Chapter 176: Thunderous Applause

"Director Rosenberg has no intention of promoting violence." Standing in the Fox press room, Penny Kalis, acting as Duke's spokesperson, refuted certain media claims that the film was overly gory and violent. "Duke abhors any subjective dramatization that makes violence look fun or portrays it as a game. Everything he depicts is meant to objectively reflect the violence of war."

The press conference was called not only to push back, but also to generate buzz. While the critics' attacks brought trouble, they could also be leveraged for publicity.

Thanks to the Fox staff maintaining order, the press room remained calm. Perhaps spurred by the excellent first-day box office results, Fox CEO Tom Rothman even showed up in person to say a few words.

"Saving Private Ryan is a war film shot using a documentary style. Battle scenes take up about a third of the movie's runtime, featuring plenty of gory, brutal violence, but it is absolutely not a violence-glorifying movie!"

Tom Rothman's voice was exceptionally loud. "If you have seen this movie, you'll realize that not a single violent shot in it is gratuitous. After watching it, people will surely feel that this is the most grounded war film ever made, one that will go down in history as the truest depiction of war."

Although these words smacked of blowing one's own trumpet, Duke, hiding in the back of the press room, knew that with Fox's capabilities combined with the other two studios, they would soon steer public opinion. The critics wouldn't pose much of a threat.

If someone thought they could rely on such tactics to take down Saving Private Ryan and let Braveheart turn the tables, they were far too naive.

Ignoring the press conference behind him, Duke walked to the window and gazed out at the azure sky. Yesterday's single-day box office had already made it clear: even if Saving Private Ryan took a hit, Braveheart still wouldn't catch fire. Freedom was indeed a concept deeply ingrained in America's consciousness, but Mel Gibson screaming it in such an incredibly exaggerated manner might win over the old men of the Oscar committee, but it wouldn't necessarily resonate with the general public.

If a movie could simply borrow a few suitable scenes, shout 『freedom』 at the right moments, and achieve massive success—pushing an initially average box office to hundreds of millions or more—then it would be an absolute mockery of the sophisticated industrial production model Hollywood had spent decades building.

Film studios wouldn't need to conduct tedious preliminary assessments and market research, nor would directors and screenwriters need to pour their blood, sweat, and tears into their work; they could all just go shout 『freedom』 together.

Pulling his gaze back, Duke looked down. Below was the small plaza in front of the main entrance to the Fox Building. He saw sparse groups of people converging from all directions, gradually forming a dense crowd. Some among them held up signs and banners, but he was too far away to read what was written on them.

This immediately put Duke on alert. After all, he never minded assuming the absolute worst about this industry, not to mention that the crowd gathering below was a group of... Black people!

In an instant, he remembered the protests that certain Black organizations had voiced in the media against Saving Private Ryan!

"Tina, head to the press room," Duke said, turning to look at Tina Fey, who was also staring down at the crowd. "Get Thomas and Penny over here."

Their dark skin was especially striking under the bright sunlight. Nearly five hundred Black protesters had massed in front of the Fox Building. Fox's security personnel immediately notified the higher-ups and called the police; after all, in this country, most people viewed the Black community as a volatile element.

Not to mention, the '92 riots in the Greater Los Angeles area hadn't been that long ago.

The protesters weren't stupid. They didn't do anything excessive; instead, led by Luther, they raised their protest signs and banners, occasionally shouting a few slogans in unison. It seemed they were conducting a nonviolent campaign of civil disobedience.

"The people heading to City Hall Cinema to protest are already in position."

Someone came over to inform Luther. He nodded, then shouted at the top of his lungs, "Raise our banners and signs!"

Right at that moment, another group of people marched over, their numbers no fewer than Luther's group. Judging from their appearance, they were clearly Latinos. They stopped a short distance away from the Black crowd and then raised similar banners and signs.

"Protest Hollywood's racial discrimination!"

"Saving Private Ryan discriminates against minorities!"

"Duke Rosenberg ignores the contributions of minorities in WWII!"

"Calling on all Black brothers to boycott Saving Private Ryan..."

The target of their protest was extremely clear: it was Saving Private Ryan!

As if it had all been arranged beforehand, right after both sides unfurled their protest banners and shouted a few slogans, an OB van belonging to Viacom's CBS Television pulled up. Several large cameras were aimed at the protesting crowd, and reporters conveniently approached at just the right moment.

"The scenes of the Omaha landings are filled entirely with white people!" Luther spoke eloquently into the reporter's microphone. "Saving Private Ryan one-sidedly denies the contributions Black people made to WWII! This is unfair to the entire Black community, and Black people should boycott this movie..."

Inside the television van on the other side, a man who looked like an editor was shouting, "Tell Riles to interview a few more people and get more footage! The editor-in-chief made it clear—this is a major story for prime time!"

