Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Ronald soon found out the answer.

Because he, like Aunt Karen, has a temperament of coming from a poor family. He doesn't cause trouble, but he's not afraid of it either.

Not daring to drive his new car to Harlem, Ronald chose to take the subway.

After the subway passed the 125th Street Station, it drove out of the tunnel and walked on the ground. There were more and more black passengers, and there was no legendary horror scene of everyone robbing and carrying guns.

There were also black mothers in Harlem who took their children to musical instrument classes, and there were also black youths in suits who gave up their seats to the elderly.

The main security problem came from those unemployed young men. At the age of fourteen or fifteen, it was the time when male hormones were bursting and they were fearless. Without money to play, they could only "think of ways".

Ronald met a group of them on the subway, whizzing through the car. If you avoided their eyes and they saw that you were afraid, they would come forward to harass you and force you to buy some "souvenirs".

Ronald was strong and healthy, and when they looked at him, he looked back, neither afraid nor provocative. Instead, they went around Ronald, exited the carriages, and jumped over the gates one after another.

After exiting the subway, Ronald quickly moved away from the public housing belt around the subway. This kind of high-rise residential area with dense buildings and various sports facilities downstairs is all government-built public housing. It is a high-incidence area for vicious crimes, and many drug dealers and gangs are active here.

When he arrived at the residential area where his uncle's comrade-in-arms Bud's family lived, the scene here was very different. This is an old private residential area, very old, so old that most of the wall paint has fallen off. The building is not high, and there is an open space at the junction of two rows of houses, with various graffiti on the walls.

This kind of old-style housing looks old, but it is actually safer than the newer public housing. The population density is low, and gang members don't like it here. It is not easy to hide when the police come.

There is a small piece of open space with terrazzo on the ground, which may be a decoration when it was built. Now it is occupied by a group of people.

Another group of black young people in their teens and twenties stood in two groups on the open space. Both groups looked at the two people on the terrazzo floor in the middle, dancing to the drum beats played by the loud speaker recorder.

Seeing the stranger coming, they stopped the recorder and the two groups surrounded him. They uttered meaningless greetings such as "Yo, Yo..."

Ronald knew that this was a dangerous signal. Harlem is very united in treating outsiders. This is because he is white and does not know how to cut. It would be bad if he was mistaken for a plainclothes policeman or other white gangsters.

He quickly put down the package and spread his hands to show that he was not a threat. He stared into the eyes of the two leading black men and said loudly:

"I'm here to find Bud's family, Bud Davis. My uncle is old Bud's comrade-in-arms. Does anyone know his family?"

"Bud, Bud, I'm your guest." The crowd pushed out a child, whose age was unclear, five feet six (1.70 meters) tall, very strong, but with a childish face.

"Hey, is that Cousin Ronnie? My mom told me you'd come, so she asked me to pick you up." Little Bud, who has the same name as his father, came up to fist bump with Ronald affectionately.

"This is a new popular way to greet each other." Little Bud explained when he saw Ronald was puzzled.

Ronald imitated him and bumped fists with him, picked up the package, and asked, "Are you guys fighting in a dance?"

"Yeah... We're fighting in a dance with people from the Bronx. We play here every day when we have nothing to do." Little Bud said, "Let's go home first, I'll take you away."

"Is it okay for you?" Ronald pointed to the dance venue and asked Little Bud.

"Yo, yo...

The white guy from outside,

turned out to be a tall guy,

I wonder if he has a brain,

Hide behind Little Bud,

Dare you come down to dance..."

Perhaps Ronald's pointing and pointing annoyed the other party, and a Latino came out from the group of people who opposed Little Bud, turned on the recorder, and suddenly started to make up a verse to mock Ronald with the accompaniment of the drums of the rhythm band.

"You otherfxcker! Keep your mouth shut. Ronnie's cousin is the nephew of my father's comrade-in-arms. He's one of us." Little Bud was annoyed and was about to push him. The two groups quickly stepped forward, and the conflict was about to escalate.

"Hey, hey... stop." The leaders of both sides quickly shouted loudly to stop the pushing of both sides.

"Didn't we agree? Today, friends from Harlem and Bronx will decide the winner by dancing."

Put the Boobox on the gasoline barrel on the side of the road again and play the rhythm tape with only drum beats.

The Latino was making up lyrics to encourage the dancers on both sides. Ronald found it quite interesting. He wondered what kind of dance they were dancing, disco?

Boom, boom, boom...

The drum beats were very strong, which was different from the 4/4 beat of disco.

"Wow..." Ronald exclaimed, and saw the dancer from the Bronx doing a Thomas full spin on the ground, and then landing on the ground with his four limbs in turn in a rhythmic manner.

He jumped up and started to dance like a robot.

"Hmm?" Ronald felt that he could do this part, so he secretly gestured twice. It seemed that he could really do it, but he was a little unfamiliar.

After the Bronx dancers finished dancing, they made various movements such as hooking fingers, raising little fingers, and raising thumbs up, provoking the people in Harlem.

The boss on Little Bud's side looked back at a young man and motioned him to go up.

