Generation Z Artists

Chapter 109: A brilliant strike against the entire cultural field
The next day, major newspapers reported extensively on the grand event of the Spring Festival Gala.

Uncle Benshan’s sketch, as expected, created a new meme.

"If you take off your vest, I won't recognize you?"

In addition, Xie Tingfeng also received a lot of attention, and his popularity immediately exploded.

However, it's not all good words.

One could even say that there aren't many completely positive reviews.

Among the pile of inexplicable criticisms, the remarks of some industry veterans were particularly funny.

What strange clothes, what undignified hairstyle, what poor Mandarin, what flamboyance, what singing skills are not as good as so-and-so, what decadent music and decadent style...

It's hard to imagine, but this is reality.

Yes, that’s right. Xie Tingfeng’s first performance on the Spring Festival Gala received a lot of nitpicking criticism afterwards.

This may have indirectly led to his rejection of the Spring Festival Gala's invitation several times in the following years, and it was not until 2005 that he returned to the Spring Festival Gala stage for the second time.

Even the directors of this year have received a lot of criticism, saying that they are too focused on gimmicks, that the show is not as meaningful as the 98 Spring Festival Gala, and that they fail to keep a good quality program.

Many of the critics are well-known and influential.

It was not until he flipped through today's newspapers that Fang Xinghe suddenly understood why Wen Ha cut so much of the entertainment value of the program after becoming the director of the Spring Festival Gala, and insisted on its "educational significance" and refused to change despite the criticism from netizens.

Because the program is too entertaining, it will be criticized by the elderly and face pressure from within.

It's the same thing to be scolded, so what actual benefits can you lose by being scolded by netizens?
It is political wisdom to satisfy the important people.

It turned out that she was very stable in that position, more stable than anyone else.

But Fang Xinghe would not tolerate those old-fashioned people who relied on their seniority to bully others. He picked out a few of the most outrageous critics in the newspaper, added them to the article that was already basically completed, and sent a copy directly to Zhao Chunhua and Chen Danya.

On the second day of the Chinese New Year, the article was published in two major newspapers at the same time.

Amidst all the nitpicking about Xie Tingfeng, this stood out extremely and was also extremely surprising.

At first glance, the title of Fang Xinghe's article seems very crazy, but it is a rare statement of support for Xie Bi Wang.

Of course, the kernel is more interesting.

"Yesterday I reunited with my master and fellow apprentices on the mountain. We gathered together to watch the Spring Festival Gala, talking and laughing happily, celebrating the peace and prosperity of the country.

Suddenly, Xie Tingfeng appeared in a formal suit with Dong Jie. The senior sister's eyes widened and she swallowed quietly.

Hahaha!
Senior sister, do you also sometimes crave men?
When I noticed this, I immediately laughed at him mercilessly, but ended up getting kicked in the back, which was pretty painful.

But the show itself is really wonderful, I want to applaud and cheer for the program team, the director and Xie Tingfeng himself.

Judging from the current situation, the director himself must have been under tremendous pressure when he finalized the program. Those misunderstanding looks, questions and criticisms from the older generation of builders must not have just appeared, but he withstood it, and I admire him.

I have great respect for the older generation of builders who brought us today's life, and I also understand their incomprehension.

The youth of their generation was filled with blood and fire, passion burned brightly in the narratives of youth revolution, and the solemn sacrifice and death brought an ideological stamp of absolute disgust for "vanity and decadence". They love this country, but cannot stand the young people of today and their overly entertainment-oriented mentality. These two ideas do not conflict with each other, and the deeper the love, the more severe the criticism.

But if you please be frank, this is obviously a kind of old-fashioned stubbornness that fails to accurately identify the theme of the times. Some elderly people are still living in their "old days".

The tide of time rolls forward, and now it is the year 2000. The narrative of youth revolution has long been completely outdated and should be displayed in the National Founding History Museum for future generations to admire, remember and reminisce, rather than continuing to be active on the new stage of the new generation.

What is the current theme of the times?
The core of the struggle remains unchanged, but the direction of the struggle has become development, developing the economy, developing national strength, developing cultural soft power, and striving for the early realization of the four modernizations.

