American Entertainment 1982

"You always make different choices like this, Tommy, just like the last time you chose Bob to help you sell goods, obviously Delia helped you arrange a few second-line interview shows in big cities, and then you succeeded I selected a third-rate interview in Chicago, I know that Chicago is also a big city, but the ratings of that show are really not high, and the main audience is black." Sophia has already practiced perfectly and took the hand from Tommy Hawke Before pulling off the blindfold, he complained to Tommy who took out the book to read:

"Even if you choose the interview in San Francisco, at least I don't need to accompany you on the red-eye flight."

After complaining softly, and knowing that Tommy would ignore her complaint, Sophia obediently pulled down her blindfold, put her head on the other's shoulder and adjusted a few times, and soon fell asleep.

Hearing the sound of Sophia sleeping soundly next to him, Tommy seemed to be talking to himself, and opened the book in his hand: "Because it is Chicago, the old black revolutionary district in the United States, and because the host of the third-rate interview is named Oprah , I didn't go for the show, I wanted to abduct her into my hands, she is a goose that only lays golden eggs."

While Tommy was on a late-night voyage to Chicago, Ray Peabody, the producer of WLS-TV "AM Chicago", was calling from his hometown in Marseille, France. Black hostess Oprah Winfrey quarrel:

"I need you to be clear, this is my show! My boy! Don't think Mr. Swanson brought you from Baltimore to Chicago and you're a big guy in the WLS! This show is still up to me and you don't Qualified to tamper with the program schedule!"

Oprah turned on the hands-free button of the phone, flipped through a large amount of text materials without looking up, and responded indifferently but sharply: "You should be glad that the Chicago Children's Protection Bureau didn't send you to jail because you abused your own children. ,Mr. Peabody, hosting the lowest-rated talk show news in Chicago, do you think this is like the treatment of a talk show star?"

"The only ratings are contributed by black viewers, and you are going to talk to them about computer software? They are not interested, and you will lose the only viewers of this show!" Ray Peabody said loudly .

"AM Chicago" is a daytime talk show. Because it is broadcast in the morning, the main audience is housewives who get up early to help their families prepare breakfast. They turn on the TV to the loudest and listen to the host Talking about the latest social hot spots, while busy in the kitchen.

Oprah glanced at the phone and said, "It's not that blacks are not interested in technological development, but you have to give them a topic that they are interested in, Mr. Peabody, believe me, this topic will interest them , Mr. Swanson, the owner, would not have paid a high price to call me from Baltimore to Chicago to save the show if I hadn't picked topics better than you."

"Black women against computers..." Peabody seemed irritated by Oprah's tone and wanted to growl, but before he could finish speaking, Oprah swears a curse word and hangs up the phone:

"I'm fed up with your stereotypes, Mr. Peabody. F*ck your French girl. Wait until you get back from France and see which one of us the boss will fire."

Afterwards, she continued to devote herself to preparing the company, and began to read a large amount of materials faxed in advance by Actor Company, as if contradicting the producer was just a trivial matter that did not deserve her attention.

From the first time she saw these materials, she felt that this topic was very interesting. Just looking at the materials made her curious about Tommy Hawke.

His experience is somewhat similar to his own. His family is poor and he has lost his relatives, but in order to get ahead by any means, he first increases his popularity by working part-time on the radio station, and then participates in radio debate competitions and speeches to get university notices and scholarships. Tommy relies on How can a person who can do these things by engaging in international summer camps to get university admission tickets be a boring person.

Listen to the name he chose for the company, Actor, actor, he has already told the world frankly, his real profession, why should he worry about his acting skills.

...

The reception room of WLS TV Channel 7.

"It's an honor to meet you, Ms. Winfrey." Tommy took the initiative to extend his hand to Oprah who walked in, and said with a smile: "I rejected four or five programs that had more than ten times the ratings of your program. Fly over to see you."

