"Boss, there is someone outside who says he has an explosive video tape to sell to us."
Two days later, at KTLA in Los Angeles, television executives were biting their fingernails. The Los Angeles area's oldest television station was worried about ratings.
This TV station is not a member of any national television network, but it still has a lot of viewers in the Southern California area. Spring happens to be a time when programs are scarce. The Los Angeles Angels baseball team owned by their owner is still in spring training. And the NBA's Lakers
Although the team has an excellent record and ranks second in the Western Conference, KTLA does not have the broadcast rights. They can only broadcast the games of another team in the same city, the Clippers, who have a very poor record.
Coupled with the tens of millions of new subscribers added by CUU through the Gulf War, this has had a huge impact on this traditional wireless TV station.
"What video tape?" The supervisor waved to his subordinates to bring in the whistleblower. At this time, there can be some explosive videos and the show can also save some ratings. In order to fight back against CUU, KTLA has been publicly soliciting for some time.
"What's your name? What kind of video tape is it?" Usually those who are brought in are those that have been reviewed by outside assistants and have some news value. The supervisor has some expectations for this person, because the video tape he took out is in Sony's video tape format, which is generally
Only people with some professional photography skills can use it.
"My name is Holiday, and I took the photo last night..." The person who brought his own camera to the Terminator 2 shooting scene last night began to introduce it in a strict manner. He is a marketer himself.
Part time photographer.
"Play the videotape, I don't have time to listen to your blabbering..."
"What kind of crew is this?" The supervisor watched a few seconds of the video. He was a little disappointed and bit his fingernails again. "It seems there is Schwarzenegger? Is it his new movie? The sequel to Terminator? Yes, it's good. I can give it to you.
Two hundred dollars for you."
"No, no, no, what I want to sell is in the back..." Holiday fast forwarded, and the screen showed a fat black man trying to escape after a female police officer warned him with a gun. In front of the police car and several LAPD
Pushing. This black man's physical fitness is very strong, and several people can't hold him down.
Several LAPD did not hesitate and knocked him down with stun guns. Who knew that this black man did not lie down after being shocked, but got up and rushed towards an LAPD with the stun gun cord on his body. The comparison of the body,
It's almost like a black football running back running into the field.
"Fuxk..." The police officer took out a thick and long baton and slammed it at the black man. Once, twice, he hit the black man's back. A companion asked him to stop, but it was in vain.
The police officer holding the baton opened his stance again and gave the black man a violent blow, causing him to lie straight on the ground.
"Fuxk...Fuxk", facing the black man who fell to the ground, the police officer seemed to want to vent the fear of the impact just now, and continued to beat the fat black man, hitting the black man's knees, ankles and other weak areas with each blow.
The director of the TV station seemed to be shocked and speechless. It took him a long time to react, "How many times did this guy hit him in total? Did the black man die in the end?"
"More than fifty hits in total, but he didn't die. I sent this videotape to the Parker Center at the LAPD headquarters, but no one was interested, so I might as well change it for some money..." Holiday, who accidentally filmed this scene, laughed.
He made a gesture of paying some money.
"This is really exciting, here you go..." The supervisor issued a large check on the spot and asked Holiday to sign the agreement.
…
KTLA TV station broadcast this news video that day. Of course, most of the previous footage of the "Terminator 2" filming scene was cut out, leaving only a little bit of footage, indicating that this was a real video taken by an eyewitness, not a movie.
drama.
The wireless KTLA channel can be watched throughout California, so all TV viewers were immediately stunned by this bold atrocity. Beating up a suspect for violating traffic rules like this?
If he hadn't been photographed, would this incident have just gone away? What happened to the big black man who was beaten? Was he disabled or dead? Does the LAPD want to give an explanation to the people of Los Angeles and California?
For a time, the office phones of the major congressmen and the two California senators were buzzing with calls. Even the LAPD Civic Center was called by viewers to curse.
"Wade..." Ronald also saw this scene on TV, and it was Little Bud who reminded him to watch it.
"This seems to be the flood control dam. It seems to be the day we went to Cameron's set. Could it be that Schwarzenegger fan filmed it?"
Ronald immediately called Cameron and reminded him to watch the news. Then he found Mario Casal of Carloco Films and made an urgent call to KTLA, asking them not to disclose the filming of the Terminator sequel and this violence.
relationship of events.
