America 1982-Chapter 350 - 31: They Have the Right to Know the Truth_2
If I were only content to use affiliated TV stations to fill my own network...
"I think as a young talent, this Tommy Hawk is unlikely to be foolish, because that would be like a bunch of leeches feverishly sucking his blood," he said.
...
While others were speculating behind his back whether he was a fool, Tommy was being requested for a meeting. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶
The visitor was a young black director he had once met, Spike Lee.
Young, that is, in comparison to other directors, but in reality, Spike Lee was five years older than Tommy.
However, in the face of money, Spike Lee could only bow his head and silently accept the praise from the younger potential investor Tommy for being young and promising, though aware that there was no malice intended, Spike Lee always felt that such compliments coming from Tommy were rife with irony.
Tommy Hawk, younger than himself, lived in a mansion in the Northern District of Beverly Hills Estate, with a net worth in the billions, while he, praised by Tommy for being young and promising, was there seeking help for a budget of just three million for his new film.
In fact, Tommy’s praise of Spike Lee harbored no irony at all. He actually did regard the black young director as quite accomplished. Fresh out of university at twenty-two, Spike Lee had already started his own film company, albeit with an odd name: Forty Acres and a Mule.
The term "Forty Acres and a Mule" came from a military order during the American Civil War, issued by William Sherman, the commander of the Union Army. It promised forty acres of land to those enslaved Africans who fled to the North for freedom and joined the army; if they were injured and disabled on the battlefield, their families would also receive a retired mule to help till their land.
By naming his company after this order, Spike Lee reminded himself never to forget the struggles that black people had endured on their journey through cinema.
With such a company name, it would have been a miracle for him to receive investments in the predominantly white Hollywood; most of the time, he even had to shoot commercials for various brands to maintain his company’s livelihood, ensuring it stayed afloat.
His first film, released in June 1986 called "She’s Gotta Have It", did remarkably well at the box office with seven million dollars.
For Hollywood’s various big productions, this box office figure would equate to a flop, but consider that the total cost of the film was only one hundred seventy-five thousand dollars. Spike Lee had saved up by shooting commercials for several years, then completed the film in just twelve days.
The film, which delivered the slogan "I have the tool, I decide who to sleep with" through its black female protagonist and was filled with themes of feminism and womanism, was critically acclaimed for its political correctness, bold storytelling, and beautiful cinematography. Every critic who saw the film believed that Spike Lee was destined to become a famous director and carve out a place for himself in Hollywood.
After seeing the astonishing budget-to-box office ratio of "She’s Gotta Have It", the big Hollywood movie companies were eager to approach Spike Lee with real money, seeking to collaborate with him.
The bespectacled young man was pleasantly surprised, and then earnestly introduced his carefully planned second film to the producers from the visiting Hollywood movie companies.
After listening, those movie companies never contacted him again.
It wasn’t the budget figures for the new film that scared them off; in fact, the budget was not high at six million dollars, which for Hollywood, was considered a small production. Moreover, given Spike Lee’s proven track record, the companies were willing to take a small gamble in hopes of a big payout. If Lee could achieve a seven million dollar box office on a one hundred seventy-five thousand dollar budget, then with six million dollars, there might be a chance to break at least fifty million at the box office, right?
What actually deterred the movie companies was the script that Tommy now held in his hands.
The title was "Do the Right Thing", with a subtitle: Inspired by the Howard Beach racial discrimination murder incident, in memory of my deceased black brother, Michael Griffith.
Tommy was familiar with the Howard Beach incident, a heinous case that happened in ’86.
Late one night, four young black men from Brooklyn decided to drive to Queens to pick up their paychecks, but their car broke down on the way.
The driver stayed with the car while the other three, led by the deceased, sought out a public phone in the Howard Beach community to call for a tow truck.
But the Howard Beach community was predominantly white, and since entering the white neighborhood, the three black men had been continuously insulted by white locals such as drunken bums, prostitutes, and so forth, who told them to leave their territory. Failing to find a phone and instead encountering a group of white youths brandishing baseball bats and car wrenches, laughing ominously, at the doorstep of a pizzeria, spelled disaster for them.
Two companions were beaten to the ground with no sign of life, while Michael, injured all over, managed to escape. But as he was chased by the white youths in panic, he rushed onto a road and was instantly killed by a passing car.
After the incident, the black community claimed they were just trying to make a phone call due to a car breakdown, while the white community held that no one would collect paychecks at night and found knives on the black men, suggesting that their true intention was to rob whites in Howard Beach.
This was the entirety of the incident, which might seem minor as it was only about the death of a black man. Had the roles been reversed, with blacks in the place of whites, it would likely have not caused even the smallest ripple.