Oprah was amused by Tommy's expression, thinking that the other party was just teasing, she shook hands with Tommy: "Thank you for your unique vision, Tommy, I guess your secretary or assistant should have told you that the ratings of this show are very high. rate and audience group.”

"Don't you want to know why I flew here?" Tommy asked Oprah with a bright smile.

Oprah made a thoughtful expression, then looked at Tommy: "So, what's the reason?"

"I hope I can help you make this program, so that you can go back to college to continue your studies and get a college diploma. I have read the information, and it says that you got the admission letter and full certificate from Tennessee State University ten years ago. Scholarship, after you finish your enrollment, you will go to work in a TV station and start earning money to support your family, right?" Tommy said with a smile:

"It's a bit like me. After I got the admission ticket to Stanford, my love for knowledge is not as pure as it was in high school."

Oprah looked at this guy who showed a strong interest in her as soon as they met, and didn't understand why he was so enthusiastic about her. Although she won the Miss Tennessee beauty pageant when she was young, she is now twenty-nine years old and has a small figure. I have been busy with work and neglected to exercise, and I have gradually become fat and out of shape. It makes no sense that the other party has physical intentions for me, but I can't think of other reasons to attract the other party.

At this moment, I could only greet you politely: "Actually, when I saw you, apart from reminding you of the precautions before the show, I also have a curious question. Is Lincoln High in Warwick, Rhode Island, a bad school?"

"It sucks without anything new, like your Lincoln High in Milwaukee," Tommy said with a laugh.

Oprah nodded: "It sounds like you have done some understanding of the show before, at least you have a good understanding of my experience as the host. Let's talk about the precautions. This show is not a direct advertisement, so you can't sell it. Product, this is a half-hour talk show, talking about your experience, your sense of social responsibility, and the troubles you encountered. Of course, we will also let the audience know that your company sells software, but it cannot be like an advertisement. direct sales."

"What about the script book? I mean, have you prepared some answers for the guests to deal with some difficult questions?" Tommy asked after listening.

Oprah shook her head lightly: "There is no script book, I made a new rule after I came here, the host can hold a hand card with questions and information written on it, but the guest has nothing, I just want the audience to see The real reaction of the guests will be more attractive when they are flustered by my questions."

"Are you sure?" Tommy was stunned for a moment: "There is no script book, so you are not worried about the rhythm of the show?"

Oprah looked at Tommy with some doubts, not understanding why he was not worried about embarrassment, but worried about the rhythm of his show: "Sure, don't worry, because I will control the rhythm."

"Ms. Winfrey, you're not signed to a production company, right? You're just working as a host on a TV station." To Oprah's surprise, Tommy's next question didn't even consider what he should be worried about. Instead, he asked own work situation.

Although she didn't know why the other party was curious about her work, Oprah still said truthfully: "No production company is willing to sign a black female talk show host. This industry is currently dominated by white men."

"Ms. Winfrey? Can you give me a chance to cooperate with you?" Tommy immediately asked with a smile on his face after getting a definite answer.

Oprah looked at the smiling Tommy like an alien: "Tommy, let me remind you, you'd better care about your performance in front of the camera next, and I like the job of TV host, no I plan to change my career to become a software salesman."

"No, no, no, it's not selling software. I funded the establishment of a TV program production company. You occupy shares in the company. You don't need to pay money. You just need to continue to do this talk show well. I will raise money to buy you as soon as possible. National distribution rights for this show." Tommy rubbed his hands excitedly, looking at Oprah with fiery eyes.

God still cares for him. Although there is no investment from Perot, at least he has met Oprah who has not yet made a fortune. This is like picking up money for nothing. He can't miss it. Oprah doesn't have to do anything. Just simply host this show that will be renamed "Oprah Interview" later, he doesn't need to do anything, buy the national distribution rights, and wait for the big lady to make the show the number one in Chicago. The TV station is responsible for counting the money when it comes to purchase.

There is no need to do other work on purpose, because the production company in the previous life did not invest in any packaging or publicity expenses. At that time, I thought that the black female host seemed to be okay and worth signing. His eloquence insists on making the program the number one talk show in the United States, and the company makes a lot of money by selling the program to other TV stations across the country.

