raknovel Chapter 90 Black-Red Economics
Chapter 90 Black-Red Economics
Chapter 90 Black-Red Economics
The controversy surrounding "Pretty Baby" continues to escalate across the United States; controversy and popularity are always intertwined.
Throughout April, the film became a global cultural phenomenon. Brooke Shields' mother, Terry Shields, even took advantage of the controversy to appear on the top talk show, "The Bill Boggs Show," facing scrutiny from an American audience.
Zik stared at the television screen, a single thought echoing in his mind: Even negative publicity is still publicity. In Hollywood, as long as you have buzz, you'll never lack the capital to establish yourself.
Just then, I heard light footsteps behind me.
Judy came out of the bathroom, her hair slightly damp, her expression serene.
Qi Ke instinctively raised his hand to change the channel, not wanting her to touch on these upsetting and controversial topics again.
"It's okay, I want to see too."
Judy spoke softly, walked straight to the sofa, curled up gently, pulled her legs together, wrapped her arms around her knees, and quietly leaned against the corner of the sofa, her gaze fixed on the flickering television screen.
At this point, the atmosphere in the live broadcast had become quite tense.
The host, Bill Boggs, leaned slightly forward, speaking very frankly.
"Has no one ever told you that you're exploiting a child's sex appeal?"
Terry Shields remained calm, without the slightest panic or evasion, and said in a composed tone, "If what I did was merely what you think, perhaps some people would indeed accuse me of that. But what Brooke and I did was far more than that."
Before the host could ask any questions, she spoke up, her words bold and startling: "What the public sees in her is pure and flawless innocence, that's undeniable. But at the same time, a sexy person, a vibrant and beautiful young body, inherently has an extreme attraction for the world."
Borg was visibly taken aback, his eyes filled with surprise, and he replied in a solemn tone, "That's right, but it's a forbidden fruit in the eyes of the world."
"It is indeed forbidden fruit," Terry frankly admitted without any hesitation. "But innocence and sexiness, naivety and allure—all these qualities combined in one person are tempting enough, that's a fact."
Boggs stared at her and continued to press, "Ho~ you're aware of how the public is commenting on you and your daughter right now, aren't you? Aren't you really bothered by the overwhelming controversy and insults?"
"They can say whatever they want about me, but Brooke can't defend herself. That's why I'm here. I'm not a stage mom, I'm Brooke's mother."
Zik couldn't help but comment.
"This woman is frighteningly honest; she's willing to do anything to make her daughter famous."
He felt it was inappropriate to say it, after all, Judy's mother, Evelyn, was no different from this woman.
For her daughter's career in the entertainment industry, she would stop at nothing and spare no effort.
"But ultimately, they, mother and daughter, are simply clumsily imitating your path to fame, always following in your footsteps."
He tried to make amends.
Judy just smiled faintly, not taking it to heart at all: "Zick, you've got it wrong. It's not Brooke Shields and her mother who are copying my path; it's Hollywood studios who have seen a golden road to quick riches and fame."
She looked up at the screen, a cold glint in her eyes: "They're never satisfied; they just frantically replicate success stories, constantly thinking—why can't we create one more, ten more, a hundred more Jodie Fosters?"
"Hollywood is a disgrace." Zeke shook his head helplessly.
Near the end of the program, Bogues quoted a High Times review: "...Unlike the combative Jodie Foster or the naive Tatum O'Neill, Brooke Shields was the perfect embodiment of teenage fantasy, vibrant and alluring: naive yet innocent."
"Fuck, this guy's a freak too."
This seemingly artistic but actually extremely vulgar comment made Qi Ke unable to tolerate it any longer, and he angrily raised his hand to turn off the TV.
"Judy, try not to go out alone these days. These ubiquitous media outlets won't let you off the hook."
"Yeah, I know. Anyway, I've already bought my clothes." Judy nodded obediently, looking a little sullen. "You'll be starting work soon, right?"
“That’s right.” Zeke reached out and pulled her into his arms, explaining softly, “Casablanca invested two million dollars in promoting Friday Night Fever and its soundtrack, almost double the production cost.”
"Right now, the company has put aside almost all secondary matters, and everyone is focusing all their attention on this project. Everyone has to keep up with it. Larry has scheduled a lot of publicity events for me, partly to help promote the movie, and partly to give 'Sweet Dreams' a boost, killing two birds with one stone."
"So you're going to become a big star too?" Judy buried her head in his chest, her voice soft, then suddenly laughed, "Will you be so busy and famous that you can't protect me like you did that day anymore?"
Zik chuckled softly and ruffled her hair.