But does development require great suffering and hatred, and constant serious education?
The answer is definitely not like that.

When great people speak, they must be serious but also lively.

Discipline and optimism must coexist, and the construction of material and spiritual civilization must be given equal importance.

Many people in our country are following the slogan of building spiritual civilization and developing cultural soft power. If we ask them how to build and develop, he is indignant: this year's Spring Festival Gala is too frivolous and not solemn.

This is not just an irrelevant answer to the question, it is a case of position overriding principle.

——The ethos of our time is the only correct one, this is our position.

——We must look at the world with a developmental perspective and build New China with an open and enterprising attitude. This is the principle.

Some elderly people really should relax and think carefully about the themes of the new era.

Xie Tingfeng's stage performance is indeed groundbreaking and innovative. Bringing the bride onto the stage is neither serious nor solemn, but isn't that a good thing?

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it. The performance was awesome. My senior sister liked it very much, and so did I.

I am even happy to announce: starting this year, Xie Tingfeng is the second most handsome man in China after me, and the first among his compatriots from Hong Kong and Taiwan.

There was no way I could admit that he was better looking than me, even though he certainly did a fantastic job.

Many people who are just trying to attract attention are finding fault with his stage performance, but what I see is the great significance of this performance - he brought a style to our vast land, he stuck himself there to create a new influence, and he stood at the center of the stage as a pop idol, and also at the forefront of the battlefield.

I don’t know how many people truly understand that the cultural battlefield is also a battlefield.

The great man had made insightful comments on this and attached great importance to practice, making cultural power and ideology an important ideological barrier for the nation's core.

Half a century has passed, and the cultural war is sweeping back in another form, but some of our people are consciously or unconsciously acting as another kind of traitors - cultural traitors.

There is a group of people in the literary world who work hard to praise the great works of Western literature, but do their utmost to suppress domestic literary works. However, they who only speak a few words of English do not know that it is not because the original texts of Western literature are so beautiful, but because the masters translated them into the beauty of Chinese, creating a charm that touches our souls.

For example, the vulgar phrase "fack your mother" becomes "I will raise your mother", which has a unique warmth and heaviness.

The maggots who only know how to talk about Bitch and shit obviously don't understand.

There is also a group of people in the broad cultural circle who are dedicated to praising everything from abroad and belittling similar works in China.

Last year, Utada Hikaru's new album "First Love" was praised by some as a "subversive work in the field of pop", "a milestone that can be recorded in history", and "a masterpiece that will not be outdated in 20 years". I agree with this, it is very good.

But these same people are the ones who are madly disparaging domestic music and applying an extremely disgusting double standard. It's easy for Liu Huan to say that "Start Over Again" while standing still, Hong Kong and Taiwan music is slightly more advanced but is just plagiarizing others, and Xie Tingfeng and his ilk are whining without any reason... I have a lot of opinions about this.

Good or bad is a very subjective matter. You can say anything is good or criticize anything as bad under the same standard, but you cannot give weight to foreign culture while subtracting points from domestic culture.

This is not just a personal preference, it is an extremely deliberate cultural belittlement.

You are Chinese, but you are doing all kinds of things that belittle Chinese culture.

Don’t you know the consequences of doing this?
No, I believe you are all smart people, you are not stupid, just bad.

What makes me even sadder is that many of our compatriots, many of my peers, have never realized this.

It's not wrong to like foreign idols. It's legitimate. Last year, Lee Jung-hyun became popular all over Asia with her 'finger microphone' and fan dance. She deserves it. She is indeed very trendy.

Two years ago, Leonardo DiCaprio became a global star with "Titanic" and became a global idol. The characters he created are indeed classics, and he deserves it.

I like Leo DiCaprio and Lee Jung Hyun. I even think that the melody of HOT's "Descendants of a Warrior" is dynamic and the stage performance is pleasing to the eye.

I have the courage to accept all impacts of foreign cultures. I open my heart to embrace the touches they bring me. I am grateful to them for allowing me to feel the splendor of this era.

However, I do not accept any self-deprecation or self-humiliation based on this.

The stronger they are, the more I want to defeat them.

Our traditional culture is not only not bad, it is even unique and awesome.

