Volume 3: My days in a college fraternity Chapter 141 I Should Be Killed Immediately
"You always make unique choices, Tommy. Just like the last time you chose Bob to help you sell goods, Delia arranged several second-tier talk shows in big cities for you, and you actually managed to pick a third-rate talk show in Chicago. I know Chicago is also a big city, but the ratings of that show are really not high, and the main audience is black people." Sophia took the blindfold handed to her by Tommy Hawke with ease. Before pulling off the blindfold, she complained to Tommy who took out a book to read:
"Even if you choose the interview in San Francisco, at least I won't have to accompany you on a red-eye flight."
After complaining quietly, knowing that Tommy would not pay attention to her complaints, Sophia obediently pulled down the blindfold, rested her head on his shoulder, adjusted it a few times, and soon fell asleep.
Listening to Sophia's gentle snoring sounds, Tommy opened the book in his hand as if talking to himself: "Because that place is Chicago, the old black revolutionary base in the United States, and because the host of that third-rate interview is called Oprah. I didn't go there for the show. I wanted to lure her under my control. She is a goose that lays golden eggs."
As Tommy was on his late-night flight to Chicago, Ray Peabody, the producer of WLS-TV's "AM Chicago," was calling from his hometown of Marseille, France, arguing with Oprah Winfrey, the 29-year-old black female host who had just taken over the show:
"I need you to understand that this is my show! My child! Don't think that just because Mr. Swanson brought you from Baltimore to Chicago, you will become a big star on WLS! I still have the final say on this show and you have no right to tamper with the schedule!"
Oprah turned on the speakerphone and flipped through a large amount of text without looking up. She responded indifferently but sharply, "You should be thankful that the Chicago Child Protection Bureau didn't send you to jail for abusing your own child, Mr. Peabody. Do you think this is the treatment for a talk show star, hosting the lowest-rated talk show in Chicago ?"
"The only ratings are contributed by black audiences, and you are going to talk to them about computer software? They are not interested, and you will lose the only audience of this show!" Ray Peabody said loudly in an intense tone.
"AM Chicago" is a daytime talk show. Because it is broadcast in the morning, its main audience is housewives who get up early to help their families prepare breakfast. They turn on the TV to the maximum volume, listen to the host talking about the latest social hot topics, while busying themselves in the kitchen.
Oprah glanced at the phone and said, "It's not that black people have no interest in the development of technology, but you have to give them a topic that they are interested in. Mr. Peabody, believe me, this topic will interest them. If I wasn't better at choosing topics than you, Mr. Swanson, the boss, wouldn't have spent a lot of money to call me from Baltimore to Chicago to save this show."
"Black women on computers..." Peabody seemed to be irritated by Oprah's tone and wanted to roar, but before he could finish, Oprah cursed and hung up the phone:
"I've had enough of your stereotypes, Mr. Peabody. Fuck your French girl, and when you get back from France, we'll see which one of us the boss will fire."
Then she continued to devote herself to preparing for the company and began to read the large amount of information faxed in advance by Actor Company, as if contradicting the producer was just a trivial matter that was not worth her attention.
From the first time she saw the information, she felt that the topic was very interesting, and simply reading the information made her curious about Tommy Hawke.
His experience is somewhat similar to mine. He comes from a poor family and has lost his loved ones, but he will do anything to get ahead. He first increased his popularity by working part-time at a radio station, and then participated in radio debates and speeches to get a college admission letter and scholarship. Tommy got a college ticket by participating in an international summer camp. How could someone who can do these things be a boring person?
Listen to the name he gave to his company, Actor, he has already told the world his real profession, so why should we worry about his acting skills.
…
The reception room of WLS Channel 7.
"It's an honor to meet you, Ms. Winfrey." Tommy took the initiative to extend his hand to Oprah who came in and said with a smile: "I turned down four or five shows with ratings more than ten times higher than yours and flew here to see you."
