Hollywood: From Razzie to Legend

Robert stood beside the long table and looked to either side. Sitting on either side didn't seem quite right because there were only five people in total if they sat face to face, someone would inevitably end up facing empty space. So he walked over to the side of the long table, asked for a chair, and sat down. "I'll just sit here."

With that, Hugo and Joseph sat on one side, and Brad and Martin on the other. The seating arrangement immediately became proper. Originally, Hugo had thought there would be at least five people auditioning, but now it seemed it was just him and Brad along with the current first alternate, Tom Cruise.

Directly opposite Hugo was Brad, with Robert on his left and Joseph on his right. He met eyes with Brad, and the two young men exchanged a smile before quickly looking away. From Brad's blue eyes, Hugo could see a blazing fighting spirit brimming with vitality and full of confidence, sparks flying everywhere. Although it wasn't yet at the level of a life-and-death rivalry, it was clear that, following A River Runs Through It, the two had met again and no one wanted to lose in a competition.

Martin, being a seasoned agent, spoke as soon as he sat down to liven the atmosphere. "This is your first work in two years, right? I heard you've been preparing for it for quite a while we've been waiting with great anticipation. Brad and I rewatched When Harry Met Sally just last month, didn't we?"

Brad knew that final question was aimed at him, and he immediately chimed in, "Yes, I even asked Martin at the time, saying if you ever made another movie, I'd be thrilled just to have a shot at the audition."

Hugo watched the two of them perform their well-practiced double act. Compared to that, he and Joseph had only worked together for two months and obviously lacked that kind of chemistry. Still, he didn't appear nervous at all he even turned to glance at Joseph, as if saying, "See how capable Martin is?" only to be met with a fierce glare in return.

"Directing is not something you can rush, right? I certainly don't want my directing career to be limited to just When Harry Met Sally." Robert looked up and down the menu with a smile. His tone was gentle, not stiff or sarcastic, but even so, his response still made Martin and Brad look a bit stiff they could only laugh and nod in return.

Seeing the two of them stumble right off the bat, Hugo and Joseph couldn't help but laugh a little wickedly.

"Let's order first I've been craving their grilled chicken breast for a while now." Robert was seriously reading the menu, and he looked genuinely hungry. "Actually, the chicken noodles are pretty good too."

Hugo had originally wanted to speak up first after all, staying passive during an audition wouldn't get him anywhere but seeing how Robert clearly didn't want to get down to business just yet, he started reading the menu seriously instead. America, being a country of immigrants, didn't really have any traditional cuisine of its own. Glancing over the menu, Hugo saw fried chicken and more fried chicken. It made him miss the rich and varied cuisine back home.

"Hugo, how is it? Anything that looks good to you?" Robert proactively initiated the conversation it seemed that after Brad's performance earlier, he wanted to give Hugo a chance.

"Uh, I'm not sure. I see Mrs. Knott's Famous Fried Chicken." Hugo really was reading the menu, so his response came a bit broken up as he scanned the detailed description under the dish. "I'm just wondering, is this really Mrs. Knott's special recipe?" Since the place was called Knott's Berry, the dish was probably one of their signature items.

His words made the other four men chuckle, including the two competitors sitting across from him. Though Martin's smile was more of a sneer, Hugo couldn't help but smile too. "Alright, alright, I get it. I'm not a gourmet I admit that sad fact."

"Well, since you're curious, you should order it and give it a try." That was Robert's take.

So Hugo really did order the "Mrs. Knott's Famous Fried Chicken." After the appetizers and salad, when the main course arrived, Hugo was genuinely stunned. On a pristine white plate sat four pitiful little mid-wing pieces. "Uh, you sure this is enough to fill someone up?"

Though Hugo had lowered his voice, everyone except Joseph on his right heard him. Brad's eyes were practically twinkling with amusement. Today's main focus should've been the audition food wasn't supposed to be the star. But Hugo wasn't wrong either; as a main dish, this so-called "famous fried chicken" really didn't look like it could fill anyone up. Still, it seemed Hugo had missed the point. Yet, his honesty carried a kind of sincerity not the crassness of ignorance, but a charming straightforwardness that wasn't annoying and even made people smile.