Oprah frowned, and looked at Sophia next to her suspiciously: "How long has he been suffering from mental illness? Do you want to send him to the hospital first, and then replace him as a guest?"

"Don't worry, he will return to normal when he is in front of the camera." Sophia said as usual.

Oprah thought for a while, then looked at Tommy who was staring at her: "Tommy, do you bite strangers when you see them?"

Tommy shook his head.

"Very well, then see you on the show, you may need to take some medicine first." Oprah stood up.

"We'll talk about cooperation after the show is over." Tommy sighed. Why is it so difficult to find a bargain? If he was a little enthusiastic and eager, he was regarded as a mental illness.

The question is, who wouldn't be excited when they see the opportunity to earn tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars by reselling program videos.

...

In the studio, Oprah sat on the sofa, and said the opening speech in a relaxed tone to the audience and the camera:

"Welcome to Good Morning Chicago. I'm Oprah Winfrey, the host who just moved here and needs to introduce myself every time the show starts. Today's guest makes me a little excited because he's a troubled young man. People, of course, are not the black young entertainers you are familiar with who get in trouble for holding guns or smoking drugs. He is a white young man. Do you understand why I am excited? White males rarely appear on our show None of the troublesome white males appeared in the movie, they may feel that they don’t want black audiences to see him in a mess, but only want to see his gentleman side.”

Most of the extras at the scene were black. When they heard Oprah's words, they all laughed out loud.

"Okay, let's welcome this troubled white youth, Tommy Hawke."

With blond hair and a monotonous suit, Tommy Hawk walked into the studio nervously, bowed politely and reached out to shake hands with Oprah, then sat on the guest sofa next to him, and gave him some sporadic applause from below. The audience waved their hands, then put their hands between their thighs, looked at Oprah in a daze, and smiled shyly.

Oprah scolded in her heart that this bastard's acting skills are really good. Although he was a little excited in his speech backstage, he was definitely not shy and shy. As a result, when he appeared on the show, he immediately became very unaccustomed to the eyes of black people Pure white pie.

She picked up the card in her hand and briefly introduced Tommy's identity to the audience, such as Stanford University student, founder of Actor Company, etc. After the introduction, the few applause disappeared completely, and Tommy even noticed At the scene, the extras all looked at each other in puzzlement, their eyes full of curiosity, and they almost asked directly:

"Why bring such a white nerd to a show that black people watch?"

Seeing Tommy's appearance, Oprah directly buckled the question in her hand and started asking random questions. She smiled and asked, "So, how nervous are you now? Tommy?"

"I'm not nervous, ma'am." Tommy shrugged his shoulders slightly, looked at Oprah blankly, then immediately retracted his gaze, looked into the empty space, nodded vigorously to the air and said, "Yes, no nervous."

The audience below burst into laughter, as if they were very satisfied with Tommy's reaction while avoiding the audience's eyes while talking calmly. Not surprisingly, this guy will become the target of being teased by Oprah in this episode of the show.

"Which makes you more disturbed, your company's lawsuit troubles or your sitting here?" Oprah asked with a laugh.

Tommy lowered his head and thought for a while before raising his head to look at the other party again: "I'm not in trouble, Ms. Winfrey, and my company is also in no trouble, I'm not disturbed, I just don't know... don't know how to communicate with black friends , you mentioned when you just introduced me, I’m from Rhode Island, there are very few black people there, I grew up with almost no black friends, I always wondered if I should play in "The Cosbys" Stand up now, and perform high fives and fist bumps with the black people in the audience. I think those movements are cool. I have learned it from the TV for a long time, but I have not found any black friends to try it... "

"Will anyone at the scene know the handshake gesture of the black brothers in the Cosby family? Let's see if he is lying." Oprah saw Tommy trying to pretend to be friendly to blacks, and immediately opened his mouth.

