Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Hello, this is 'Good Morning America.' Bringing you the news every morning at 7:00 ET..." Ronald became more and more like a New Yorker, listening to ABC's morning news.

"I made you an egg ham sandwich, Meg, and here's the orange juice."

After the events of the past few days, Meg became more silent than before.

"Thanks, Ronnie, I'm all right." Meg picked up her breakfast and took a bite. After a while, I took another bite.

"Drink some orange juice. It's the rugby star nicknamed 'Orange Juice', the sweet tree brand that advertises. It tastes good." Ronald handed the orange juice.

"Thank you" Meg was still eating slowly.

"Rona Barrett, what do you think of 'Apocalypse Now'? Can he compare to the 'Godfather'?" The TV was talking about "Apocalypse Now", Ronald looked back.

"Good Morning, America" ​​is not a simple news program, and some guests are invited to chat about current affairs every day. Today is a gossip entertainment reporter.

"I think it's a disappointing failure, it's Coppola's Waterloo..."

She lashed out at director Francis Coppola on the nationally broadcast show.

"I'm done, Ronnie"

Ronald turned his head and looked at Meg, who was still a little sullen, and felt a little sad in his heart.

"I'm going to help you sign up for Stella Adler's training class today, can you come with me?"

"Okay, Ronnie, I can go." Hearing the acting class, Meg regained her spirits.

Sign up for Stella Adler's actor training class, $280/8 classes. You can also go to the training class to practice when there is no class, and the price is much higher than that of Lee Strasbourg.

Meg happened to meet Irene, Irene took her in to chat, and then made an assessment to see if Meg's mental state could participate in acting learning normally.

Ronald, who had nothing to do, went out and looked for some newspapers at the front desk.

"Daily Variety" published an article in support of "Apocalypse Now", calling it Coppola's eccentric and magical masterpiece, worth the wait.

"No problem, Meg has basically come out of that blow, and you must never use the emotional memory method again. You have to take good care of her these days, Ronnie." Irene saw Meg recover The state of Ronald's attitude has changed a lot.

After that, Meg went to the acting center almost every day. The acting class was not taught much, and it was more about practice.

While Stella's classes were comprehensive and safe, like any orthodox training method, it wasn't that quick at first. Every day Meg had to do a lot of homework, one day imagining herself as a chicken, and the next day imitating an elephant's walk.

Having browsed the teaching materials that Meg brought back to the apartment, Ronald also gradually understood that acting is a profession that requires experience. If you have not experienced it, then you must also have strong observation skills and absorb nutrients from others.

The method of emotional memory is actually a bit opportunistic.

Meg, Ronald's peer, has always been fond of ballet classes since she was a child, using ballet to escape her stepfather. Because I practiced a lot and danced well, I got a scholarship to enter ballet school.

After being in ballet training for a long time, Meg didn't come into contact with many people and things. Many of the so-called experiences are now learned from her sister Jennifer.

Like going to Lee Strasbourg School of Drama together for a refund. Originally, according to the advertisement, Meg would be able to refund the tuition fees for the courses she had not taken. But the staff there quibble that it was Meg who pulled out on her own and was not part of the refund.

Meg was angrily arguing with the staff, saying that the emotional memory method caused her own psychological damage, which was caused by their performance methods. She was robbed by the staff and said that she was not qualified because of her own qualifications.

so as to not be able to comprehend.

Ronald grabbed Meg, who was about to come forward, and whispered that it was up to him to solve the problem.

According to Erin's teaching, made a phone call to the FTC, which is the Federal Trade Commission, and reported that the advertising of the Lee Strasbourg School of Drama was deceptive. Because they don't advertise it, voluntary withdrawal from study is not covered by a refund.

The next day, I waited for a phone call from the college to apologize and send back a check for the full amount.

The relationship between the two was a little closer, and Ronald was able to eat with Meg every night.

This is mainly because the "Hot Lunch" crew has made no progress in negotiations with the acting high school. Throughout May, I was busy interviewing candidates recommended by various agencies.

As an assistant and driver, Ronald's main job every day is to take Polaroid snapshots and organize files. Just in time to go home with Meg, who was in the acting training class.

Over time, the crew has accumulated a lot of qualified actor files and set a few secondary roles. However, the audition for the eight leading roles has not yet found a suitable candidate.

Meg's acting progress was recognized by director Parker, who upgraded her role from a group performance to a higher-level resident role. Swap a day labor contract of $225 for a long-term employment contract of $785 per week.

Don't look at it as if the daily salary has dropped, but the long-term contract is that as long as you are in the crew, you will get money regardless of whether there is a play on that day. After Meg was promoted, she had more scenes, probably ran through the entire shooting time, and earned a lot of money.