KTLA exchanged this for a solo interview opportunity before the release of Terminator 2. In subsequent reruns, they were particularly careful not to mention Holiday's status as a fan.
The matter is not over yet.
This violent scene on TV of beating a traffic rule violator more than fifty times with a baton is really shocking.
When American people watched the U.S. military brutally beating the Iraqi army on the battlefield in Kuwait, they felt as if they were watching a science fiction movie and TV series. The sand, desert, and unique green night vision devices there all gave people the feeling of being in another world.
a feeling of.
But this violent beating happened in Los Angeles, right next to us. It was really exciting. Especially the scene where the black people were lying on the ground at the end, and they were beaten on the knees and ankles, making them scream.
Every citizen thinks, if I violate traffic regulations, will I be beaten up like this?
Things escalated very quickly. On the next day, CUU purchased the rights to play the videotape from KTLA. The scene of the violent beating of black people was broadcast on a national platform.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! As expected of a large national platform, CUU’s post-editing is much better than KTLA. After the contrast is adjusted, the black man who was beaten is clearer. And the editing was re-edited.
The rhythm is changed, and the uncomfortable feeling given to the audience is even stronger.
And I don’t know whether it was intentional or unintentional, CUU cut out the first few seconds of the fat black man pushing him, and then getting up from the ground and charging towards the LAPD. The entire film is about the LAPD violently beating the black man who fell to the ground.
picture.
"That's okay, at least the Terminator won't be involved in this big scandal." Ronald was talking to Michael Gray, his public relations consultant, at home.
"You said CUU didn't do it on purpose, right?" Of course Ronald saw the editing done by CUU.
"The fighting in the Gulf suddenly stopped, and CUU is under great pressure. Their subscriptions can be canceled for free within a month. Without such breaking news, the tens of millions of new subscribers they relied on the Gulf War to unsubscribe
The rate will not be low.”
"What is this?" Ronald felt that this kind of thing was really bad. America was said to be a free place every day, but as a result, the people no longer felt safe.
There are definitely many people who feel the same way as Ronald. After CUU played this video, LAPD Chief Daryl Gates had to apologize.
He held a press conference and announced to the media that the four officers involved in the incident would be subject to disciplinary action. He said: "We believe that the officers used excessive force when they arrested him. In our review, we found that the officers
He was hit with the baton between 53 and 56 times."
But Daryl Gates also pointed out that the black man who was beaten, Rodney King, was not innocent. His blood alcohol content measured at 0.075%. According to the definition of California law, this shows that King was arrested during the initial arrest.
He was in a drunken state at the time. The test also showed traces of Weed (26ng/ml).
The statement at this press conference not only failed to satisfy the public, but also had a very bad counter-effect.
Los Angeles, and even California as a whole, pursues freedom and openness. If you stop ten men on the street, two of them will probably use it. As for drinking alcoholic drinks and driving, it is also very common.
Moreover, the alcohol content standard for drunkenness in California is 0.08%. Strictly according to the law, Rodney King was not drunk, but was driving under the influence, which was not a felony.
In addition, the report of the Pacific Hospital where Rodney King was treated afterward was also exposed. King suffered a total of eleven skull fractures, accompanied by permanent brain damage, fractures (bones and teeth), and kidney failure...
Nurses at Pacific Hospital also told the media that the LAPD accompanying King openly joked with each other in the hospital, comparing and bragging about the number of times they beat King.
At this time, the LAPD was completely passive. They had to change their attitude and pointed out that this was an extremely inappropriate action.
The chief of the LAPD had to hold another press conference and assured that the four detectives involved had been suspended and three of them would face criminal charges.
…
Good things never go out, and Los Angeles' reputation as a violent city has become a "fact" known throughout the country thanks to CUU's extensive coverage.
Even the housing prices at the Hansen Flood Control Dam have dropped a lot. It used to be a lively entertainment area with many large bars and KTVs from Japan, but now business is also bleak.
Two movements also started throughout Los Angeles.
One is the movement against discrimination against black people. Many civil rights organizations suddenly began to be interviewed on local TV stations, radio stations, and newspapers. They had a good reason to raise funds.
The other was a protest against the LAPD's abuse of police power. Several organizations were established to oppose the abuse, and they united to demonstrate in front of the LAPD headquarters.
However, there is a clear difference in the popularity of the two movements. The campaign against the abuse of police power is very popular among the people. No one wants to be stopped and fined frequently for minor things like speeding. So everyone is quite happy to see the LAPD being defeated.