Our pop culture is just getting started, but it will inevitably catch up.

Our new generation of traffic idol culture started with myself, and now it has been brought to a new peak by Xie Tingfeng. I am not jealous of him. I hope he can continue to move forward, bring more and better music and stages, and withstand the impact of international culture.

So why on earth are you criticizing him? For such ridiculous, dark, unpresentable reasons?
Xie Tingfeng's performance was grand and magnificent, giving people hope of regaining cultural discourse power.

Music is not my battlefield, so even though HOT fans reported my song "Cang Ye Xue" on a large scale, I never criticized them publicly.

I won't jump up and down and curse them, I respect their works. No matter how unorthodox something is, it can always bring about some progress and change. A stagnant world cannot give birth to enough happiness. But at the same time, I also hope that there will be pop singers in China who can stand up and bravely say to the Japanese, Korean, European and American pop music: Our Chinese pop music is the best!

Many of you look down on popular culture, thinking it is too low. I look up to it. Every cultural front is important, and every inch of our cultural territory must be protected.

An international publishing house has been following up on my book "Cang Ye Xue" and communicating with me about overseas distribution matters.

I refused.

I said: This is a work that objectively reflects some of the dark sides of China, but I wrote it for domestic readers. Its warning value is only meaningful to China. If it is published abroad, it will only satisfy a curiosity and will be easily magnified by some people with bad intentions. I don't need foreigners to recognize my literary level, and I don't want foreigners to see the bad side of my hometown.

So until now, "Cang Ye Xue" has not been published and distributed abroad.

But in the battlefield of youth pain literature, I have maintained the domestic base. No foreign youth literature will ever make little girls cry to such an extent. They have resistance, aesthetics, and standards. This is my achievement.

In the field of pop music, and even in the field of pop music idols, it is clearly the battlefield for singers like Xie Tingfeng.

In my opinion, his sudden appearance is no less than a shot in the arm.

At a time when Korean wave is raging and Japanese wave is on the rise, it is a blessing for the industry to have such a compatriot who belongs to us and has brought such a shocking and pleasing performance.

There is a high probability that I cannot be friends with him. When we meet face to face, I do not allow anyone to be more pretentious than me, but I like his performance and am glad that he appears.

At the same time, I sincerely hope that among the handsome men and beautiful women studying music in our mainland, a new generation of idol stars can emerge, no matter if it is through appearance, ability, or even hype. As long as you sing in Chinese after you become popular, that's fine.

First solve the problem of whether it exists or not, and then slowly solve the problem of whether it is good or not later. This is the law of development of the times.

Expanding further outward, whether it is in the fields of games, animation, or film and television, we need idols with a wide range of influence. They may bring about various problems, causing some compatriots to be disgusted or even disgusted, and even lead some young children astray, but we still need them.

It is needed now, in the future, and forever. To fight against everything foreign, to protect everything born from this land of the Chinese people, and even to win the battle, is the ultimate mission of our generation.

If we raise it a little higher, and consider its educational significance and value, then I would like to say:

If our generation is destined not to be able to drive tanks across that appendix from the 38th parallel again, if we are destined not to have the opportunity to break through the 366-day bloody massacre in Tokyo, then we will use our culture to crush them, let them once again feel the hegemonic will of the Celestial Empire where "punishments cannot be named and power cannot be measured", and live again under the brilliant gaze of the only supreme suzerain state in the Chinese cultural circle. We will consciously make the crushing of that civilization dimension extremely terrifying, make them collapse, make them despair, and make them kneel down and beg for forgiveness.

But I will never forgive and will never show mercy.

Now, you bunch of old people who are stuck in the old ways and can't understand the truth, as well as you cultural traitors who are greedy and have ulterior motives, can start to put labels on me.

In fact, I have my own summary, you can call me——

An extreme nationalist and iron-blooded madman, a spokesperson for revenge who is always ready to press the nuclear bomb button, a cultural butcher, Fang is angry.

In fact, I was very calm and rational when I wrote these words, but you certainly don’t believe it, so forget it, just treat me as crazy.

Those who are willing to go crazy with me will eventually gather around me no matter what.