Oprah was amused by Tommy's expression and thought he was just teasing her. She shook hands with Tommy and said, "Thank you for your insight, Tommy. I guess your secretary or assistant should have told you about the ratings and audience of this show."
"Don't you want to know why I flew here?" Tommy asked Oprah with a bright smile.
Oprah made a thoughtful expression, then looked at Tommy: "So, what's the reason?"
"I hope I can help you make this show a success so that you can go back to college and get your diploma. I've read your information and it says that you received an admission letter and a full scholarship from Tennessee State University ten years ago. After you enrolled, you went to work at a TV station to earn money to support your family, right?" Tommy said with a smile.
"It's a bit like me. After I got the admission ticket to Stanford, my love for knowledge was no longer as pure as it was in high school."
Oprah looked at this guy who showed great interest in her as soon as they met, and didn't understand why he was so enthusiastic about her. Although she had won the Miss Tennessee title when she was young, she was now 29 years old and her figure had gradually become fat and out of shape due to being busy with work and neglecting exercise. It didn't make sense for him to have physical intentions towards her, but she couldn't think of any other reasons to attract him.
At this time, I could only greet you politely: "Actually, when I met you, in addition to reminding you of some precautions before the show started, I also had a curious question. Is Lincoln High School in Warwick, Rhode Island also a bad school?"
"It's as bad as Lincoln High School in Milwaukee," Tommy said with a smile.
Oprah nodded. "It sounds like you've done some research on the show. At least you know my experience as the host pretty well. Let's talk about some things to note. This show is not a direct sales show, so you can't sell products. This is a half-hour interview show. Let's talk about your experience, your sense of social responsibility, and the troubles you've encountered. Of course, we'll also let the audience know that your company sells software, but it can't be as direct as a direct sales show."
"Where is the script? I mean, have you prepared some answers for the guests to deal with some difficult questions?" Tommy asked after listening.
Oprah shook her head slightly. "There is no script. This is a new rule I set after I came here. The host can hold cards with questions and information, but the guests have nothing. I just want the audience to see the guests get flustered by my questions. Their real reactions will be more attractive."
"Are you sure?" Tommy was stunned for a moment. "Without a script, aren't you worried about the rhythm of the show?"
Oprah looked at Tommy with some confusion, not understanding why he was not worried about being embarrassed, but worried about the rhythm of his show: "Sure, don't worry, because I will control the rhythm."
"Ms. Winfrey, you didn't sign a contract with a production company, right? You're just working as a host at a TV station." To Oprah's surprise, Tommy's next question did not consider the issues he should be worried about, but instead asked about his own work situation.
Although she didn't know why the other party was curious about her job, Oprah still said truthfully: "No production company is willing to sign a black female talk show host. This industry is currently dominated by white men."
"Ms. Winfrey? Can you give me a chance to work with you?" Tommy asked with a look of joy immediately after getting a definite answer.
Oprah looked at Tommy, who was smiling, as if he were an alien. "Tommy, I remind you that you'd better pay attention to your performance in front of the camera next time. Also, I like this job as a TV host and I don't plan to change my career to become a software salesman."
"No, no, no, I'm not selling software. I'm investing in a TV program production company and you'll hold shares in the company. You don't need to contribute any money. You just need to continue to do this talk show well. I will raise the money as soon as possible to buy the national ." Tommy rubbed his hands excitedly and looked at Oprah with burning eyes.
God still favored him. Although he no longer had Perot's investment, at least he met Oprah, who was not yet successful. This was like an opportunity to pick up money for free, and he could not miss it. Oprah did not have to do anything but simply host the show which would later be renamed "The Oprah Winfrey Show". He also did not need to do anything but buy the national distribution rights and wait for this woman to make the show number one in Chicago ratings. He would just be responsible for counting the money when other TV stations came to purchase it.
