Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"This is a gift from Jane Fonda. It is a signed photo of herself. I heard that you are not satisfied with her role in 'Homecoming'. She specifically asked me to tell you that she will return in the next movie 'On Golden Pond'." I learned traditional American values ​​and became a traditional daughter and wife.”

After the meal, the three of them drank tea around the TV. Ronald took out an envelope and handed it to Aunt Karen.

"Oh, really?" Aunt Karen opened the envelope and took out the signed photo. She found that her name was on it and it was specially signed by Jane Fonda to give it to her. "What's the story of her new movie?"

"It's a story about a daughter and her parents reconciling. The family is in a lake house. The daughter, father, and grandson, three generations have forgiven their conflicts and feel the warmth of the family again. It's about her father Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn. We acted together.”

The more Aunt Karen looked at the gift, the more satisfied she became. "Jane looks like a good wife and mother. She should play more such roles. It would also be good to act with her own father."

"This is the first time I have received a gift from a big star. I have to give her a gift in return. What gift do you think I should give to the star?"

Ronald was stunned. He didn't expect that Aunt Karen really regarded it as a gift given to each other by ordinary people. There was still a generation gap between him and her. But it’s not good to tell some embarrassing truths now.

"Actually, it's best if you bake the biscuits, but you're afraid of getting damp during long-distance transportation, and they're not as delicious as when they're freshly baked."

"Yes, if she comes to our house as a guest, I will bake cookies for her." Aunt Karen put the photo back into the envelope and put it away carefully, "What do you think I gave her two pairs of leg warmers that I knitted myself? Like? I read interviews in magazines, and Jane Fonda can also dance ballet."

"Really? I didn't expect my aunt to be a fan of Jane Fonda." Ronald thought to himself, "No wonder she played the role of the cheating soldier's wife in Rong Guili, and my aunt was so angry. Her favorite star played a role with the same identity as her, He turned out not to be a good person.”

"This is a good idea. After opening the leg warmer business, Auntie, you don't knit it yourself much anymore."

"Yes, my friends from the Veterans Club are weaving now, which can give them more income. I can't compete with them. But the quality of my knitting is better than theirs." Aunt Karen happily took out There are two pairs of leg warmers, one long and one short, both in purple.

"I was going to give it to your daughter...hey, forget it, let's not talk about it." Aunt Karen handed the leg warmers to Ronald, "I wrote a letter to Jian, telling her that I really like the plot of her new movie and hope that Then we can see her perform wonderfully on the same stage as her father Henry." As she said that, she went to the drawer to take out a pen and paper and started to write a letter to her idol.

Although Aunt Karen was born in the late 1940s,

But there's still something old-school about it. The generation that was born before America officially entered World War II and experienced the Great Depression in their childhood is called the "silent generation". They believe that some things are not suitable to be said, and it is better for each other to understand each other.

Moreover, telephones were not widely available at that time, so it was the habit of keeping in touch with close friends.

"I'm afraid I have to find her agent so that the gift can really be delivered to Jane Fonda. But it is a unique gift, and Jane probably doesn't receive it very often. It just so happens that she is not doing aerobic yoga. What the fuck?”

"Huh?" Ronald remembered that Jane Fonda seemed to be filming some kind of video tape, and maybe it could be used for advertising.

"I'm going to call the agent." Ronald said.

"Mr. Niceta, this is Ronald. My aunt Karen is a fan of Miss Jane Fonda. She was very happy when she saw the signed photo that Jane gave her and wanted to give a gift in return. ...Yes, herself Knitted with wool, Jane can use it when doing yoga in the winter...Okay, thank you for your help."

"My agent promised to communicate with Jane's agent, and I will courier the leg warmers to her." Ronald came over to claim credit for his aunt.

"Okay, Ronnie. This is a letter from me." Auntie put a sealed letter and leg warmers together and handed them to Ronald.

Back in his apartment, Ronald started revising the script again, removing the background of civil rights and the Vietnam War in the 1960s. The story of the sequel to "Grease" seemed very bland, not much different from the original.

The 1950s was a golden age for America. After the war, the European economy was in recession, and many daily industrial products were made in America. At that time, children from ordinary families, even if they could not go to college, could still find a blue-collar job and earn a good income.

Therefore, the children in the original work did not go to college and became car mechanics, gas station workers, and makeup artists, which allowed them to earn enough money to buy a house in the city and live with their high school classmates. Get married and have children without any worries.

But now it's the 1980s, and blue-collar workers who do manual labor are no longer respected by society. Those who work in fast food chains like McDonald's are mostly teenagers.

Young people don't resonate with these jobs at all. They just go to earn some pocket money and don't want to be blue-collar workers all their lives. On the contrary, they all hope to have enough education, find an office job, pay social security, buy a house in the suburbs, and live with people of the same income and social class. This is the American dream of the new generation. .

Thinking of this, Ronald became even more worried. He threw away the original script and the red pencil that had marked it.

Ronald felt that if the story of the original work was simply repeated, the box office might not be very satisfactory. Although the box office of a movie has little to do with the screenwriter, if you can write a movie that does well at the box office, you can also get bonuses as a screenwriter and have the opportunity to direct your own movie.

"Grease" is a well-known Hollywood musical that ran on Broadway for five or six years before being adapted into a movie. Many small-town teenagers who had not had the opportunity to watch a Broadway show live in New York were able to enjoy a classic Broadway musical for a ticket price of three to four dollars. In 1978, it was a pretty good deal.

