Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Madada, Madada, MJ has expressed his opinion on the originality of the moonwalk. Do you have any response?"

After spending a day in Chicago, the crew rushed to New York and continued their journey.

Nicita sent colleagues from the New York office to intercept Ronald and his party at the airport and told them that Michael Jackson had accepted an interview to "clarify" the originality of the moonwalk.

"There is no doubt that MJ said that he was the original creator of the moonwalk. When polishing the dance steps, he asked two "little friends" to give him some reference." The CAA colleague repeated MJ's original words in the interview to the Buffalo Shrimp.

"Did he say that?" The Buffalo Shrimp was very unhappy. Not giving a credit is one thing, but it is another to belittle his contribution in such a light way.

"You will definitely be asked this question when you go out. This is the answer that Ronald entrusted us to prepare for you." He handed a piece of paper to the Buffalo Shrimp.

The "little friend" Buffalo Shrimp, whose name was not even mentioned by MJ, was so angry that his face turned blue. When he came out to be interviewed, he almost forgot how to say the standard answer.

"MJ is the pride of black people," Ronald came up and put his arm around his shoulders, whispering a reminder.

"Uh... MJ is the pride of us black people. He is a great singer and dancer, and has made extraordinary contributions to the entry of breakdancing into mainstream culture. It is my honor to be compared with him."

After stuttering and reciting the lines, Buffalo Shrimp separated the reporters with one hand, put the luggage bag on his shoulder, and walked out.

"Ronald, what do you think of the new film "Sixteen Candles" released at the same time?" The reporter poked the microphone at Ronald again. Now your movie is released in fewer theaters than his, but the box office is better than his. John Hughes said he likes your movie very much. What do you think of his?"

"Really? What did he say?" Ronald pretended to be stupid.

"Hughes said that you helped him a lot in the preparation stage of the movie and helped him gain trust from the producer. This is a major boost for his first film. He also said that although the box office is not as good as your film now, he is optimistic about the long-term box office of "Sixteen Candles". What do you think of his film? "

Now the film critics seem to always compare Ronald and John Hughes. Both of their debut films are youth films about high school boys and girls, and both of them are screenwriters. Hollywood is optimistic about their future.

"John Hughes is my friend. I took the time to watch his film. I think I like this "Sixteen Candles"...

Yes, this is his debut film, and his box office can't be called a failure in any way. If you don't believe it, you can look at the box office list of "Variety" this weekend. I will call to congratulate him..."

Ronald fooled around. Although his new film had a higher box office than the other party, there were two other films that failed at the box office. He didn't want to be caught by others for simply comparing the box office of "Breakdance" and "Sixteen Candles".

This reporter was deliberately creating a contradiction. If he mentioned the box office victory, someone would definitely ask about the comparison of the two films in film reviews.

"Hey, we actually came to the nest of East Coast hip-hop. "After getting into the van that came to pick him up, Sabado said with emotion while looking at the street scene outside the window.

"Now breakdancing will be popular with your dance style." Ronald continued with a smile.

No matter which side of the East and West Coast breakdancing is more orthodox, young people in America now dance their style. No matter if they learned it by watching "Breakdancing" or watching MJ's concert MV.

"Look, the TV wall over there is playing breakdancing clips. "Boogallo pointed to the big screen with multiple TVs in the window of a roadside department store. It was playing a dance battle between him and Sabado.

MGM was encouraged by the strong box office in the first week and began to increase the budget. It played the trailer clips repeatedly all day on major TV stations, especially the MTV channel where young people gathered.

"Oh yeah, Boogallo, Sabado, you are our idols"

The black doorman at the door of the hotel, wearing a crimson hat, saw that the crew was staying in his Manhattan Hilton, and excitedly stepped forward to high-five them one by one.

"Let me help you" The doorman also made two breakdance poses, took over everyone's luggage and put it on the luggage cart.

"Thank you, here", Ronald knew that the two leading actors were from poor backgrounds and might not understand these "etiquettes", so he stepped forward, hid a banknote in his hand, and handed it to the doorman.

After staying in the hotel, Ronald saw a new newspaper lying on the bedside.

"Well, the people in my hometown are still good to me. "Ronald flipped through a few pages, and found that his "Break Dance" was mentioned in the film review columns of various New York newspapers, and all of them were good words.

"A cross-era musical..."

"Will be written into history as a symbol of popular culture..."

"Explosive movie..."

Reading further, Ronald found that New York is still a multicultural city. Some tabloids with mainly Latino and black readers also mentioned this movie.

Although he didn't quite understand the various slangs, street dance terms and nicknames of predecessors above, the long articles occupied a large part of the page.

Looking at the competitor "Sixteen Candles", this movie was different from the hot praise in Chicago, but it was criticized a lot in New York.