There was no need to do any other special work, because the production company in the previous life did not invest in any packaging or promotion costs. At that time, they thought that this black female host seemed okay and worth signing. Unexpectedly, this black sister relied on her eloquence to make the show the number one talk show in the United States, and the company made a lot of money by selling the show to other TV stations across the country.
Oprah frowned and looked at Sophia beside her in confusion: "How long has he been suffering from mental illness? Do you want to send him to the hospital first and then change someone else to be the guest?"
"Don't worry, he'll return to normal when he's in front of the camera," Sophia said as if it was a matter of course.
Oprah thought for a moment, then looked at Tommy who was staring at her: "Tommy, do you bite strangers?"
Tommy shook his head.
"Great, see you on the show. You may need to take some medicine first." Oprah stood up.
"We'll talk about cooperation after the show is finished." Tommy sighed. Why is it so difficult to get a bargain? If he is a little enthusiastic and eager, he will be regarded as a psychopath.
The question is, who wouldn't be excited when seeing the opportunity to make tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars by reselling program recordings?
…
In the studio, Oprah sat on the sofa and spoke the opening words to the audience and the camera in a relaxed tone:
"Welcome to Good Morning Chicago. I'm Oprah Winfrey, the host who just moved here not long ago and has to introduce myself every time the show starts. Today's guest makes me excited because he's a young man in trouble. Of course, he's not one of those black young artists you're familiar with who got into trouble because of guns or drug use. He's a white young man. Do you understand why I'm excited? White men rarely appear on our show, and we've never seen a white man in trouble. They probably don't want the black audience to see him in a mess, and they only want to see his gentlemanly side."
Most of the extras at the scene were black, and when they heard Oprah's words, they all laughed out loud.
"Well, let's welcome this troubled white youth, Tommy Hawke."
Tommy Hawke, with blond hair and a monotonous suit, walked into the studio a little nervously, bowed politely and stretched out his hand to shake hands with Oprah, then sat on the guest sofa next to him, waved to the audience who gave him some sporadic applause, then put his hands between his thighs, looked at Oprah blankly, and smiled shyly.
Oprah cursed in her heart, this bastard has great acting skills. Although his words and reactions backstage were a little unusually excited, he was definitely not shy. But now that he appeared on the show, he immediately turned into a pure white person who was not used to the gazes of black people.
She picked up the cue card in her hand and briefly introduced Tommy's identity to the audience, such as Stanford University student, founder of Actor Company, etc. After the introduction, the few applause disappeared completely. Tommy even noticed that the extras looked at each other in confusion, their eyes full of curiosity, and they almost asked directly:
“Why find a white nerd like this to be on a show that black people watch?”
Oprah saw Tommy's appearance and directly handed him the question. She started to ask random questions. She smiled and asked, "So, how nervous are you right now, Tommy?"
"I'm not nervous, ma'am." Tommy hunched his shoulders slightly and looked at Oprah blankly. Then he immediately looked away, looked at the empty space, nodded vigorously at the air and said, "That's right, I'm not nervous."
The audience below immediately burst into laughter, and seemed very satisfied with Tommy's reaction of saying he was not nervous while avoiding the audience's gaze. If nothing unexpected happened, this guy would become the target of Oprah's teasing in this episode.
"Which is more disturbing to you, your company's litigation troubles or you sitting here?" Oprah asked with a smile.
Tommy lowered his head and thought for a while before looking up at the other party again: "I'm not in trouble, Ms. Winfrey, my company is not in trouble either, I'm not uneasy, I just don't know... I don't know how to communicate with black friends. You mentioned when you introduced me just now that I'm from Rhode Island, where there are very few black people. I have almost no black friends around me since I was a child. I've been thinking, should I stand up now and use a set of complicated postures to high-five and fist- bump with the black people in the audience like in "The Cosby Show"? I think those movements are cool. I learned them for a long time in front of the TV, but I haven't found any black friends to try them on..."