Soon after, the Los Angeles police arrived on the scene, while some of the media personnel who had been attending the press conference inside the Fox Building also ran out, frantically snapping photos of the protesting crowd.

In the office upstairs, Duke hung up the phone and looked coldly down at the chaotic scene at the entrance of the Fox Building, his expression perfectly calm.

He had already confirmed it. This protest rally, composed of Black and Latino individuals, was aimed squarely at Saving Private Ryan.

"We all made a mistake."

Standing by the window, Penny Kalis frowned deeply. "We completely ignored their protests in the media yesterday."

"Fox did the same."

Although mainstream society's slogans about eliminating racial discrimination rang loud and clear, from other industries all the way to Hollywood, everyone was actually consciously ignoring the voices of Black people. Thomas Rothman was also frowning. "Since Viacom's CBS rushed over here immediately, this is definitely tied to Paramount Pictures."

"Right now, we should be thinking about how to fix the mistake we made," Duke said calmly.

No one was omniscient or omnipotent, and even he hadn't paid much attention to the voices of certain Black organizations yesterday. Now that it had happened, finding a solution was the top priority.

A brief silence fell over the office. After about a minute, Penny Kalis, with her wealth of experience in handling public relations, spoke up.

"I have a suggestion," she said after a moment's thought. "We should search across the country for authoritative experts in WWII history and have them voice their opinions in the media to restore the true history of the Omaha beach landings."

Thomas Rothman nodded in agreement. After all, anyone with half a brain knew that there were no Black soldiers directly integrated into the combat units featured in the movie at that time.

"It would be best to find a Black expert," Duke added. "That's the only way it will be persuasive enough to offset the negative impact caused by the protests."

Finding a Black expert to step forward wasn't something to worry about. Any Black person who had managed to break into the mainstream society of North America was undoubtedly Black on the outside but white on the inside.

"The trouble brought by the Latinos won't be too severe; their own demographic makeup is extremely complex." Penny Kalis spoke solemnly to Duke. "But even if a Black authority figure steps forward, we're still going to lose a portion of the Black audience. You need to be mentally prepared for that."

Behind every Black protest lay a chain reaction, large or small. Having lived in this country for over twenty years, Duke naturally understood this.

"I had originally hoped that the opening weekend box office for Saving Private Ryan would challenge the record set by Independence Day."

Shaking his head, Thomas Rothman said with a hint of regret, "If a segment of the Black population truly boycotts this movie, breaking that record will be impossible."

He looked at Penny Kalis. "Fox will cooperate with you!"

Right now, their mutual interests far outweighed any differences, so naturally, they would stand together.

"Thomas, we can't just react passively."

Failing to return a favor was never Duke's style. "We also need to generate some negative press for Braveheart. At the very least, it can tie up some of the energy of CAA, Paramount, and Mel Gibson. Didn't you get your hands on some information about Mel Gibson's father? You can leak it to the tabloids and hype it up!"

"I'll contact the corporate group shortly."

The news of the protest against Saving Private Ryan denying Black contributions during WWII spread rapidly, amplified by CBS and other media outlets. This did, to some extent, affect the ticket-buying choices of some Black audiences. Fortunately, the three production companies and the mainstream media, led by the Big Three Newspapers, essentially ignored the voices of the Black community—just as they had done for years. They maintained a completely praising and complimentary attitude toward the film. In particular, the debate over whether it was truly worth sending eight men to save one gradually evolved into a hot-button social topic.

Although they had made a mistake in their response to minorities like the Black community, the overall public relations work for the film was still exceptionally well done.

The Los Angeles Times even placed the paradox presented by Saving Private Ryan in a prominent front-page spot.

"Why save Private Ryan!"

This was the title of the article, and it could be said to be a microcosm of the value orientation of mainstream American society.

"Trading eight mothers' sons for one mother's son; trading eight lives for one life. At first glance, it certainly feels like the loss outweighs the gain. But if you think about it carefully, did those eight men merely trade themselves for a single life? In truth, they were using their lives to defend the traditions of America—families protect the nation, and the nation must also protect its families."

"Perhaps many people share the same thoughts as the members of the squad in the movie—why should we trade our lives for someone else's? Do we not have mothers, brothers, and sisters? Aren't we fighting for our lives on the battlefield just the same? Why does he get this special privilege?"

"Director Duke Rosenberg surely understood these questions that would arise in the audience's minds. Therefore, his intent was not to discuss the value of this individual case, but rather to use this historical rescue mission to convey an eternal, unchanging moral truth: cherish life and help others."

"By helping Ryan, the rescue squad members learned the warmth of family and the preciousness of life; meanwhile, because of Captain Miller and the rescue squad, Ryan came to realize that he must use his own life to protect and care for more people who need saving and help. The outbreak of war is something no individual can choose or control, but helping others is a choice and a decision one can make for oneself."