"The character Long Da Diao is not funny at all. It is potentially offensive to Asians and a stereotype. It seems that they only speak broken English, have never had a girlfriend, and have no interest in America." All fuss."

This was the New York Times criticism.

"The plot of this movie disgusts me, does he directly condone 'date rape'? Even though there was no actual act, consensual or otherwise, after the party scene, the lead actor Jack actually tells Ted that his Girlfriend Caroline is now in the bedroom, unconscious.

If you want, you can violate her in ten different ways. Is this the message John Hughes wants to convey to his teenage audience? "

This was criticized by the New York Post.

Compared with Chicago, which has more conservative folk customs, New York has taken a step further toward independence for women and equality for all ethnic groups.

In Manhattan office buildings, women can also climb to middle management positions. When they go to and from get off work, there is an endless stream of working girls on the subway and on the streets.

In Chicago, going on a date with alcoholic beverages at the age of eighteen means losing your virginity. If your friend's girlfriend doesn't want it, you can give it to him. This may still be the thinking of many boys from white families.

The employment rate of women is not as high as in New York. Many white women often find husbands and stay at home as housewives as soon as they graduate.

"Let us welcome, Boogaloo...Prawn, Saba...Doo, and Lucinda...Dicky".

When it came to the audience meeting, it was obviously better organized here in New York than in Los Angeles or Chicago. MGM's money spent has paid off. In addition to several leading actors, it also hired a local Manhattan hip-hop troupe to perform.

Ronald sat obediently and was familiar with it. Most of the people could dance, and the interaction on and off the stage became more in-depth. Several audience members even asked the creators how their dance moves should be, and then live teaching began on and off the stage.

"Why did you choose this movie theater?" Ronald asked Minahan strangely. This place is located on the edge of Little Italy in Manhattan, next to a neighborhood with many Puerto Rican immigrants. The cinema has been built for a long time and is already a bit shabby.

"We made some attempts. When we were in Chicago, we put the premiere on the North Side, where many white, wealthy, middle-class people live, and our movie has a larger audience from blacks and Latinos."

"Yeah?"

"Of course I have not forgotten the traditional white audience. Next, the trio will perform multiple break dance performances at nightclubs such as Club 54 and the New Spotlight Club. Those places are popular meccas for teenagers. , whatever is popular there, they will follow.”

"Then they can still have a lot of outside money?" Ronald asked. This is also an opportunity to make money for the three leading actors who come from a low-level background.

"They still have a lot of opportunities. Starting from New York, they will go to New England in the northeast, then south to Florida, back to Texas and Nevada from the south-central part, and finally return to California." Minahan said about the trio's next promotional trip.

"And we," Minahan pointed at Ronald and himself, "will fly to Paris, then transfer to the seaside town of Cannes, and meet up with Yoram who arrived there first. This time we must 'Break Dance' sold all over the world."

"Okay." Ronald had been looking forward to going to the film festival for a long time. Cannes is one of the three major film festivals in Europe. I don't know what good movies and interesting people are waiting for him there.

In the evening, the three main creators, Ronald and Minahan, toasted and drank in the hotel bar. A successful movie that changes everyone's destiny.

Boogaloo Prawn and Shabadoo have become vaguely leading figures in the industry. This time in New York, many hip-hop masters treated them with respect, and they no longer talked about their peers as before.

Lucinda Dickey has also received many movie offers, but she still has to finish filming "Break Dance 2-Electronic Boogaloo" with her two male partners.

"Have you found a director?" Ronald asked Minahan.

"I found someone from my hometown in Israel, but it's a pity that you can't continue to direct."

"Has your script been written?"

"Yes, it's still the story of Motor, Tornado, Kelly, and their rival Falcon. This time the two sides join forces to fight against the common enemy and use break dancing to defeat the evil capitalist's conspiracy."

"Huh, interesting." Ronald didn't want to worry about the sequel. He just wanted to go back to his sweet home and have dinner with his family.

"Ronnie, you're a day late, Diane just left." After finishing her aunt's dinner, Donna said to Ronald.

"Where has she gone?"

"Her movie 'Streets of Rage' is finally going to be released. It will be on the 1st of next month. Will you go to the premiere?"

"I don't know about that. I'm going to attend the Cannes Film Festival soon." Ronald took a sip of the coffee prepared by his aunt. "Have you made arrangements for your admission to MIT? Is there anything else you need my help with?"

"It's no problem. If you hadn't insisted on going, I would have planned to drive there by myself."

"You can go now, this is for you." Ronald took out a key and threw it over. "Just park outside downstairs."

"Is this the car for me?" Donna looked out the window happily.

"I have agreed with my aunt that the Honda is too big for you. This time we will buy the new Honda City. Although it is small, it has a turbocharger, good horsepower and interior space, and is suitable for girls. You can try it tomorrow during the day."

"Thank you!" Donna came over happily and kissed Ronald.