"Is there anyone here who knows how the black brothers in The Cosby Family shake hands when they meet? Let's see if he is lying." When Oprah saw Tommy trying to pretend to be friendly to black people, she immediately started to attack him.
If Tommy was just lying, then only greater embarrassment would be waiting for him.
A black man stood up at the scene. Tommy looked at Oprah who made a gesture of invitation to him, and in full view of everyone and the camera, he walked up to the man, stretched out his hand, and completed the set of six or seven black brother meeting procedures including high fives, handshakes, fist bumps and other actions.
After shaking hands, Tommy carefully asked the other party: "Did I do it wrong? This is my first time."
"You did a great job. If you changed into street clothes and painted your skin black, I would have called you a Nig." The black audience praised Tommy.
This time, everyone gave applause to Tommy. Amid the applause, Tommy walked back to the sofa and sat down. Then he put his hands between his thighs and looked into the air again. Seeing his behavior, the audience couldn't help laughing again.
"Want to say anything?" Oprah asked Tommy, smiling.
Tommy turned his head towards her, his eyes gentle but powerful, so that everyone could hear: "I want to say that I have not lied, either here or anywhere else."
"Wow~" These words suddenly became so powerful, coupled with Tommy's gaze towards her, that Oprah was momentarily distracted. She then immediately realized that this bastard wanted to take over her show!
She suppressed the admiration that almost came out of her mouth and the routine question that would have given him the opportunity to cut into the company's lawsuit. Instead, she wanted to test Tommy's reaction ability, so she paused for two seconds and asked another question:
"You were on a TV direct sales show in Florida before, and you looked completely different now. Let's see how you looked then. To be honest, if you continue like this, I think you are a bit hypocritical, Tommy, but it's normal. After all, most white people are hypocritical."
As she spoke, Oprah gestured to turn on the TV at the scene, which played Tommy's wonderful clips in the Florida TV direct sales. Tommy was in high spirits on TV, causing the audience to stand up and applaud and cheer loudly.
"Back to the question just now, do you want to say anything?" Oprah pressed the pause button on the remote control, freezing the picture at the moment when Tommy threw his suit towards the audience, and asked.
I cursed Oprah countless times in my heart. How much hatred do these black people have towards white people? When they see a white person appear on the show, they want to kill him on the spot with embarrassment?
Of course, Tommy still had that blank look on his face. He looked straight at Oprah: "What? I don't understand what you want me to say or what I should say."
"Tell me about why you act one way on other shows and act another way now," Oprah asked.
Tommy's eyes widened. "Ms. Winfrey, are you kidding me?"
"No." Oprah nodded, not realizing the problem yet.
"Then you should hurry up and go back to college. Any normal person should understand this." Tommy looked at Oprah in surprise:
"Look at the audience on TV, they are all white. There is no difference between me being on that show and me standing outside my home in Rhode Island. But I ask you to look at the scene, they are all black. I don't know if my words will make them feel that I am arrogant or discriminatory..."
"If you knew you were going to feel seriously ill, why did you come here? To sell your product?" Oprah asked Tommy.
Before Tommy answered, he couldn't help but smile. Seeing that smile, Oprah's first reaction was that she asked the wrong question, or that this guy was deliberately waiting for her to ask a similar question!
Tommy looked at the camera and the audience, and said, "My assistant Sophia did suggest that I go to New York, Boston, and Los Angeles to participate in talk shows with more depth and higher ratings. Those shows are also interested in my troubles, but I insisted on choosing Chicago as my first stop. It's not for advertising or selling products. You have never thought of buying software on a talk show, right? In fact, I chose Chicago as my first stop because my mother's idol, Bernice Fisher, fought in this city. I want to see this city where a great woman fought on behalf of my mother."
When Oprah heard the name Bernice Fisher come out of Tommy's mouth, her first reaction was that it was bad, this young man was more prepared than she thought.