If Tommy was just lying, what awaited him would only be more embarrassing.

A black man stood up at the scene. Tommy looked at Oprah who made a gesture of asking him. Under the eyes of everyone and the camera, he walked up to the other party, stretched out his hand, and completed the set with the other party. A meeting process for black brothers including high fives, handshakes, fist bumps, etc.

After shaking hands, Tommy cautiously asked the other party: "Did I do something wrong? This is my first time doing it."

"You did a great job. If you put on street clothes and paint your skin black, I'm ready to call you Nigg." The black audience praised Tommy.

Everyone gave Tommy their applause this time, and Tommy walked back to the sofa and sat down amidst the applause, and then resumed the shape with his hands between his thighs and his eyes looking at the air. Seeing his virtue, the audience couldn't bear it. stop laughing.

"Want to say something?" Oprah asked, smiling at Tommy.

Tommy turned his head to her at this time, his eyes were gentle but powerful, so that everyone could hear: "I want to say, I didn't lie, whether it's here or elsewhere."

"Wow~" The words that suddenly became full of power, combined with Tommy's gaze on her, made Oprah lose her mind for a moment, and then immediately realized that this bastard wanted to take over my mother's show!

She suppressed the admiration that she almost blurted out and the routine question that should have given him a chance to enter the company's lawsuit, but wanted to see Tommy's reaction ability, so she paused for two seconds and asked another question:

"You were on a direct TV show in Florida before, and you're a different person than you are now. Let's see how you look. Honestly, you continue to be like this, I think you are a bit hypocritical, Tommy, But it’s also normal, after all, most white people are hypocritical.”

While speaking, Oprah signaled to turn on the TV at the scene, which played the highlights of Tommy's TV direct sales in Florida. Tommy was so energetic on the TV that the audience stood up and applauded loudly.

"Back to the question just now, do you want to say something?" Oprah pressed the pause button with the remote control, and the picture was frozen at the moment when Tommy threw his suit towards the audience, and asked.

I have greeted Oprah countless times in my heart, how much hatred do these black people have for white people, seeing a white person appearing on the show, can't wait to use embarrassment to kill him on the spot?

Of course, Tommy still had that blank look on his face. He looked straight at Oprah: "What? I don't understand what you want me to say, what should I say."

"Tell me why you look one way on other shows and now another," Oprah asked.

Tommy's eyes widened: "Ms. Winfrey, are you kidding me?"

"No." Oprah nodded before realizing the problem.

"Then you should hurry up and go back to college. Normal people should understand this question." Tommy looked at Oprah with a surprised expression:

"Look at the audience on TV, it's all white, there's no difference when I'm on that show and I'm standing outside my house in Rhode Island, but I ask you to look at the scene, it's all black, I don't know what to say It won't make them feel that I'm arrogant, that I'm discriminated against..."

"Why are you here when you guess you're going to be seriously unwell? Is it to sell your merchandise?" Oprah pressed Tommy.

Before Tommy answered, a smile could not help but appeared on the corner of his mouth. Seeing that smile, Oprah's first reaction was that he asked the wrong question, or this guy was deliberately waiting for him to ask similar questions!

Tommy looked at the camera and the audience, and said in his mouth: "My assistant Sophia, indeed suggested that I go to New York, Boston, and Los Angeles to participate in those talk show interviews that are more in-depth and have higher ratings. Please be interested, but I insist on choosing Chicago as the first stop, not for advertising and selling products. You never thought of buying software on a talk show, right? Actually, I chose Chicago as the first stop because I Mom's idol Bernice Fisher fought in this city, and I'm going to show my mom a city where great women fought."

When Oprah heard Bernice Fisher pop out of Tommy's mouth, her first reaction was terrible. This young man was more prepared than she thought.

Sure enough, hearing this name came out of the mouth of a white youth, there were already black people applauding at the scene. Although the applause was for Tommy who could say this name, part of the reason was also because of this great name. At least the audience understood that this White boys are different from those stereotyped whites who talk about being friendly to blacks but don't want to know blacks at all. Except for Martin Luther King, they hardly know which black great man to praise when chatting with blacks.

