Sukhpal Dhillon-Talk to Me
Talk to Me, is a great film projecting the turbulent times in minorities specifically African Americans during the 1960’s and part of the 80’s. The movie is centered around a Washington D.C. area disk jockey by the name of Ralph “Petey� Green, and Dewey Hughes; businessman and manager. The two men could not be anymore apart. Petey is an ex-convict, rebel alcoholic, womanizer, chain smoker, whereas Hughes is a reputable man, with morals, law abiding citizen, who conforms to white society. Ironically the two men need each other. Hughes states that Dewey says everything that he wants to say but is too afraid to do so and Hughes to Dewey is the man that will push him to accomplish what fears him. In the beginning of the film Hughes is disgusted by Petey due to his prison record and his brash “shit-talking� attitude. Hughes on the other hand is quite conformed to white culture and society. One point in the film Petey states that Hughes is a white boy with a dark tan. Over time Hughes grows to admire the brash Petey. Hughes admires the ability of Petey to speak his mind. He also admired how he could relate to; the black audience or the general public that the radio station was targeting.
It was important as Newman stated that the most important factor in marketing to African Americans was the hiring of black disc jockeys. He is absolutely right. At the time black society and other minorities were fighting for brutally for their civil rights. By having a black disk jockey not only could he relate to the core audience it also gave the people of feeling of independence from white society. Listeners wanted to hear from somebody who knew what they were going through, not some white person or privileged minority, but somebody that they could relate to. Overall it is quite evident that the reason that Petey was so well liked whether it was the people of D.C. or Hughes was because of his ability to relate to the black audience, “telling them how it is�.