Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"This is a gift from Jane Fonda. It is a signed photo of herself. I heard that you are not satisfied with her role in 'Homecoming'. She specifically asked me to tell you that she will return in the next movie 'On Golden Pond'." I learned traditional American values ​​and became a traditional daughter and wife.”

After the meal, the three of them drank tea around the TV. Ronald took out an envelope and handed it to Aunt Karen.

"Oh, really?" Aunt Karen opened the envelope and took out the signed photo. She found that her name was on it and it was specially signed by Jane Fonda to give it to her. "What's the story of her new movie?"

"It's a story about a daughter and her parents reconciling. The family is in a lake house. The daughter, father, and grandson, three generations have forgiven their conflicts and feel the warmth of the family again. It's about her father Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn. Acted together."

The more Aunt Karen looked at the gift, the more satisfied she became. "Jane looks like a good wife and mother. She should play more such roles. It would also be good to act with her own father."

"This is the first time I have received a gift from a big star. I have to give her a gift in return. What gift do you think I should give to the star?"

Ronald was stunned. He didn't expect that Aunt Karen really regarded it as a gift given to each other by ordinary people. There was still a generation gap between him and her. But it’s not good to tell some embarrassing truths now.

"Actually, it's best if you bake the biscuits, but there's a risk of getting damp during long-distance transportation, and they're not as delicious as when they're freshly baked."

"Yes, if she comes to our house as a guest, I will bake cookies for her." Aunt Karen put the photo back into the envelope and put it away carefully, "What do you think I gave her two pairs of leg warmers that I knitted by myself? Like? I read interviews in magazines and Jane Fonda also dances ballet.”

"Really? I didn't expect my aunt to be a fan of Jane Fonda." Ronald thought to himself, "No wonder she played the role of the cheating soldier's wife in Rong Guili, and my aunt was so angry. Her favorite star played a role with the same identity as herself, The result is not a good one.”

"This is a good idea. After opening the leg warmer business, Auntie, you don't knit it yourself much anymore."

"Yes, my friends from the Veterans Club are weaving now, which can give them more income. I can't compete with them. But the quality of my knitting is better than theirs." Aunt Karen happily took out There are two pairs of leg warmers, one long and one short, both in purple.

"I was going to give it to your daughter...hey, forget it, let's not talk about it." Aunt Karen handed the leg warmers to Ronald, "I wrote a letter to Jian, telling her that I really like the plot of her new movie and hope that Then we can see her perform wonderfully on the same stage as her father Henry." As she said this, she went to the drawer and took out a pen and paper and started writing a letter to her idol.

Although Aunt Karen was born in the late 1940s, she still has some old-school ways. The generation that was born before America officially entered World War II and experienced the Great Depression in their childhood is called the "silent generation". They believe that some things are not suitable to be said, and it is better for each other to understand each other.

Moreover, telephones were not widely available at that time, so it was the habit of keeping in touch with close friends.

"I'm afraid I have to find her agent so that the gift can really be delivered to Jane Fonda. But it is a unique gift, and Jane probably doesn't receive it very often. It just so happens that she is not doing aerobic yoga. What the fuck?”

"Huh?" Ronald remembered that Jane Fonda seemed to be filming some kind of video tape, and maybe it could be used for advertising.

"I'm going to call my agent," Ronald said.

"Mr. Niceta, this is Ronald. My aunt Karen is a fan of Miss Jane Fonda. She was very happy when she saw the signed photo that Jane gave her and wanted to give a gift in return. ...Yes, herself Knitted with wool, Jane can use it when doing yoga in the winter...Okay, thank you for your help.”

"My agent promised to communicate with Jane's agent, and I will courier the leg warmers to her." Ronald came over to claim credit for his aunt.

"Okay, Ronnie. This is a letter from me." Auntie put a sealed letter and leg warmers together and handed them to Ronald.

Back in his apartment, Ronald started revising the script again, removing the background of civil rights and the Vietnam War in the 1960s. The story of the sequel to "Grease" seemed very bland, not much different from the original.

The 1950s was a golden age for America. After the war, the European economy was in recession, and many daily industrial products were made in America. At that time, children from ordinary families, even if they could not go to college, could still find a blue-collar job and earn a good income.

Therefore, the children in the original work did not go to college and became car mechanics, gas station workers, and makeup artists, which allowed them to earn enough money to buy a house in the city and live with their high school classmates. Get married and have children without any worries.

But now it's the 1980s, and blue-collar workers who do manual labor are no longer respected by society. Those who work in fast food chains like McDonald's are mostly teenagers.

Young people don't resonate with these jobs at all. They just want to earn some pocket money and don't want to be blue-collar workers all their lives. On the contrary, they all hope to have enough education, find an office job, pay social security, buy a house in the suburbs, and live with people of the same income and social class. This is the new generation of American dream. .

Thinking of this, Ronald became even more worried. He threw away the original script and the red pencil that had marked it.

Ronald felt that if the original story was simply repeated, the box office might not be very ideal. Although the box office of a movie has little to do with the screenwriter, if a screenwriter can write a movie with good box office, he can also get a bonus as a screenwriter and have the opportunity to direct his own movie.