But not many people really support the movement against discrimination against black people in their hearts. Although they still have to support it verbally in front of colleagues and friends, among white people, everyone understands it with just one look.
In large cities such as Los Angeles and New York, the crime rate among black people is high, and the victims of many vicious cases are also black people. No matter how much you support their rights, no one dares to walk in black areas at night.
And Los Angeles is a city with many ethnic groups. Those ethnic minorities are not as affected by the affirmative action movement as white people. When many Asians see black people, they don’t care about racial discrimination and scold them unpleasantly.
a lot of.
Especially Koreans from Goryeo, who have immigrated a lot in recent years, took over some businesses originally run by Chinese and Japanese, and settled down. These businesses are mainly convenience stores and restaurants, and they often suffer from theft and robbery by black people.
Just two weeks after Rodney King was beaten, a black girl, Latasha Harlins, ran to a Korean-owned convenience store and secretly put a bottle of orange juice into her backpack while no one was paying attention.
inside.
The person who was looking after the store at that time happened to be the proprietress named Du Shunzi. When she saw this scene, she was very angry and asked the black girl to put down the orange juice. She also snatched the bag of orange juice from her.
Although this black girl, Latasha Harlins, was only fifteen years old, she was a track and field athlete in her school. Her dream was to play basketball and she was very strong. She punched Du Shunzi twice in the face.
Du Shunzi was thin and small, and fell to the ground after being beaten. Koreans have a strong temperament, how can they bear this? He threw the chair over.
The black girl Latasha Harlins was frightened, so she picked up the bag of orange juice and ran away. Du Shunzi's convenience store was visited by thieves like this every day, causing serious losses. In anger, she took out her husband's handbag.
Wei's pistol fired at the girl's back.
Latasha Harlins was hit in the back of the head and died at the scene.
Now CUU has an even bigger subject. A series of reports on the poor security in Los Angeles have been released. They also point out that half of the violent felons detained by the LAPD in Los Angeles in the past six months are black.
"This shows the serious consequences of discrimination and prejudice against people of African descent."
"Prejudice and discrimination come from elsewhere. National television networks are covering felons in this violence. But sadly, who is speaking up for these victims?"
Unexpectedly, the local media in Los Angeles started to fight back this time. CUU had previously branded the city a crime capital, which made the local media very dissatisfied. The local TV station made a series of reports:
Two months ago, two employees were shot at a liquor store near Central Avenue. The two victims had recently immigrated to America from Korea, and the murderers were two black robbers. The two met
After the robber demanded, he was shot and killed.
Last Thursday, a black man suspected of robbing an auto parts store on Manchester Avenue was shot to death by his accomplice. He and his accomplice were robbing the Korean-American store owner of his money when the accomplice accidentally fired a shotgun blast.
If there were not all kinds of crimes committed by black people against Koreans, how could Du Shunzi, a housewife in her fifties, shoot? And she was also punched by the final victim and robbery suspect Latasha Harlins
concussion.
These violent cases have had a hard-to-quell social impact for a while, and it seems that everyone wants to express their opinions. Even Ronald received a call from the Los Angeles Times, asking him to speak.
"What, you ask me, what responsibility does Hollywood have for this? What does Hollywood have to do with this?"
"Is the proliferation of guns and violence related to the increasing number of violent images on Hollywood screens? If your Top Gun glorifies violence so much, will those young audiences be adversely affected and regard guns and violence as heroic actions?"
"It's just a movie..." Ronald said, "Are you mentally ill?" He almost couldn't hold it back.
"You praise the army for using large-scale weapons to attack weak people who have no ability to resist..."
"Hey, the signal is not good, what did you say?" Ronald simply pretended to be disconnected and hung up.
He was not the only one to be harassed by idiot reporters. Stallone, Schwarzenegger, and even James Cameron and Martin Scorsese were all approached by reporters to ask them to express their attitude towards the violence in the film.
For a moment, it was as if those innocent reporters had become the saintly defenders of criminal Hollywood action movies.
Ronald had no choice but to hide at home and never accept interviews. The majority of the Korean population is religious and has deep connections with the conservative religious forces in America. They quickly suppressed this call to criticize Koreans.
The media has returned to discussing the black equal rights movement.
Ronald breathed a sigh of relief. Hollywood was also entangled in a mess of press reporters entering this year's Oscar ceremony.