America 1987

“I don’t understand, David,” Michael Ovitz sighed, putting down the script and looking at his nephew. “Why are you so insistent on adding this, well… pottery scene?”

"For the sake of the film's integrity, Uncle."

"Oh, your movie isn't complete without this scene?"

"certainly."

The sunny boy with brown hair, who was sitting at the desk, suddenly straightened up and said very seriously.

"Without this intimate scene, the later plot where Sam becomes a ghost and tries everything to touch Milie wouldn't have resonated with the audience as deeply."

"You know, the joy of something lost and then found can greatly enhance the audience's sense of immersion, Uncle."

"Of course I understand, David. You know, when I picked out the script for 'Taxi Driver,' you were still in elementary school."

When Michael Ovitz saw his nephew, who was in his early twenties, explaining the plot and its function to him, he immediately showed off his professionalism.

"Showing the audience intimate scenes between the male and female leads is indeed necessary, but why can't you use a different approach?"

"for example?"

"For example, you could try having Sam and Milie convey their feelings through long conversations, or you could use a dream sequence. You could treat the pottery scene as Milie's dream, projecting Sam's companionship from her subconscious. Wouldn't that be more profound?"

Michael Ovitz reopened the script, found the scene, and stroked his beard with one hand, looking like he was deep in thought.

It's clear that his uncle is quite capable; after all, he once held sway in Hollywood for a while in the original timeline, and his eye for scripts is indeed sharp.

but……

"Long dialogues are definitely not feasible. In the limited time of a film, the emotional intensity conveyed by physical interaction cannot be matched by language. Relying solely on dialogue will inevitably result in insufficient emotional tension..."

David Ovitz spun his chair leisurely as he methodically refuted his uncle.

"As for treating the ceramic art scene as a dream,"

Michael Ovitz looked at his nephew with an expression that suggested he was eager to hear more.

"Leaving aside whether this kind of filming will blur the boundary between reality and illusion, and weaken the authenticity of emotions, in terms of the scale of the plot itself, this kind of change is meaningless."

David Ovitz stopped sitting down. "The reason my uncle disagrees with this scene is simply because he's worried that such erotic scenes might affect the film's rating."

"If that's the case, even if you put it in a dream, it won't make a difference. You can't expect an adult film to be released in mainstream theaters just because the ending reveals that the whole story was just the protagonist's wet dream, can you?"

"So, you also knew that this scene would affect the film's rating?"

"Of course I know, otherwise why would I be in your office today, Uncle?"

"What do you mean?"

David Ovitz got up from his chair, came over to him, put an arm around Michael Ovitz's shoulder, and whispered in his ear.

"Uncle, don't you know people from the MPAA? Could you do me a favor?"

David Ovitz spoke to him in the tone of a buddy, which suited Michael's taste perfectly. He was used to being a dictator in the company, so much so that most people kept their distance from him, and sometimes he felt a bit lonely. Only this unscrupulous nephew dared to talk to him like an equal.

"Tommy's Top Gun, which was released last year, also had a passionate scene, and it still got a PG rating. The scene in my script was already very subtle, focusing more on the spiritual connection. It shouldn't get an R rating, right?"

R rating, or restricted, means that viewers under the age of 17 must be accompanied by a parent or adult guardian.

This will inadvertently reduce the potential audience by about 20%, because a large portion of teenagers don't want to go to the movies with their parents. After all, if there are any inappropriate scenes in the movie, it will be somewhat embarrassing.

The PG-13 rating is currently the most sought-after rating. To maximize commercial profits, production studios generally require directors to obtain this rating; otherwise, they will lose the final cut.

but……

"Didn't I give you $2200 million as a film budget? Paramount shouldn't take away your final cut, right? Even if your film is rated R, they'll still help with the marketing and distribution, right?"

Michael Ovitz, who had just been earnestly persuading his nephew to revise the sensitive plot, suddenly changed his tone and even cut himself a cigar.

"Besides, an R rating isn't necessarily worse than a PG-13. Audiences have a rebellious streak; a slightly more explicit film might even attract more adult viewers to the theater. Isn't the 79 film *Alien* the best example?"

"With a box office of $1.06 million, maybe you can reach that level too?"

Of course I can reach that level, and I can even achieve results you wouldn't even imagine.

However, David Ovitz could only mutter these thoughts to himself. After all, if a new director who had just graduated from film school were to claim that his film had grossed $5.05 million, most people would probably think he had lost his mind.

If my uncle heard this, he'd probably send me to see a psychologist.

David, who had already sat back down in his chair, glanced at his uncle who was lighting a cigarette, and nodded. "I'll try my best to achieve your goal."

"But Alien is clearly an exception, okay? Although self-funding does reduce studio interference in film editing."

"However, the MPAA system has been in place for so many years and is already deeply ingrained in people's minds. R-rated films will face restrictions in terms of theatrical screenings. If a film doesn't get particularly good word-of-mouth in its early stages of release, it will be very difficult to recover later."

"To be on the safe side, it's safer to rate it as PG-13."

Please help me, uncle.

David got up and opened the window, otherwise the smell would be too strong.

"I can help you with the rating, but will your movie even break even? I've looked at your already confirmed cast, and the star power is terrifyingly dim."

"Is it really that exaggerated? Isn't there a potential Oscar-winning actress? And there's the racial advantage. As long as the movie is decent, Black people will definitely go to the theater to support it. After all, aren't they known for their unity?"

Upon hearing this, Michael Ovitz stubbed out his cigarette and pulled the script out again. He had only glanced at it briefly before and hadn't looked at it carefully.

David was referring to Whoopi Goldberg, the Black actress who played the medium in the original Ghost movie, and who received a Best Actress nomination at the 86 Academy Awards for her role in Steven Spielberg's The Color Purple.

Although it was just a nomination, it earned her considerable recognition for cultural representation in the Black community, and her existing base in Broadway and stand-up comedy is very solid.

David's decision to invite this talented but not particularly well-known actress to play an important supporting role caught Michael's attention. It seems he wasn't just dabbling; he must have done some research.

In Hollywood, there is a widely circulated saying: "Because movies without Black people are considered racist, there was even a movement to boycott movies because there were no Black people in them. From then on, no matter what kind of movie it was, there had to be Black people."

As early as the 80s, the "black and white pairing" model (such as "48 Hours") had already proven the box office value of Black people.

After the 90s, Black stars began to "stand out independently." Will Smith, Denzel Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, and others became superstar action stars who could carry a film on their own.

Of course, besides political correctness, there is another very important reason why Hollywood uses Black actors—to expand the Black box office market.