But Martin Baum, as an agent, didn't see it that way. With a smile on his face, he said, "If it's not enough, you can always order more." His words were dripping with sarcasm, as if Hugo had come just for a free meal.

Robert, however, was used to this kind of scene. In Hollywood, there's no such thing as success without competition. Being modest and courteous won't get you anywhere. Martin's verbal jab was nothing but a splash in the pan. But Robert didn't want to sit there listening to them bicker, so he took the initiative and said, "The Rodney King case is going to trial next month, right? I've seen the Los Angeles Times front page report on it two weeks in a row it's going to be a lively time, I guess."

Although Rob seemed to be chatting casually, everyone present including Hugo knew this was actually an audition. Any conversation beyond small talk wasn't just idle chatter, and the Rodney King incident, involving legal arguments, could be seen as a variant topic for the "A Few Good Men" audition.

Brad was clearly more experienced than Hugo, who had time-traveled here more experienced not just in auditions, but also in being American. So, he quickly followed up, "We must uphold the integrity of the law, right? The actions of those four police officers must be punished."

At first, Hugo didn't react to what the "Rodney King incident" was all about. He'd only been in this world for two months, and wasn't yet familiar with local American news events. But as Brad responded, Hugo quickly caught on because even as an outsider, he had heard of this case. It had rocked the entire United States and had immeasurable global impact.

"But wasn't the one who truly made a mistake Rodney King himself?" Hugo said, "It was the media that pushed this narrative. They convicted those four white police officers and created a public outcry that led to the current situation, didn't they?"

Hugo's opinion was the complete opposite of Brad's, which immediately made Brad snap his head up, staring at Hugo with a mix of confusion and anger. Even Robert had the same reaction, a look of disbelief on his face that made Hugo feel like he had just committed some unspeakable crime.

Here's what actually happened: Rodney was a Black man with a criminal record. In March of last year, he and two Black friends got completely drunk, but Rodney still insisted on driving them home. On the way, they encountered a patrol car. The officers turned on the sirens, signaling Rodney to pull over.

Rodney's friends all realized the police were coming and told him to stop, but drunk Rodney played dumb and started a wild car chase on the highway. Rodney knew he was a parolee with a record if he got caught drunk driving again, things would go really bad for him. So he made a desperate escape attempt.

Eventually, Rodney was still intercepted by the police. After calling for backup, the police deployed more than twenty patrol cars to form a blockade and finally caught him. When they exited the car, Rodney's two friends immediately complied by putting their hands behind their backs and submitted to arrest. But Rodney knew he was likely doomed, so he chose to go down fighting and started making all kinds of provocative gestures to enrage the officers.

The approaching police officers issued verbal warnings. When that failed, four officers moved in to subdue Rodney. But the tall and muscular Rodney wasn't intimidated at all and fought back fiercely against the four officers. One officer was even knocked down. This triggered the remaining three to apply for pressure, but the brawny Rodney actually got back up again and resisted the officers for nearly a full minute. The officers had no choice but to use batons to beat Rodney brutally before finally restraining him.

What was unexpected was that the beating was caught on camera by a resident named George Holliday. He secretly filmed eighty-one seconds of the incident, but the footage didn't capture Rodney provoking the officers or knocking one of them down. It only showed the part where Rodney clashed with the officers and was violently subdued.

The next day, George took the footage to Los Angeles' local TV station KTLA. The station, which had been struggling with low ratings, saw the tape as a godsend. With the CEO's approval, editors cut the original eighty-one seconds down to a sixty-eight-second clip for TV broadcast, creating the illusion that white police officers were viciously beating a defenseless Black citizen.

This clip was broadcast hundreds of times on major American networks and became a sensational racial discrimination case. Sensitive Black communities felt their lives were under serious threat, reminding them of the horrors of the recent Gulf War. It eventually escalated into a nationwide and even global riot.

Over the past year, the Rodney King incident had become a thorn in everyone's side. Its level of public attention even surpassed this year's U.S. presidential election. The upcoming court hearings next month were drawing everyone's focus.

Brad, Martin, Rob, and the others had clearly all watched the sixty-eight-second version of the footage. Even though they were white, they understood the severity of the incident. Yet Hugo voiced an entirely different opinion like a thunderclap. Seeing everyone's shocked expressions, Hugo innocently asked, "Didn't you guys watch CNN news?"

....

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