Exploiting Hollywood 1980

I handed Aunt Karen's entrustment to Mrs. Davis.

Ronald unexpectedly discovered that Mrs. Davis's family lived a good life, not as bad as he imagined. This was mainly because America provided good welfare to the poor.

Every year, the government spends a huge amount of dollars to purchase agricultural and livestock products. Part of it is turned into food stamps for the poor as welfare.

Although Mrs. Davis, who did not have a proper job, had to raise three children, she never lacked food and raised little Bud very strong. Old clothes were just what she needed, and they could be worn by little Bud's sister.

The cookies made by her aunt touched Mrs. Davis the most. When their husbands put on military uniforms and went to the battlefield together, the wives of soldiers in the same combat company often supported each other together, and baking cookies was what Karen often made.

A few years ago, Aunt Karen had to raise another Ronald, and she had no energy to make this time-consuming snack. After eating it again after a few years, Mrs. Davis secretly shed tears.

After Ronald said goodbye to Mrs. Davis, little Bud also slipped out of the house and met him at the street corner. The two were going to meet the ballet dancer.

Little Bud took Ronald to Sylvia’s Fried Chicken at the corner of the street. Ronald ordered the signature fried chicken with pancakes. Crispy and juicy fried chicken, with pancakes topped with honey, and a large cup of Coke, is the soul food of Harlem.

Just as he and Little Bud were eating happily, a voice came from the side, "I heard you were looking for me?"

Ronald looked up and saw the dancer who was dancing in a top hat just now.

"Yes, let's make a long story short. My name is Ronald Lee. I am an assistant director. I am selecting roles for the crew. Do you want to make a movie?" Ronald took out his wallet, flipped out his Directors Guild card and handed it to the dancer, "This is my Directors Guild card, which can prove my identity."

The dancer was a little surprised. He took the union card and put it on the table, pulled a chair over and sat down, "Of course I want to shoot, but..."

"It doesn't matter, we can talk slowly," Ronald asked the waiter to serve him a portion of food as usual.

"Let me take a picture of you. What's your name? I saw you dancing, and it seems that you have some basic knowledge of ballet?" Ronald took out a Polaroid camera and took a picture of Gene.

"My name is Gene Anthony Ray (GehonyRay), and I studied ballet at the New York School of Performing Arts."

"Studied?" Ronald was a little surprised. He didn't expect Gene to be a student of the performing arts school.

"Yes, I studied there for 1 year, and then they expelled me."

"Can I ask why?"

Gene took the plate brought by the waiter and started to tell his story while eating fried chicken.

It turned out that Gene was one of the few black boys who entered the dance department. The ballet industry is more or less discriminated against black people. Few black people can play the roles of classical ballet. Black ballet dancers usually dance modern ballet that is a fusion of jazz and dance.

The quality of the public high school in Harlem that Gene attended before was very poor. His English grades have always been poor. After entering the performing arts school, he failed English many times.

Because of this, the English teacher stopped his practice qualification and forced him to pass the English test before he could continue to enter the studio.

Gene had no way to improve his English grades, and was deprived of the only opportunity to dance, which he was good at. In a rage, he slapped the teacher and was expelled by the school board.

Later, the English teacher found out that his poor grades were not because he didn't work hard, but because no one gave him extra lessons and he couldn't keep up with the progress, so he took the initiative to plead with the school. However, there seemed to be racists in the school board who had long wanted to expel Gene and firmly disagreed with the decision to withdraw the expulsion.

Gene could only go to the even worse Julia Ri Performing Arts High School, where the teaching quality was poor and only 35% of students could graduate each year.

In addition to the studio, Gene basically didn't spend any energy on other subjects. When he didn't have practice lessons, he went to the streets of Harlem to dance.

"By the way, what dance did you just do?" Ronald asked.

"We call it Break' and Popp'. Why don't you white people call it that? What's the name?"

Gene was a little surprised, Ronald can dance.

"No problem, we call it that too."

"We are looking for 600 extras and dozens of regular roles for this movie. If you are interested, I can recommend you to audition."

"Of course, what role will I get?"

"I can't say for sure. The final decision is made by the director. I just recommend you to audition."

"What is the movie about?"

"It's about eight art school students, and the four-year story from enrollment to graduation. In fact, the prototype of the place where the story takes place is the performing arts college you attended."

"Then I can definitely play it well. I am a student there, and I used to be." Gene said confidently, "Then what are you auditioning for?"

"You will be asked to dance a dance, and then you will be asked to act in a scene. If the director is satisfied, he will sign a contract with you."

"When can I audition?" Gene ate another piece of fried chicken and stopped moving.

Ronald noticed that he didn't eat the pancakes, nor did he add honey. As a dancer, he was still somewhat conscious of maintaining his carbohydrate and calorie intake.

"Do you have a phone?"

"Yes, Gene gave a phone number. This is the phone in the hallway of my house. If I don't answer it, you can just ask for Joan's son."

After agreeing on the contact information, Gene prepared to go back and wait for notification. He took the remaining fried chicken and muffins, as well as the cornbread provided by the restaurant, and put them in a paper lunch box, "I'm going to take some for my mother."

Ronald simply ordered him another serving of fried chicken and asked him to take it with him.

"By the way, what's the name of your movie?" Gene asked while waiting for the meal.

"It's called Hot Lunch."

"Hot Lunch?" Gene started laughing wildly, and Little Bud also laughed and crawled under the table.

"Why is it called this? Just hearing the name, I thought you were making an adult movie, hahaha..."

Ronald was laughed at inexplicably, and it was Little Bud who whispered in his ear to explain: "In Harlem, black people call using their mouths... to solve it, Hot Lunch."

"Hahaha..." Ronald also laughed, "I'll talk to the director next time I have a chance."

After Gene left, Ronald picked up the Directors Guild card on the table and put it in his wallet. "It seems that his English is really poor, and he can't read very well."

Leroy's character is also illiterate, but unfortunately the script says he is a Latino. If he is black, Gene has a chance to fight for it. Gene's background is very similar to Leroy's.

"Are you really going to find that B-boy to act in the movie?" Little Bud asked Ronald with a smile.

"What is a B-boy?"

"It's the kind of floor dance. We all call them B-boys."

"Huh? What's wrong with him?"

"He's a fag."

Ronald raised his eyebrows: "The director will grasp it. The movie is actually about his role. As long as he can dance well and play the role well, it doesn't matter."

Among the eight protagonists, there is a character named Montgomery who is gay. Leroy likes girls. But this is not within his consideration.

He called the waiter and ordered 4 more meals.

"I can't eat 4 servings, cousin."

"This is for your mother and sisters, you guy." Ronald raised his hand and patted Little Bud's forehead, "Study hard."

"Studying is useless? There are not so many jobs in Harlem that need high school graduates." Little Bud touched his head aggrievedly.

"As long as you can graduate from high school smoothly, I will recommend you a job opportunity in the future."

"Really, cousin? Don't worry, my grades are not bad, I will definitely graduate."