But asking them to watch a sequel movie with a basically similar plot?

And the sequel has not been polished on Broadway like the original, and it has lost the leading actors and actresses Travolta and Olivia? I'm afraid not many people will go.

Ronald opened the windows of his apartment to let in some fresh air to help him think.

And today’s teenagers are not so eager for Broadway musicals. Ronald remembered his cousin Donna, and Diane Lane, expressing disdain for Broadway musicals.

What they want to see is the real thing. "Grease," a drama that strips away all the hardships in life and leaves only romantic imagination, no longer appeals to teenagers.

The times always have their mark and will leave traces in the artistic works of that time. People at the time may not have thought of it, but when they watch it again decades later, they will strongly feel the trend of the times.

1965 marked the end of the baby boom generation. The first batch of babies born after the baby boom are already 15 years old and are about to enter high school. They are also the largest potential audience for the "Grease" sequel.

Will they really like the tone of "Grease" like the last generation of baby boomers did two years ago?

The baby boomers are all grown up. What kind of movies will the new generation of audiences from 1965 onwards, starting with Cousin Donna, Diane Lane, and Brooke Shields, like?

Ronald put aside these unanswered questions, closed the window, and came to the desk again.

The sequel to "Grease" is still a romantic comedy. Since it is a love drama, it is necessary to create some conflicts between the male and female protagonists, so that the two are separated by conflicts, and finally get married after overcoming the conflicts.

First of all, the most common parental factor in romantic comedies must be eliminated. Romeo and Juliet-style family obstacles do not exist in the "Grease" universe. The background is in high school stories. It is impossible for parents to not let men and women be together.

The original work was based on social contradictions, or in a campus context, the contradictions between different student classes. The most powerful group of people in the school are not the nerdy geeks who have the best academic performance, nor are they the athletes who are good at sports, but a group of cliques and high-level people in small groups.

The so-called tough guy gang for boys, and the pink ladies for girls. In the end, the heroine Sandy, played by Olivia Newton-John, gave up her identity as a good girl, took the initiative to put on a leather jacket and dressed up as a pink girl, which ended the gap between her and her boyfriend. In the end, the two reunited Together.

How about doing it the other way around this time?

Ronald sat down and began typing quickly on the typewriter. The male protagonist Michael has become a top student who is familiar with Shakespeare, while the female protagonist Stephanie has become the new leader of the Pink Lady.

In order to get close to Stephanie, whom he fell in love with at first sight, Michael wanted to join the tough guy gang. But the tough guy gang must have motorcycles.

With the money he earned from doing homework for others, Michael bought a second-hand Harley motorcycle. When the tough guy gang and the foreign school gang were at war, he became famous while riding a motorcycle and captured Stephanie's heart.

But Stephanie didn't know that underneath the helmeted motorcyclist was Michael, the top student. While longing for a romantic love with a motorcycle rider, he asked Michael to help him with his Shakespeare reading homework.

Underneath the outward appearance, the two lovers have a second true face. Michael, the academic master, is actually a motorcycle master and a gang hero. Stephanie, the Pink Lady gang leader, secretly wants to get good grades and have a chance to go to college.

The final outcome, of course, is that Stephanie knows that Michael is the hidden hero, and Michael also helps Stephanie with her homework and learns how smart she is, and the two of them have a happy ending.

This plot setting leaves enough space for composition and choreography. For example, Michael captures the heart of Pink Lady gang leader Stephanie during the motorcycle battle, Stephanie has a secret love for the helmeted motorcycle rider, Michael and Stephanie discuss Shakespeare literature, and Michael takes off his helmet at the final prom, all of which can be arranged with appropriate songs and dances.

Moreover, the dual identities set up, Stephanie has a crush on Michael's hidden identity as a motorcycle rider, and treats the public identity of a high school student as a friend, which makes Michael jealous.

Stephanie went from having a hidden identity of having a crush on knight Michael, to gradually falling in love with Michael, a high school student who revealed his identity, and finally merged into one and became a perfect lover.

This is a very classic love drama conflict caused by two identities, and there are many scenes to be done.

Ronald was inspired and worked hard on the typewriter all night. At dawn, he finally sorted out the manuscript and read it aloud before sleepiness came over him. Then he went to sleep very satisfied.

"Ronald, Ronald..." Ronald, who was asleep, could faintly hear a girl calling his name, but he couldn't see her face clearly.

"Who?"

"It's me, Donna, you lazy idiot." Cousin Donna patted his face.

"Ah, Donna. I didn't sleep last night and was catching up on the script." Ronald got up sleepily, "Why are you here? Don't you have to go to school?"

"Today is Columbus Day, a public holiday." Donna said angrily, "A woman said she couldn't get through to you and found our number in the phone book. My mother asked me to come and see if you were home. "

"Oh", Ronald remembered that he had unplugged the phone line yesterday in order to catch up on the manuscript and avoid the sales calls selling various things. I forgot to plug it in before going to bed.

"Female, who is she?"

"I don't know. She said her movie is premiering in New York today and she wants to invite you to the hotel for a chat. This is the name and phone number she left."

Ronald picked up the note and looked at it. There were only the letters pj, a hotel switchboard number and a room number on it.

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