Encouraged, Meg wanted to move up a notch and become a minor or lead role. She was also more active in going to Stella's studio.

By the last weekend in May, Ronald took the director off work and returned to Staten Island to help Aunt Karen prepare for the Memorial Day party.

In contrast to World War II veterans, who are generally respected by society, Vietnam veterans are discriminated against in America. They generally cannot find good jobs and have no social status.

The anti-war movement of the whole society lasted as long as the Vietnam War. The government used conscription to force the sons of the people to go thousands of miles away to fight a war that had nothing to do with America. This resentment was inexplicably transferred to the veteran.

The main body of the soldiers in the Vietnam War was still mainly ordinary middle-class children. The older people reported a pitiful mentality to them, but they were resistant to the news of the army killing innocent people in Vietnam.

The younger generation hates veterans participating in an unjust war, and is more in favor of anti-war figures like Hanoi Jane.

Vietnam war veterans become marginalized people in society, and returning to their families and society has become their greatest wish.

The party was hosted by the Hansen family, a large landowner and factory owner in Totville Town. Old Douglas Hansen was a World War II veteran and regarded it as his family's duty to serve the country. He had a son who died in the Vietnam battlefield, so He attaches great importance to the veterans and widows in the town, and the factory employs many of his own.

Under his influence, the town of Totterville has a pretty good attitude towards veterans.

Old Douglas' grandson, Douglas Hansen III, is Ronald's classmate. He wants to work in the family business in the future, so he also attends the town's public high school and gets along well with his classmates.

He was forced into the wrestling team by old Hansen, Ronald's classmate and teammate. Speaking of which, Ronald's first car, the Volkswagen Hare, was a used car he bought from Little Hansen.

The commemoration was held on the lawn of Hansen's house. The pastor led everyone to read a passage of the Bible, then a veteran in uniform gave a speech of thanks, and finally a widow in a black dress gave a speech on behalf of everyone, in memory of the deceased.

Then everyone dispersed to get together, and the parents briefly talked about the situation in the past year. Aunt Karen brought the cookies she baked for everyone. Ronald, too, donned a suit and tie, and spent the day socializing with his aunt.

Little Hansen was also very happy to see Ronald back. Knowing that he had entered the film circle, he quickly dragged him aside:

"There are so many beautiful women in the film industry, have you met Farrah Fawcett?"

Farrah Fawcett, the blond angel in the popular TV series "Charlie's Angels" a few years ago, is the dream lover of little Hansen. Withdrew from TV series last year and entered the film industry.

"No, Hollywood is big, I just work on a small crew."

"Good boy, when will your movie be released? When you become a big director in the future, don't forget to introduce me to a big star." Little Hansen punched Ronald, and the two seemed to be back on the wrestling team again. years.

Aunt Karen also became very talkative and radiant, like she was back in her youth. Ronald knew that on this day of the year, Aunt Karen was the carefree girl that year, and the rest of the time, she was occupied by work and motherhood.

Back home, put on her clothes, and she'll be that waitress again.

Sure enough, when Aunt Karen got home, she put on the sweater she knitted and returned to her housewife dress. She asked Ronald to wait for her in the living room.

Aunt Karen took a bag of old clothes from the closet. She took out a document bag from the bedroom, which contained various coupons she had collected around. At the end was a stack of coins and a dollar bill, about $50 or less.

"This is for your uncle Steve's black comrade-in-arms, the Bud Davis family." Steve and Bud are members of the same combat squad. Mrs. Davis, also a widow, lived with her three children.

Aunt Karen, despite her own difficulties, always collected coupons and old clothes for them. This time, let Ronald send them, and a box of cookies baked by himself.

Ronald wanted to give some money, but Aunt Karen said that it couldn't be too much. There was no top man in her family, so it was not good to give too much money. Ronald thought for a while and added a few small notes.

Asked for the address of the Bard family, in Harlem, north of Manhattan.

Ronald hesitated for a moment when he remembered the horror stories of Harlem and his experience of being robbed in downtown Los Angeles.

Aunt Karen saw his hesitation:

"Don't be afraid of the kids, Harlem is the same poor people as ours, just a different skin color. It's the rich guys who live on the Upper East Side who should be afraid."

"In the past few years, I sent it myself. You reveal your identity and the person you are looking for. The people there are very friendly. As long as you don't go before sunrise in the morning or after sunset in the evening, don't go to those government buildings. The public housing area will do.”

said Aunt Karen.

"Don't go in the morning, don't go at night, you can't go to the public housing." Ronald thought, this is scary enough, I don't know why Aunt Karen is not afraid.