Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Did you get Cher's autograph?" Ronald asked Tom Cruise as he left the wedding banquet.

"Ah... Yeah, I got (her phone number)." Tom smiled like a good boy in "Good Boys Go Crazy".

"Have fun," Ronald glanced at the members of the "Boy Gang." They drank some alcoholic beverages and recovered a little. They started to be wild and asked pretty girls for their phone numbers.

"Their true nature is exposed again," Ronald shook his head and got in 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 coming from Chinatown?" Ronald remembered that Lawrence also went to welcome the state guest, 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 so angry... They actually..." Lawrence saw Ronald coming back, hugged him, and then began to curse the movie "Year of the Dragon" in Cantonese, and even cursed the director Cimino.

"What's going on?" Ronald found that Lawrence's face had turned red, and he was obviously very angry, and he cursed in his native language because he was dissatisfied with cursing in English.

Well, but I like to listen.

Who made director Cimino always have trouble with me, and producer Dino De Laurentiis also took advantage of the situation and wanted to force me to sign multiple film contracts to prevent me from directing this Chinese story set in Chinatown.

"The movie premieres tonight. As long 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, everything will be like 1974 all over again."

As Lawrence spoke, his eyes turned red.

"Don't be angry. What's wrong with this movie? Tell us slowly. We'll find a way to solve it."

Ronald was shocked. How could this involve Chinatown's economy? He quickly poured a cup of black tea for the accountant to calm him down.

"When I was young, I worked in Chinatown. In 1974, the movie 'Chinatown' portrayed Chinatown as a dirty place where filth and dirt were hidden and no police dared to go. As a result, more than half of the Chinatown travel projects went bankrupt that year, and many Americans did not dare to come to Chinatown for special tourism.

There were also other normal souvenir and specialty product retail businesses that fell sharply. I had no choice but to go against my parents' wishes, leave Chinatown, find a job in a Manhattan accounting firm, and finally move out of Chinatown. I didn't expect that all of this would happen again in this annoying movie."

"Nicita," Ronald heard Lawrence's accusation and knew that he was worried that the movie would affect Chinatown, so he picked up the phone and called his agent.

"Is the filming of Year of the Dragon bad? My accountant said it will cause a depression in Chinatown."

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

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

"To be honest, it's possible. That Chinatown was shown once in 1974. But the audience's reaction to this film is hard to say. The actor who plays the Chinese boss Joey Tay has a good temperament. Maybe some audiences will fall in love with him, just like after the filming of The Godfather, many people admired the family-respecting culture of Italian gangsters."

"Get ready and go to see a show with me tomorrow."

"Does Ronald have Chinese ancestry?" Niceta asked his wife Paula Wagner.

"I haven't heard of it? But he likes to use actors and subordinates with Chinese ancestry. The heroine of the movie Fast and Furious, Phoebe Cates, is of Chinese ancestry. His accountant is also Chinese. And the movie he shot, The Karate Kid, is also..."

"Isn't that Japanese?" Nicita corrected. Many people can't really tell the appearance of the three ethnic groups in East Asia apart.

"There really is racial discrimination."

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

In the movie, Mickey Rourke, the lead actor, said some offensive words about Chinatown, such as "Chinese guy" and "squinty eyes".

The public's disgust with this name may not be as great as the word starting with n used to curse black people in America. But the degree of badness is the same.

But the disgusting thing about Cimino is that he didn't let a good person curse, but let the half-black policeman curse. You say he is racially discriminatory, the audience knows that the one who curses is a bad policeman.

You say he is not racist, but he arranged for an Asian actress to fall madly in love with the policeman, and finally killed the new generation of Chinatown boss who was affectionate and righteous.

Moreover, the movie did portray Chinatown too darkly, ignoring the virtues of the Chinese in the original novel, such as respecting the elderly and loving the young, raising funds for charity for the elderly, the weak and the widowed, and handling funeral affairs. It highlighted many plots such as gang vendettas.

The most ridiculous thing is that in this story about Chinese people in Chinatown, the Chinese protagonist Joey Tay has to go to Southeast Asia, and it has to be linked to the Vietnam War, making a long and boring plot, and a new "godfather"-like figure who is affectionate and righteous and leads Chinatown to order and prosperity died in Thailand.

"If I were to film him, I would make him the Michael Corleone of Chinatown," Ronald complained to his agent.

"What do you want to do?"