Sure enough, when a white young man uttered this name, some black people at the scene applauded. Although the applause was for Tommy who could say this name, it was also partly because of this great name. At least the audience understood that this white boy was different from those stereotyped white people. Those white people always talk about being friendly to black people but don't want to understand black people at all. Except for Martin Luther King, they almost don't know which great black person to praise when chatting with black people.
"I'm curious how your mother would know this name in a state like Rhode Island where the white population is over 90%." Oprah immediately asked another question that aroused the audience's suspicion.
That’s right, living in Rhode Island where there are not many black people, how come you know the names of black female social activists? White people would never promote such people.
"My mother is Italian, Ms. Winfrey, let me remind you that Italians in Rhode Island are called European blacks. Not all white people are as arrogant as the Irish or British, at least Italians are not. We have no right to be arrogant. When there were no blacks in Rhode Island, it was not as you imagine, that whites coexisted peacefully. Without blacks, whites discriminated against European blacks. Before my mother got married, she found a job as a salesperson in a department store, but because she was an Italian woman, she was not allowed to sit down to work. Do you understand? All the pure white salespeople of Irish and British descent can have a chair and sit at the counter to work, but my mother can only wear high heels and stand by. Guess why she can sit down to work like other white people?" Tommy asked a question, but he was not prepared to let Oprah answer it. Instead, he looked at the camera and the audience:
"Because of Ms. Bernice Fisher, this great black woman, she helped black women fight for various rights in Chicago. In the end, all sales clerks in department stores had seats regardless of their skin color. From then on, Bernice Fisher became an idol in my mother's heart. She always told me that Ms. Fisher fought for all women regardless of their skin color. She was a great woman, much greater than those hypocritical politicians. So, I want to come to Chicago and send a bouquet of flowers to Ms. Fisher's statue. For my mother, for my mother's children, and for all Italians who were humiliated as European blacks, I want to say thank you to her. Thank you for changing everything."
Tommy's voice was calm, not as passionate and generous as when he was selling software live in Florida, but it was deep and powerful, and his eyes were profound.
The black people at the scene had already started to cheer themselves up. They were clapping loudly and were excited that the white people knew the name of this black woman. Finally, there was a white youth who had not been assimilated by hypocrisy and, under the influence of his mother, understood everything that black people had done for this country.
"And I, as my mother's son, from my deceased mother..." Tommy said lightly.
"Is your mother dead?" Oprah finally gave up resisting and cleverly switched back to asking the question prepared on the question card.
As for the rhythm, leave it to the actor. A battle of wits and a little difficulty in the early stage may brighten the audience's eyes, but if he keeps pestering, it will only make the audience feel that the host is annoyed, and it is obvious that the situation he was worried about did not occur. Tommy attracted the attention of the audience very well.
As the question was asked, Tommy nodded, a little sad. "That's why I came to Chicago for her instead of accompanying her. She died of manslaughter, but the court eventually convicted her of hit-and-run. The murderers were two white Irishmen who killed an Italian by mistake. They only had to pay three thousand dollars. In fact, we didn't get a penny. So, everyone, can you imagine the miserable life of European blacks in Rhode Island? Isn't it much different from what you guys in Chicago are like?"
Some of the audience covered their mouths, while others exclaimed quietly.
"It seems that your mother's death has a great impact on you?" Oprah looked at Tommy and thought of her own experience. Her mother abandoned her to her father's house countless times and was almost absent from most of her childhood.
"It made me mature from a playful kid. Without my mother, I could only try to recall what she said to me before she died. Maybe the influence of Ms. Bernice Fisher on my mother began to really affect me after her death. It was also from then on that I decided to do something right."
Oprah continued, "What you're saying is right is that some software companies are violating the law, and a large software company is suing your company because of it."