This is the source of my national self-confidence. Those insects will never understand.

The last sentence is for Xie Tingfeng - you are really great, but I will definitely be the final winner, watch it! "

……

Once the article was published, it undoubtedly caused a huge stir again.

It was still Fang Xinghe's usual style, but this time, his perspective was broader, his vision was deeper, and he used very emotional language to explain a very important truth.

At this time, in early February 2000, Korean, Japanese and Hollywood pop culture had not yet created as strong waves as they did in the future, but had only initially shown a strong momentum.

Fang Xinghe's new article is timely and can almost be described as eye-opening.

Taking into account the times and several major cases that began to sweep the streets last year, in just a moment, he convinced many knowledgeable people.

Numerous patriotic people reposted the article and gave positive comments as soon as possible.

After a day of brewing, the evening paper began to follow up on the discussion, and it intensified in the following days.

A new discussion about cultural soft power, cultural wars, cultural invasion and protection quickly became a hot topic in the first month of the year.

There are so many topics to discuss in this area.

The mere issue of "the value and significance of idols" is enough to cause a lot of debate. The deeper you dig, the more you'll find; the higher you go, the more magnificent it becomes.

Because what Fang Xinghe discusses is a truth.

In fact, he himself does not like the traffic in later generations. Many people do not like it. However, if you look at it from an internal perspective and judge it from a higher perspective, the results will definitely be different.

If we don’t have our own idols, young girls will definitely chase after BTS and Japanese idols. If we don’t have our own Serie A48, otakus will definitely continue to chase after AKB48.

To put it in a broader sense, if we don't export our own domineering CEO short dramas, overseas short dramas will flood in.

If we don't make our own 3A productions, the gaming market will always be filled with foreign values.

Therefore, hating traffic stars from a personal standpoint and supporting local traffic stars from a macro perspective are not contradictory at all. Instead, they are a manifestation of a high level of rationality, high vigilance, and high level of patriotism.

Now, he has written down this high-dimensional thinking in the most plain language, and then used his personal influence plus Xie Tingfeng's popularity to maximize the spread of the article, allowing enough people to see it and understand it. This is a subtle declaration of war in the absolute sense.

Riding on the popularity? You are really disrespecting our Brother Fang.

I want to use your popularity to create new popularity, and use a higher-level thinking to cut the entire cultural field with the same knife you used to cut me.

This level of intensity is not given to Xie Bi Wang, that would be too narrow-minded.

Fang Xinghe brought intensity to the entire society, to the Korean, Japanese, European and American trends, and to everyone from high officials to little girls.

Praising Xie Tingfeng is not because we like him, but because he deserves the praise at this moment.

Putting him on the front line to fight against Japan and South Korea is not the goal, but we sincerely hope that he can hold on for a while.

At least it will last until Zhou Milk Tea appears, or until Xiao Fang finally saves up enough gold coins to sing.

When Fang Xinghe directly reveals the severity of the cultural war, Xie Bi Wang will have a sense of righteousness, thereby gaining more recognition and fans, becoming more popular, more popular, and more influential.

But that's not a bad thing.

From a macro perspective, resolving conflicts between enemies and ourselves in a timely manner can help build consensus and cohesion earlier.

From a personal perspective, the more popular Xie Tingfeng becomes, the more intangible things Fang Xinghe, the instigator, will gain.

As for the losses...

He did recommend Xie Tingfeng to all Fang fans, and took the initiative to give Xie Bi Wang a special identity, which reduced the guilt of Fang fans for jumping ship, and accelerated the rate of fan loss.

But think about it from another angle, this is something that cannot be stopped. Whether it is active or passive, Xie Tingfeng is bound to be popular this year, so why not take the initiative?

At the same time as Fang's fans were leaving, Feng's fans also got to know Fang Xinghe again. The two major fan groups began to look at each other positively, the confrontation was greatly eased, and a long period of infiltration and integration began.

Under this situation, any conspiracy or trickery will be useless. In the future, whoever is stronger will have the last laugh.

Fang Xinghe is not afraid of a head-on fight with anyone. The only thing he lacks now is time.