The young man wore an old-fashioned top hat, a gray vest, and blue tight basketball shorts, but he lifted the front of the vest over his head, revealing his chest muscles and eight abdominal muscles.

He started with a noodle dance, his whole body seemed to have no bones like noodles, slowly limp with the rhythm, and then gradually stand up and return to normal.

Then it was the same gymnastics pommel horse style action, but when he was doing it, he deliberately kept thrusting his hips with the rhythm to provoke the opponent.

Finally, it was also a carp jump, standing up straight and covering his basketball shorts, while thrusting his hips towards the opponent with the drum beats.

"Hey, I think I can do this part too" Ronald's body showed a familiar feeling again.

"Ahhh..." The friends in Harlem roared in victory.

This ending action humiliated the opponent. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that the contestant from Harlem on Little Bud's side danced better.

And based on Ronald's experience of watching Meg practice, it is likely that this person has received professional ballet training.

The flexibility, coordination, and kicking methods of some movements all have the shadow of ballet. The most important thing is that when he kicks, his toes will unconsciously straighten.

What's more, Ronald seemed to have seen his figure in the movie clips in his dream, flashing in the group dance scene.

Ronald couldn't help but applaud him.

"Hey, white guy, it's your turn." The boss on the opposite side pointed at Ronald.

"It's bad, cousin, you shouldn't applaud and cheer. According to the rules here, participating in the cheering is equivalent to tacitly agreeing that you are on our side, and the other party can challenge you." Little Bud quietly told Ronald the rules of the dance battle.

"Hey, can you do it, white guy?" The boss here was also in a bad mood. If Ronald couldn't dance, it would be bad if he turned victory into defeat.

"Let me dance one." Ronald slightly suppressed his excited body and signaled the other party to start the rhythm.

Boom, boom, boom...

Ronald first crossed his hands on his knees, and began to exchange his hands with the rhythm, looking like he was changing his knees.

Then he used his hands to simulate climbing a ladder in the air, one, two, move, three, four, three. Everyone saw something interesting, Ronald was imitating the painter's movements of climbing a ladder. Although there was no ladder, he performed vividly, and the brothers in Harlem began to cheer.

Bud saw that his cousin could actually dance this kind of black dance, and he couldn't help but cheer loudly, "Yo... He is my cousin Ronnie, the nephew of my father's comrade-in-arms, my cousin!"

Then he walked with a rope in the air,

Walking with the glass in the air,

Ronald danced happily, put one hand on his chest, and followed the rhythm of his palm up and down to simulate the beating of his heart, thump, thump...

Move, move, thump, thump... thump, thump, the drum beat of the recorder changed.

Ronald turned around and nailed his feet to the ground. He pressed the top of his head, then pointed his finger over, indicating that the dancer who knew ballet should throw his hat over.

The man threw the hat and it flew high over. Ronald took it steadily with his hands, put it on his head, then covered the hat with one hand and reached into his trouser pocket with the other hand, thrusting his hips to the rhythm.

"Yo, yo, look, look, how is my cousin dancing?" Little Bud blew it again.

Ronald danced happily, as if this was a dance he knew in his previous life, and his level was pretty good, and he was proficient in it after dancing it.

He took off his hat and quickly threw it back to the dancer who knew ballet. Ronald changed his dance posture, snapped his fingers with his right hand, raised his legs high at a high frequency, and ran on the spot.

"Ahhh..."

After stopping for a while, Ronald changed his movements again, still raised his legs high, pretending to run forward...

But the whole person was moving backwards in the opposite direction.

Well, it was still a little unskilled.

"Wow!..."

The whole crowd exploded!

Several dancers, including one from the Bronx, who knew more than the average audience, rushed up to surround Ronald:

"Hey an, what's your move called?"

"I call it the Moonwalk."

"Can you teach us?"

After demonstrating the Moonwalk to the dancers twice more, Ronald said he was going to see Bud's mother, Mrs. Davis. Everyone fist-bumped, hugged, and said goodbye to him in a friendly manner. As long as they treat you as one of their own, black brothers are actually very nice.

Ronald quietly pulled Bud over and asked him to tell the dancer who had learned ballet to meet him at a place near Bud's house. He could introduce him to a group performance job.

"What about me, cousin Ronnie, can I be a group performer in the crew?" After Bud agreed, he asked himself again. It seems that black people also have dreams of becoming stars.

"How old are you this year?" Ronald looked at Barney's figure and didn't look like he could dance.

"I'm 14, my older sister is 15, and my younger sister is 13."

"Are you in middle school? The crew has a legal provision that actors under the age of 18 cannot be hired."

"Are you kidding me? Cousin, if actors under the age of 18 cannot be hired, then how did Shirley Temple make a movie?" Little Bud smiled, as if he saw through his cousin's trick.

"You are very smart, little Bud, there are indeed child actors making movies, but that requires hiring a tutor to tutor on the set, and your family can't afford it." Ronald watched Bud's hopeful face turn to disappointment, and added, "I can't afford it either."

"Okay, I get it. Anyway, cousin, don't forget me when you have the chance." Little Bud quickly recovered from his disappointment and walked home with Ronald.