Tit for tat

"We certainly watched CNN news!" Brad obviously didn't understand the meaning behind Hugo's words. He looked at Hugo with an incredulous expression and firmly and angrily challenged him, "It's because we watched the news that we know the truth. A white police officer assaulted an ordinary resident by abusing his power, and it was a black person. This is absolutely unforgivable."

Hugo noticed that Brad's gaze inadvertently glanced at Rob next to him. It was evident that he would unequivocally criticize Hugo in such a situation, and it's difficult to say that today's audition had no influence.

From Brad's words, it could be heard that he viewed the difference between black and white people very seriously. He especially emphasized that it was a white person assaulting a black person, not just a police officer assaulting a resident, which has an inseparable influence on the direction of American history.

Racial discrimination in the United States has been going on for a long time. However, with the development of modern history, economy, culture, and other factors, the confrontational relationship between races is continuously improving. This situation made a significant breakthrough in the 62nd Academy Awards in 1990 when the movie "Driving Miss Daisy," which depicts the transformation of racial relations, won the Best Picture award. This also marked the first time that the white-dominated American cultural system extended an olive branch to black people.

Of course, this is just a movie. Even if "Driving Miss Daisy" won an Oscar, the status of black people still did not fundamentally change. However, the fact that the Oscars favored "Driving Miss Daisy" indicates that at least the white supremacist cultural society has realized that racial discrimination must be changed. Therefore, starting from "Driving Miss Daisy," in the next 20 years or even longer, the conflict between white people, black people, and Jews has been subtly changing.

Therefore, under such a background, the concept of race assigned to Rodney King's incident generated a terrifying amount of energy. Brad's view reflects the general values of white people in American culture, including Rob, Martin, Joseph, and others.

Faced with Brad's aggressive behavior, Rob also looked at Hugo with a relatively cold gaze, indicating that he was very dissatisfied with Hugo's performance just now. This made Joseph sitting next to him a little anxious, and he wanted to say a few words for Hugo. However, seeing Martin on the other side poised for action, Joseph knew that this was a confrontation between actors. If he intervened as a broker, then Martin would also have to get involved, and the situation would only become more chaotic. Therefore, Joseph forcefully swallowed his words and looked at Hugo with concern.

Hugo remained calm and composed, not showing any signs of panic or anxiety despite Brad's oppression and Rodney's sternness. His voice even became steadier and more confident as he said, "What I mean is, didn't you see the news that CNN aired? The 81-second version, not the 68-second one!"

Hugo's words immediately stunned everyone present, and they didn't react for a moment.

The KTLA television station had edited the video before releasing it, and provided the shortened version to major television stations across the United States, making Rodney King's beating the headline news that shocked everyone. However, it is worth noting that three weeks after the video was broadcast, CNN, the cable news network, learned that the video provided by KTLA had some crucial parts deleted, prompting CNN's vice president Ed Turner to order that the deleted parts be added back when rebroadcasting the news.

In fact, although the 81-second version was thirteen seconds longer than the 68-second one, the actual footage of Rodney King's arrest was only less than six seconds long. Nevertheless, it was enough for people to see the truth: that the police were merely carrying out their duty rather than the scene shown in the 68-second video.

However, the three major television networks in the United States, ABC, NBC, and CBS, as well as the local KTLA television station in Los Angeles, continued to air the 68-second version of the video. In the United States, news from the three major television networks was free, and KTLA was also free in the Los Angeles area. On the other hand, CNN was a paid cable TV program, and ordinary Americans led a busy life and mainly watched sports, TV shows, and movie replays. The audience watching CNN news was small, and few people would notice the subtle differences between these two videos.

This was 1992, a time when the internet was not yet developed, and people's sources of information were relatively closed. Mainstream media was the opinion leader and had absolute control over guiding public opinion. With a small audience for CNN news, the three major commercial television networks controlled the direction of public opinion on this issue, and even the President of the United States, George Bush, was kept in the dark.

