall in love with him, just like after The Godfather was filmed, many people worshiped the family-respecting culture of Italian gangsters.”

"Get ready and watch a show with me tomorrow."

"Is Ronald of Chinese descent?" Nisita asked his wife, Paula Wagner.

"I haven't heard of it? But he likes to use actors of Chinese descent, and his subordinates. The fast-paced heroine, Phoebe Cates, has Chinese descent. His accountant is also of Chinese descent. And he filmed' Boy Longwei' is also..."

"Is that Japanese?" Nisita corrected that many people don't know the appearance of the three East Asian ethnic groups.

"It's really racist."

The next day, after watching Michael Cimino's new film "Year of the Dragon" with Nisita, he was a little restless.

In the movie, through the mouth of the leading actor Mickey Rourke, some offensive words were said to Chinatown, such as Chinatown, squinting and other slurs.

This kind of appellation, the antipathy of the public, may not be comparable to the word starting with N that scolds blacks in America.But the severity is the same.

But the disgusting thing about Cimino is that he didn't let a good person scold him, but let the half-black and half-white policeman scold him.You say he is racist, the audience knows that he is a bad cop.

You say he is not racist, but he arranged another Asian actress, fell in love with this policeman madly, and finally killed the new generation boss of Chinatown who is loving and righteous.

Moreover, the movie's portrayal of Chinatown is indeed too dark, and the original novel's virtues of respecting the elderly and loving the young, raising funds to do charity for the elderly, the weak, and widowed, and taking care of the funeral are all ignored.Highlights a lot of gangster vendettas and the like.

The most ridiculous thing is that in this story that happened in Chinatown, the Chinese-American, but also let the Chinese-American protagonist Joey Tai, go to Southeast Asia, insisting on linking it with the Vietnam War, and made a stinky and long plot. A new "Godfather" figure who led Chinatown to order and prosperity with affection and righteousness died in Thailand.

"If I came to shoot, I would shoot him as the Michael Corleone of Chinatown," Ronald complained to his agent.

"What do you want?"

"I will use my influence. I don't want to see a certain ethnic group fall into economic depression because of a movie. Movies have influence beyond the box office, preferably positive, just like the breakdancing belt I made. Starting from the dance class industry, Longwei Boy made karate popular again, I can't understand how such a movie that slanders a race can be made in Hollywood."

"Oh, what you said is a bit like a donkey party." Nisita was a little surprised.

"Of course, it happened to be an opportunity. I didn't like Cimino very early. And the producer Dino De Laurentiis, he should know who is the best way to cooperate."

"I'll help you arrange some public relations activities, but it's the best policy for you not to mess with yourself in this matter."

"I know, I'll hide behind and pay some money."

After the weekend, new movie reviews came out one after another.

Some Hollywood tabloids that Ronald's influence can reach have begun to criticize Cimino's new work after "Heaven's Gate", which is still a mess.The film is full of prejudice against Chinese Americans, and the director's level is declining...

Instead, Ronald's hometown, the big media in New York, began to attack Cimino.

Vincent Canby, of The New York Times, wrote, "Year of the Dragon is a long way from classic, but it doesn't pretend to be a well-crafted gangster flick. Comprised of over the top behavior, language and visuals, it ultimately works its own hypnotic effect."

Another New York Times critic, Janet Maslin, also said, "sorry about the lack of feeling, rationality, and narrative continuity, and in this case the actors, especially Mickey as the cop Rock, and Ariana, who played the Chinese reporter, their roles in the movie were lifeless. Only John Lung, who played Joey Tay, was admirable. …

Instead, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times had two good words for "Year of the Dragon," saying, "The plot is intense, moving forward with force and efficiency."

Chinatowns in New York, Los Angeles and other places have organized actions against and boycotting the film.Not only Chinese, but also Japanese, Korean, and Southeast Asians in East Asia were also mobilized to criticize Cimino together.

The previous mobilization mechanism of the Chen Guoren case played a role again.

These boycotts sponsored by Ronald with part of the money were fatal to the box office hit of "Year of the Dragon".The state guest, who had just come to the state for the first time, just left. The White House did not want to see such a movie and start to offend Chinese Americans.

The media all over the country began to report this controversial event intensively.

A television station stopped Michael Cimino in Los Angeles to ask him what he thought of the Chinatown boycott of his film.

"The film was accused of being racist, but they didn't pay attention to what people were saying in the film.

It's a movie that deals with racism, but it's not a racist movie.To deal with this kind of theme, you must inevitably reveal its tendencies.

This is the first time we have tackled the marginalization of ethnic Chinese.On this issue, too little is known.Americans were surprised to learn that until 1943 Chinese Americans were excluded from U.S. citizenship.

They cannot bring their wives to America.The female reporter received applause for Stanley's speech.For all these reasons, Chinese Americans will love this movie.And the negative reaction of journalists may be a shield to cover up these unpleasant facts. "

Cimino fled the interview after babbling.

"What should I do? Mr. Laurentiis", Michael Cimino came to Dino De Laurentiis's office in despair, the movie began to show a strong negative social effect, and movie theaters everywhere began to consider Reduce the screening time, or simply release the screening in advance, and leave the screenings to "Back to the Future" with a strong reputation.

"This trash", Dino De Laurentiis glanced at the distraught Cimino, hoping that with this movie, he, who had made a comeback after "Heaven's Gate", was hit hard again.I really misjudged, Cimino, the best director of the Oscar, has fallen behind the times, and can no longer make good movies.What's the use of being cheap if the box office is not good?
"I have urgently ordered that a subtitle be added to the front of the copy to state our position." "This film does not intend to belittle or ignore the many positive characteristics of Asian Americans, especially the Chinese American community. The description in this film Any resemblance to any association, organization, individual or Chinatown that exists in real life is incidental."

All copies of "Year of the Dragon" have added this subtitle at the beginning.

Dino De Laurentiis had a bit of a heartache, and the extensive printing and replacement of copies cost him a fortune.And all of this was caused by the outdated director Cimino.

"Ronald, what do you think of the recent controversy caused by the Year of the Dragon movie? What do you think of Cimino's defense?"

On the TV, Ronald, who was calm and calm, was interviewed.

"I think he needs to see an ophthalmologist first. Those residents of Chinatown will not agree with him that this movie is not racially discriminatory. Their banners and leaflets have clearly expressed their views.

In addition, not all movies have to be related to the Vietnam War. In my opinion, without the slow plot of the Vietnam War, the story of the whole movie would be much better.Of course, director Cimino may prefer this way, he did that in that famous movie.... "

"You mean Heaven's Gate?" The reporter was happy, it's rare to see a director who sprays directly like this.

"I was going to talk about the deer hunter." Rona laughed and put on his sunglasses. He didn't want to admit that he was laughing at Cimino.

"It's him, it's him, it must be him, playing tricks behind the scenes." After watching the interview, Michael Cimino jumped up and pointed to Ronald on the TV and shouted to the producer Dino De Laurenti Smith exposes.

Laurentiis is a native of Naples, Italy, and this background is no joke.If the movie loses money, it won't be good for him to be targeted by him, and he must find a scapegoat.

"Really?" Dino De Laurentiis squinted his eyes and looked at Ronald on the TV.

(End of this chapter)