"Fool, I'll have a better way later."
Casablanca's massive promotional campaign was indeed unprecedented in scale.
A few days later, Zeke sat on the side of the stage in the auditorium of a high school in South Bay as a special guest judge for the campus disco dance competition.
To fully ignite the buzz surrounding "Friday Night Fever," Casablanca launched a comprehensive, all-encompassing marketing campaign.
The company acquired huge outdoor GG billboards across the United States at high prices, and also sponsored a large number of high school dance competitions in various places. The competition GG billboards were displayed in high school newspapers and school bulletin boards, accurately targeting the youth audience.
Five custom-made 12-inch vinyl singles were distributed to major radio stations across the United States for repeated broadcasts; they even boldly crossed over into a business collaboration with Rea|cigarettes, printing the movie and soundtrack GG on the back of cigarette packs to maximize coverage of the general public.
Inside the huge auditorium, the lights were dazzling, the voices were deafening, and there were energetic high school students everywhere, making it noisy and lively.
A boy in a sequined performance outfit rushed excitedly to the judges' table, clutching the competition program: "Mr. Zeke! I absolutely love your composition 'Sweet Dreams'!"
"Seven seas—" These two lines are so cool! Every time I hear them, I feel like I could travel the world any second now!
Zik smiled and nodded, quickly writing on the score sheet: "Thank you, that's the feeling I wanted to convey to you too. Relax and enjoy the stage."
Before the next performance began, another boy approached, his eyes full of admiration: "Actually, my favorite song of yours is 'YMCA'! I never thought I'd meet you in real life. Your music is so infectious, I'm going to give it my all tonight!"
Qi Ke looked troubled, secretly wondering to himself: A preference for this song? Could this young child have gone astray?
He smiled with a complicated expression: "I'm glad you liked that song. Keep it up, I look forward to seeing your performance."
When a pretty girl handed over her score sheet, she deliberately slowed down her movements, tossed her hair, and paused for two extra seconds before handing it over, giving him a flirtatious wink: "Zick, you're even more handsome than I imagined—you have to save a spot for our group tonight's champion!"
""
Qi Ke remained unmoved, but refused despite being deeply moved.
The pretty and assertive girl still wanted to pester him, but even the school teacher standing nearby couldn't stand it anymore. She clapped her hands and looked at Qi Ke with a slightly apologetic expression: "Alright, students, don't surround the judges. Give the contestants some space to prepare!"
This round of campus competitions allowed Qi Ke to personally experience the benefits of his current popularity.
With his dual identity as the songwriter and producer of two hit disco songs, coupled with his good looks and similar age, he enjoys extremely high popularity and favorability among teenagers.
Larry specifically arranged these campus events for him, precisely targeting a young audience.
Zeke visited almost every popular area around Los Angeles with a high concentration of teenagers, including North Hollywood, Van Ness, Burbank, Pasadena, El Monte, and Alhambra.
The teenagers in these areas are the main consumers of disco culture. There are enough high school students to support the event, and every event is packed with people, resulting in a great promotional effect.
Although local events are limited by their level and may not make the headlines of national mainstream newspapers, his name has already spread throughout the streets and alleys in local newspapers and radio broadcasts in various communities of Los Angeles.
A young employee sent by the company handed Zeke a newspaper and a summary of interviews, lowering his voice to say, "Mr. Zeke, the company has gone all out. The hype of a 'nationwide campus event' has already been released, and invitations from mainstream media are on the way. No matter how the press release is written, your name, as the 'genius producer' and a special guest judge,' will definitely be mentioned repeatedly." He paused briefly, pointing to the reporters waiting with microphones not far away, "There's a local media interview arranged over there. Would you like to go over the key points first?"
Zik readily accepted the opportunity to be interviewed, a good thing that would boost his fame.
The only downside is that while watching a group of energetic high school students dance was initially pleasing to the eye and full of novelty, after running around for several days and watching hundreds of similar disco dances, the novelty completely faded, leaving only boredom.
Towards the end, Zeke's scoring became almost mechanical, and he just went through the motions. Fortunately, high school students in their adolescence are passionate, pure, and easily satisfied; even a simple word of encouragement can excite them for a long time.
The tedious work as a judge on the campus tour is coming to an end, and soon he will be returning to downtown Los Angeles to hold the grand finale at the same time as "The Murphy Griffin Show". Zeke can finally get rid of the fatigue of the past few days of travel.
To his surprise, there was a KISS concert in Orange County that night. The band's drummer, "Catman" Peter Chris, learned that Zeke was also there for an event, so he specially asked a tall, fierce-looking man to come and pick him up to watch the show.