In this week's public opinion poll, 92 percent of the people believed that the white police officers were guilty, and this was the situation now. Obviously, the present Rob, Brad, Martin, and others were among the 92 percent.

Hugo and Joseph happened to see the CNN news, which was also an accident. While filming in New York, they had a chance encounter in their hotel room where they saw the news. At that time, Hugo didn't know much about the situation and only learned about the Rodney King incident after seeing Joseph's shocked expression. Before time-traveling, Hugo was born in 1989, so the news events in the early 1990s in the United States didn't have much impact on him. However, now that he was in this society, he couldn't help but feel grateful that he didn't travel back in time as a black person, given the racial tensions and injustices of the time.

After briefly describing the situation with the CNN news, Rob became lost in thought and was clearly deeply impacted by the fact. Brad quickly noticed Rob's behavior and sensed that something was wrong. He realized that Hugo had gained the upper hand in the situation without making a sound.

Brad looked over at his manager, Martin, who was much calmer. Martin thought for a moment, then whispered to Brad, "The media, the media." At first, Brad didn't understand, but he was not only intelligent but also astute, so after careful thought, he figured it out.

Brad then composed himself and looked up at Hugo, asking in a serious tone, "So you mean to say that the American news media, which has always touted the pursuit of truth and facts, actually openly fabricates news? And even emphasizes justice news, which is supposedly based on facts? Isn't KTLA afraid of inciting rebellion?"

Hugo was surprised by Brad's naivety, but he quickly realized that this was the 1990s, a time when people's trust in the media was unparalleled. Unlike in the 21st century, where fake news was rampant, the importance of "truth" as the primary element in news had been replaced by the pursuit of profit, and using tactics such as fabricated news and creating sensational headlines was almost anything goes.

For Hugo, "uncrowned king" was a very unfamiliar term, but for the people in front of him who lived in the 1980s and 1990s, it was the most authentic reality. This was why Brad was able to speak so confidently because he firmly believed in it.

Hugo didn't say anything, but instead extended his right hand and made a gesture of slapping Joseph's ear, which stunned both Rob and Brad. Even Martin, who had always been disdainful of Hugo, was somewhat surprised. Although Joseph was a bit nervous and initially thought Hugo was really going to hit him, he soon relaxed and inexplicably felt that Hugo was very confident.

"If this scene is captured by journalists, there are a few possibilities. One is just Joseph and me, another is all of us. How do you think the media will interpret it?" Hugo faced Brad's condemning gaze without any evasion and said confidently, "I can tell you that maybe Vanity Fair will use the image of Joseph and me and say that I had a conflict with my agent, while Los Angeles Times will use a photo of all five of us and say that Rob chose you and I had an unpleasant dispute with my agent. So, how do you think National Enquirer will report it?"

National Enquirer was a US gossip tabloid. There were many so-called "supermarket gossip tabloids" in the US, which were mainly sold in supermarkets. They were small, easy to carry, disposable but not cheap. They were often used as pads or waste paper, but sometimes people may stop and read them if they happen to catch their eye. The front page of tabloids often carried some messy, sensational news and rumors, and they would go to great lengths to attract attention. National Enquirer was the leader among them.

Faced with Hugo's question, Brad was at a loss. He knew what Hugo meant, but he couldn't refute him.

Hugo didn't wait for an answer and said, "I think National Enquirer might say that Joseph and I fought over you and were jealous." As soon as he said this, Rob burst out laughing, and the tense atmosphere just now was instantly dispelled. Brad and Joseph's expressions were strange, and they were both amused and annoyed by Hugo.

As for Martin, he began to look at Hugo with a meaningful look. Although he had always been contemptuous of Hugo, at this moment, he saw enough wit and composure in him. Regardless of his acting skills, as a man, his personal charm was truly admirable. Martin, standing in the position of an agent, saw the potential of Hugo to become a cash cow.