"When Bernice Fisher, Martin Luther King, Whitney Young, and James Farmer founded the National Congress for Racial Equality, then-President Kennedy also thought they were trouble. He accused them of breaking the law and tried to put them in jail. But in the end we all know who is right and who should be remembered forever." Tommy looked at Oprah with a smile and spoke.
This answer drew thunderous applause from the audience, and Oprah couldn't help but applaud Tommy for his answer. He successfully instilled an idea in the audience that President Kennedy was not a good person, so his family could only be bad people like him.
When the applause died down, Oprah continued, "So, you don't think your company will be ruled illegal by the court?"
Tommy looks towards the camera:
"I would be deeply honored that they would treat me the same as those black civil rights activists."
After he finished speaking, he raised his hands to stop the black audience who were about to burst into applause:
"No, no applause is needed. I know you may feel that Tommy, a white boy, seems different from other white people you have met. He is not hypocritical, he is not stereotyped."
"But what's there to applaud? Isn't it sad that I, a white person, can get everyone to applaud me just for showing a little equality and respect for black people?"
"This just means that there are still countless white people who don't understand black people, and don't understand the hard times that only black people have experienced? It just means that you are still self-conscious about the gap between you and white people due to the social environment, such as income and social status, so you are ecstatic when white people recognize you a little bit."
After saying this, the black people fell silent and Oprah's face became a little serious.
Tommy looked at the audience with a sad look. "This is a terrible world. Human beings should be born equal, not like it is now. Look at Ms. Winfrey, wearing decent women's clothes, exquisite makeup, talking freely in front of the camera, she seems to be an elite representative of black women, but what is the reality? On the day she came to Chicago to host this show for the first time, six talk shows across the United States made fun of this news. They laughed at Ms. Winfrey, saying that although she was tall and looked like a man, it did not mean she could do what a man could do. How could a black woman host a talk show that required flexibility and depth? Go back to Baltimore and continue to read the press release. That job is more suitable for her."
Oprah was stunned . She stared at Tommy, and Tommy looked back at her sincerely:
"A black woman who is definitely an elite in your eyes has just earned the right to be laughed at by her white peers. But it took Ms. Winfrey 29 long years to let her name appear in the ridicule of those arrogant people. She was born in a poor single-parent family and attended a rubbish high school like me. She worked hard to get into a state university and received a full scholarship. Then she worked as a news reporter for a small city TV station for ten years before she made it to Chicago."
"In order to get to where she is today, she ran away from home as a teenager, leaving behind a terrible family of origin."
"In order to get to where she is now, she needed to study hard, get the only UP spot at Milwaukee Lincoln High School, get a tuition subsidy, and have the opportunity to transfer to a high school with better education quality."
"To get to where she is now, she had to endure all kinds of unfriendly questions from classmates on the school bus, such as why you were a classmate of my family's servant, why did you come to school instead of being a servant."
“To get to where she is now, she practiced interviews with the crows in the yard and the rag dolls in her room.”
"And then, she has just earned the qualification to be laughed at by them. That's what I said, this is a terrible world, this world shouldn't be like this, and people shouldn't be like this." Tommy's voice was calm throughout, but Oprah could no longer hold on and was trying hard to breathe.
Tommy glanced at her and continued:
"Those who are not laughed at are not the ones who respect us, but the arrogant ones who think we are not even qualified to be laughed at. It is God's decision to let people be born into such a world, but at least we should do something right, such as listening to our mothers."
"Martin Luther King had a great dream, but I didn't. My dream was very small. I just wanted to listen to my mother and do what I could and what was right. I studied computer science in college, not to make money to put into my own wallet. I just thought that maybe those who were not qualified to be laughed at, those who did not get into college to study computer science, could have one more chance to change their fate. Back to the question Ms. Winfrey asked me just now, why don't I think my Actor company violates US law?"
"I want to say, Ms. Winfrey, if cheap dissemination of knowledge and technology gives more low-income people the opportunity to change their lives and find a decent job, they will also be convicted..."
"I should be killed immediately."