"I'm curious that your mother would know this name in an area like Rhode Island, where the white population accounts for more than 90%." Oprah immediately asked another question that aroused the audience's suspicion.

That's right, living in Rhode Island, where there are no black people, why do you know the names of black female social activists? White people will never promote such characters.

"My mother is Italian Ms. Winfrey, I remind you that Italians are called European blacks in Rhode Island, not all white people are as arrogant as Irish or British, at least Italians are not, we are not entitled Arrogance, when there are no blacks in Rhode Island, it is not what you imagine, whites coexist peacefully, without blacks, whites discriminate against European blacks, my mother got a job as a salesperson in a department store before she got married, but Because she's an Italian woman, she's asked not to be allowed to sit and work, see, all Irish, British, purebred white salespeople can have a chair and sit at the counter and work, but my mom can only wear high heels, Standing by the side, guess why she became able to sit and work like other white people?" Tommy threw a question, but he didn't prepare for Oprah to answer, but looked at the camera and the audience by himself:

"Because of Ms. Bernice Fisher, because of this great black woman, because she helped black women fight for all kinds of rights in Chicago, and finally, department store salesmen, regardless of color, had seats. Since then, Bernice Nice-Fisher has become an idol in my mother's heart. She has always said to me that Ms. Fisher is fighting for all women regardless of color. She is a great woman, and I don't know how much greater than those hypocritical politicians , so, I'm coming to Chicago, to send a bouquet of flowers to Ms. Fisher's statue, to say thank you, for my mother, for my mother's children, and for all the Italians who are humiliated as black in Europe, thank you She changed all that."

Tommy's voice was calm, not as passionate and impassioned as when he was selling software live in Florida, but it was deep and powerful, with deep eyes.

The black people at the scene had already begun to cheer themselves up. They applauded vigorously and were very excited that white people could know the name of this black woman. Finally, there was a white young man who was not assimilated by hypocrisy. Under the influence of his mother, he understood what black people did for this country. everything of.

"And I, as my mother's son, from my deceased mother..." Tommy said flatly.

"Your mother has passed away?" Oprah finally gave up resistance. When this question was asked, she cleverly cut back and asked the prepared question on the question card.

As for the rhythm, leave it to the actor. Fighting wits in the early stage, making things difficult for the other party may make the audience shine, but if you keep entangled, it will only make the audience feel bored by the host, and it is obvious that the situation I was worried about did not appear. , Tommy has captured the attention of these audiences very well.

As the question was asked, Tommy nodded, a little sadly: "That's why I came to Chicago for her, not with her. She died of manslaughter, but the court eventually convicted him of a traffic accident. The murderer was Two Irish whites killed an Italian by mistake, and they only need to pay 3,000 yuan. In fact, we didn’t get any money. So everyone, can you now imagine the miserable life of European blacks in Rhode Island? Can’t you Not much different from everyone in Chicago?"

Some of the audience covered their mouths, while others exclaimed softly.

"It seems that your mother's death has affected you a lot?" Oprah looked at Tommy, remembering what happened to her. Her mother threw her to her father's house countless times, and she almost missed most of her childhood.

"It's very big. It made me mature from a playful child. Without my mother, I can only try to recall what she said to me before she was alive. Maybe Ms. Bernice Fisher's influence on my mother, along with She died and it started to really affect me, and that's when I decided to do something right."

Oprah went on to ask: "The right thing you said is what some software companies believe is illegal, and a large software company is suing your company because of it."

"When Bernice Fisher, Martin Luther King, Whitney Young, and James Farmer founded the American Congress for Racial Equality, then President Kennedy also found them troublesome, charged them with breaking the law, and tried to Caught in prison, but we all know in the end who is right and who should be remembered forever." Tommy looked at Oprah with a smile and said.