"Grease" is a well-known Hollywood musical. Before it was remade into a movie, it was performed on Broadway for five or six years. Many small town teenagers who did not have the opportunity to watch it live on Broadway in New York were able to enjoy the classic Broadway musical with a ticket price of three or four dollars. In 1978, it was a very cost-effective thing.

But let them watch a sequel movie with a basically similar plot?

And the sequel has not been polished by Broadway like the original, and it has lost the male and female protagonists Travolta and Olivia? I am afraid that even fewer people will go.

Ronald opened the window of the apartment to let in fresh air to help him think.

And today's teenagers are not so eager for Broadway musicals. Ronald remembered that his cousin Donna and Diane Lane both expressed disdain for Broadway musicals.

What they want to see is the real thing. "Grease", a drama that strips away the hardships of life and leaves only romantic imagination, is no longer attractive to teenagers.

The times always leave their marks in the works of art at that time. People at that time may not feel it, but when they watch it again decades later, they will strongly feel the trend of the times.

1965 marked the end of the baby boom generation. The first batch of babies born after the baby boom are already 15 years old, just the age to enter high school. They are also the largest potential audience targeted by the sequel of "Grease".

Will they really like the tone of "Grease" like the teenagers at the end of the baby boom generation two years ago?

The baby boomers have grown up. From 1965 onwards, that is, the new generation of audiences starting with cousin Donna, Diane Lane, and Brooke Shields, what kind of movies will they like?

Ronald put aside these unanswered questions, closed the window, and came to the desk again.

The sequel to "Grease" is still a romantic comedy. Since it is a love drama, it is necessary to create some conflicts between the male and female protagonists, so that the two are separated by the conflicts and finally get married after overcoming the conflicts.

First of all, the most common parental factors in romantic comedies must be eliminated. Romeo and Juliet-style family obstacles do not exist in the universe of "Grease". The background is all in high school stories. It is impossible for parents to not allow boys and girls to be together.

The original work uses social conflicts, or in the context of the campus, it is the conflict between different student classes. The most powerful group in the school is not the nerds with the best academic performance, nor the sports with good sports performance, but a group of high-ranking people in small groups.

That is, the so-called tough guys for boys and the pink girls for girls. In the end, the heroine Sandy, played by Olivia Newton-John, gave up her good girl identity, took the initiative to put on a leather jacket, and dressed up as a pink girl, which ended the gap between her and her boyfriend, and the two were together again.

How about this time the other way around?

Ronald sat down and typed quickly on the typewriter. The hero Michael becomes a top student who is familiar with Shakespeare, while the heroine Stephanie becomes the new leader of the Pink Ladies.

In order to get close to Stephanie, whom he fell in love with at first sight, Michael wants to join the Hard Guy Gang. But the Hard Guy Gang must have motorcycles.

Michael bought a second-hand Harley motorcycle with the money he earned from doing homework for others. When the Hard Guy Gang and the gangs from other schools were fighting, he became famous by riding a motorcycle and captured Stephanie's heart.

But Stephanie didn't know that the motorcycle rider wearing a helmet asked Michael to tutor her Shakespeare reading homework.

Under the appearance of the two lovers, they both have a second real face. The top student Michael is actually a motorcycle expert and a gang hero. Stephanie, the leader of the Pink Ladies, also wants to get good grades privately and have the opportunity to go to college.

In the end, of course, Stephanie knows that Michael is the hidden hero, and Michael also helps Stephanie with her homework and knows her intelligence, and the two have a happy ending.

Such a plot setting leaves enough space for composition and choreography. For example, when Michael captured the heart of Stephanie, the leader of the Pink Lady gang, during the motorcycle battle, Stephanie had a crush on the helmeted motorcycle rider, Michael and Stephanie discussed Shakespeare's literature, and Michael took off his helmet at the final graduation dance, all of these could be arranged with appropriate songs and dances.

Moreover, in the dual identities set up, Stephanie had a crush on Michael's hidden identity as a motorcycle rider, and treated the public identity of a top student as a friend, and Michael was jealous of himself.

Stephanie went from having a crush on Michael's hidden identity as a knight to gradually falling in love with Michael's public identity as a top student, and finally the two merged into one and became a perfect lover.

This is a very classic love drama conflict caused by two identities, and there are many plays to do.

Ronald got inspired and worked hard on the typewriter all night. When it was dawn, he finally sorted out the manuscript and read it aloud before he fell asleep. Then he fell asleep very satisfied.

"Ronald, Ronald..." Ronald, who was asleep, faintly heard a girl calling his name, but he couldn't see her face clearly.

"Who is it?"

"It's me, Donna, you lazy bug." Cousin Donna patted his face.

"Ah, Donna. I didn't sleep last night. I was working on the script." Ronald got up sleepily. "Why are you here? Don't you have to go to school?"

"Today is Columbus Day, a public holiday." Donna said unhappily. "A woman said she couldn't get through to you. She looked up our phone number in the phone book. My mom asked me to come and see if you were home."

"Oh," Ronald remembered that he had unplugged the phone line yesterday to avoid sales calls from people selling all kinds of things in order to finish the manuscript. He forgot to plug it in before going to bed.

"Who is the woman?"

"I don't know. She said her movie premiered in New York today and she wants to invite you to the hotel to chat. This is her name and phone number."

Ronald picked up the note and saw only the letters PJ, a hotel switchboard and room number.