"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 box office, and it's best to be positive, just like the breakdancing I filmed brought about the dance class industry, and The Karate Kid 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." Niceta was a little surprised.

"Of course, it's just an opportunity. I've disliked Cimino for a long time. And that producer Dino De Laurentiis, he should know who to work with is the best policy."

"I will help you arrange some public relations activities, but it's best if you don't get involved in this matter."

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

After the weekend, new film reviews came out.

Some Hollywood tabloids that Ronald's influence could reach began to criticize Cimino's new work after "Heaven's Gate", which was still a mess. The film was full of prejudice against Chinese people, and the director's level was getting lower and lower...

It was the big media in Ronald's hometown, New York, that began to take the initiative to attack Cimino.

Vincent Canby of the "New York Times" wrote, "Year of the Dragon is still a long way from being a classic, but it does not pretend to be a well-made gangster movie. It is not boring for a minute. It is composed of over-the-top actions, language and visual effects, and finally exerts its own hypnotic effect."

Another "New York Times" film critic Janet Maslin also said, "I regret the lack of feeling, rationality and narrative continuity. In this case, the actors' performances are particularly bad, especially Mickey Rourke, who plays the police, and Ariana, who plays the Chinese reporter. Their roles in the film are useless. Only Zun Long, who plays Joey Tai, is impressive...

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times said two good words for "Year of the Dragon", "The plot is strong and moves forward with power and efficiency. ”

Chinatowns in New York, Los Angeles and other places have organized actions to oppose and boycott this film. Not only Chinese, but also Japanese, Korean, Southeast Asian and other East Asians have been mobilized to criticize Cimino.

The mobilization mechanism of the previous Vincent Chin case has once again played a role.

These boycotts, which Ronald sponsored with part of the money, were a fatal blow to the box office of "Year of the Dragon". The state guest who just came for his first state visit had just left, and the White House did not want to see such a movie offending Chinese people.

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

A TV station intercepted Michael Cimino in Los Angeles and asked him what he thought of the boycott of his film in Chinatown.

"The film was accused of racism, but they didn't pay attention to what people said in the film.

This is a film that involves racism, but it is not a racist film. To deal with this kind of theme, you must inevitably reveal its tendency.

This is the first time we have dealt with the marginalization of Chinese people. People know too little about this issue. Americans were surprised to find that until 1943, Chinese people were excluded from American citizenship.

They could not bring their wives to the United States. The female reporter received applause for Stanley's speech. For all these reasons, Chinese people will like this movie. And the negative reaction of reporters may be a shield to cover up these unpleasant facts. "

After talking nonsense, Cimino fled the interview.

"What to do? Mr. Laurentiis", Michael Cimino came to Dino De Laurentiis' office dejectedly. The film began to show a strong negative social effect. Cinemas everywhere began to consider reducing the screening time, or simply withdrawing the film in advance, leaving the screening time for the well-received "Back to the Future".

"This waste", Dino De Laurentiis glanced at the distraught Cimino. He hoped to make a comeback after "Heaven's Gate" with this film, but he was hit hard again. He really misjudged Cimino, the Oscar-winning director, who has fallen behind the times and can no longer make good movies. What's the point of being cheap if the box office is not good?

"I have urgently ordered to add a subtitle to the front of the copy to indicate our position." "This film does not intend to belittle or ignore the many positive characteristics of the Asian American, especially Chinese American community. Any similarities between the descriptions in this film and any associations, organizations, individuals or Chinatowns that exist in real life are accidental. ”

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

Dino De Laurentiis felt a little pained. The large-scale printing and replacement of copies cost him a lot of money. And all this was caused by Cimino, an outdated director.

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

Ronald appeared on the TV and was interviewed.

“I think he should see an ophthalmologist first. No one in Chinatown will agree with his view that this movie is not racist. Their banners and flyers have clearly expressed their views.

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

"Are you talking about Heaven's Gate?" The reporter was happy. It was rare to criticize the director directly like this.

"I originally wanted to say The Deer Hunter." Ronald laughed and put on sunglasses. He didn't want to admit that he was laughing at Cimino.

"It's him, it's him, it must be him, behind the scenes." Michael Cimino finished watching the interview, jumped up and pointed at Ronald on the TV and loudly exposed it to producer Dino De Laurentiis.

Laurentis is from Naples, Italy. This background is not a joke. If the movie loses money, it will definitely not be good for him to be targeted by him. He must find a scapegoat.

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