This answer drew thunderous applause from the audience, and Oprah couldn’t help applauding Tommy’s answer. He successfully instilled in the audience an idea that President Kennedy is not a good man, so his family can only be as bad as him. .

After the applause paused, Oprah continued to ask: "So, don't you think your company will be ruled illegal by the court?"

Tommy looks into the camera:

"I will be deeply honored that they gave me the same treatment as those black civil rights activists."

After finishing speaking, he raised his hands to stop the black audience who were about to burst into another round of applause:

"No, no need for applause. I know everyone may feel that Tommy, a white boy, seems to be different from other white people he has seen. He is not hypocritical and he is not rigid."

"But what is there to applaud? Even if I, a white man, only show a little bit of equality and respect for black people, everyone can applaud him warmly. Isn't this a kind of sadness?"

"This just means that there are still countless white people who don't understand black people, and don't understand the suffering years that belonged exclusively to black people? It just means that you are still prepared because of the social environment, income, social status, etc., and the gap between white people, so A little bit of approval from white people makes you ecstatic."

After saying this, the black people fell silent, and Oprah's face became a little serious.

Tommy looked at the auditorium with sad eyes: "This is a bad world, human beings should be born equal, not like this, look at Ms. Winfrey, wearing a decent dress, exquisite makeup, in the camera The ex-talker seems to be an elite representative of black women, but actually? On the day she came to Chicago to host the show for the first time, six talk shows across the United States made fun of the news. They laughed at Ms. Winfrey, saying Although she is tall and looks like a man, it doesn't mean she can do what a man can do. How can a black woman host a talk show that requires flexibility and depth? Go back to Baltimore and read the press release, that job It suits her better."

Oprah was stunned, she stared at Tommy, and Tommy looked back at her sincerely:

"In the eyes of everyone, a black woman who is definitely regarded as an elite, in the eyes of white people in the same industry, has just obtained the qualification to be ridiculed by them, but Ms. Winfrey has to pay two dollars to let her name appear in the ridicule of those arrogant For nineteen long years, she was born in a poor single-parent family, went to a junk high school like me, got into a state university with her own efforts, got a full college scholarship, and then went to a TV station in a small city for ten years press release, it made it all the way to Chicago."

"In order to get to the present, she ran away from home when she was a teenager and left the bad native family."

"In order to get to the present, she needs to study hard, get the only UP spot at Lincoln High School in Milwaukee, get a tuition subsidy, and give herself the opportunity to transfer to a high school with better education quality."

"In order to get to the present, she needs to endure all kinds of unfriendly questions from her classmates on the school bus, such as why you were classmates with my servant before, why did you come to study instead of being a servant."

"To get to this point, she practiced interviews with crows in the yard and dolls in the room."

"And then, she just got the qualification to be laughed at by them. That's what I said. This is a bad world. The world shouldn't be like this, and people shouldn't be like this." Tommy kept his voice calm, But Oprah couldn't bear it any longer, so she was trying to breathe.

Tommy glanced at her and went on:

"What about the people who were not ridiculed? It's not that they respect us, but those who are arrogant think that we are not even qualified to be ridiculed. It is God's decision to let the world be born in such a world, but at least we should do something right. things like listening to your mother.”

"Martin Luther King Jr. has a big dream. I don't have one. My dream is small. I just want to listen to my mother and do what's right. I'm studying computer science in college, not to make money and stuff it into my wallet. , I just thought, maybe those who are not qualified to be ridiculed, those who have not been admitted to university to study computers, can have one more chance to change their fate, and go back to the question that Ms. Winfrey asked me just now, why don’t I think I The Actor company violated the laws of the United States?"

"I would like to say, Ms. Winfrey, that it would be a crime to spread knowledge and technology cheaply so that more people with low incomes could have the opportunity to change their lives so that they could find a decent job..."

"I should die immediately."

Eight thousand five hundred words~~ Mainly because I wasted time watching Oprah's show. Her talk show is not like that kind of funny talk show. I have to study it. Sorry, so the update is a bit late