Therefore, reducing the confrontation, prolonging the time, and allowing the two major fan groups to blend with each other will actually be a huge benefit to the long-term interests of the other galaxy.

Isn't this much smarter than directly provoking a war?
Moreover, Fang fans’ spirits were definitely not discouraged. The last sentence, Fang Xinghe’s declaration, was enough to show his stance and establish his personality based on the pattern.

This seemingly plain article almost perfectly implements all strategies and has far-reaching impact, and can even be described as changing a certain situation.

It is very rare for Teacher Yining to post a message at the first opportunity and express support at the fastest speed.

"Fang Xinghe's article once again penetrates the essence of a phenomenon and establishes a cultural commentary standard for us based on the context of the new era.

We can openly praise good things and criticize bad things, but we must never distort cultural products by applying double standards based on their nationality and place of birth. This is something that every member of the Writers Association should be vigilant about.

……

I've always said that Xiao Fang is a good kid, and look, he's getting better and better. I'm really proud of his broad mind."

Sister Yi was still so gentle and her criticism was not harsh, but she explained the phenomenon clearly and made important supplements to the "literary details" in Fang Xinghe's article.

By the way, he praised Xiao Fang again.

……

Emperor Entertainment Group was also very happy. They never dreamed that such a good thing would happen.

As a result, the Hong Kong Commercial Daily, the only newspaper in Hong Kong that can be publicly distributed in the mainland, reported extensively on Fang Xinghe and the influence of this article in its social and literary editions.

It is inevitable to support Xie and criticize Fang, that's how petty they are. But at least it fairly introduces Fang Xinghe's current popularity and the positive significance of some of his articles, defining him as a mainland literary genius and a teenage idol.

This is of great positive significance, allowing Fang Xinghe to truly enter the mainstream vision of Hong Kong Island and become well-known by the young people of Hong Kong Island.

Unfortunately, the published photos still cannot reflect Fang Xinghe’s true appearance, otherwise he would have become popular again.

No one can do anything about this. Today's pixels are so awesome that even if a god came down to earth, most of the starlight would be sealed.

Anyway, Brother Fang made a small profit, ojbk.

……

Mou Zi usually doesn't like to get involved in such things, but this time, perhaps it was related to him and he felt emotional, or perhaps it was because he was still thinking about asking Fang Xinghe to pack up and take "Cang Ye Xue" to play with him, in short, he rarely spoke.

"I have talked with Fang Xinghe face to face. He is a super genius who can learn anything very quickly and can understand everything without any instructions.

His perspective on things is very different from that of ordinary children, and his way of explaining problems often inspires me deeply.

His current interpretation of the struggle in the cultural field is very insightful, very incisive, and very to the point.

I dare not talk about other aspects, but in the film industry, the situation is already critical and serious. Look at the domestic box office of "Titanic". Sometimes I feel desperate when I think about it. How can we get back this cultural discourse power?
Last time I was in a meeting, someone criticized me and said: You are Zhang Yimou, others can be pessimistic, but you can't be so pessimistic!

But in fact, everyone is pessimistic, and I am the least pessimistic one.

But Xiao Fang is different. Look how motivated he is. And his fighting spirit is not that of a newborn calf that is not afraid of a tiger. It’s not that he can’t see clearly. He still remains optimistic after seeing the gap clearly.

Xiao Fang's ambition is really good. It makes me, a person of my age, excited. We in the film industry should all take a look at it and think about it carefully. "

It's not just Mou Zi who mentioned this, in fact the entire film and television industry is very agitated.

Except for a few people who are truly patriotic and have passion in their hearts, the rest of the people just like this flag.

Culture war!

Cultural resistance!

Look, what a wonderful reason?
Complaining requires policies! Shouting slogans requires policies!

They didn't just ask for it privately. Most of the influential people in the film and television industry directly participated in the topic in the newspapers, pushing the popularity higher and higher.

The funniest one among them was Xiao Gangpao. He acted as if nothing had happened. His attitude changed 180 degrees and he started praising Fang Xinghe as soon as he opened his mouth, working harder than anyone else.

The magic of the times is still being shown to Generation Z in a funny way.

********
I went to the hospital today and got up at 1 a.m. to write, an early update.

(End of this chapter)