Generation Z Artists

Chapter 289 Dinghai Shenzhen
"The winner of Best Actor is..."

"Adrien Brody, The Pianist!"

Abu, a theater actor from New York, stood up, covering his face. When he let go, his eyes were red.

Fang Xinghe clapped softly with appreciation, then looked at Abu's face and fell into deep thought.

Did this guy go on to win several more Oscars for Best Actor?
Evergreen tree...

Brother Jie, standing to the side, remained calm and applauded enthusiastically, appearing quite relaxed.

Without any expectations, there will naturally be no disappointment.

He even had the leisure to joke with Fang Xinghe: "Little Fang, I should have nominated you for Best Actor. You can compete with him, but I really can't."

Hearing his words, Zhang Weiping, the international star, also felt deeply regretful.

"Yes, the competition for Best Actor this year is not as fierce as for Best Supporting Actor. Who could have predicted that?"

"Pity……"

"No, there's nothing to regret."

Fang Xinghe, however, disagreed and shook his head.

"It's ridiculous to insist on having the male lead role when I only have less than forty minutes of screen time. I'm still young, and I won't miss this opportunity."

Moreover, Adrian's performance in "The Pianist" was indeed of a high standard, and his award was well-deserved.

Of course, Nicolas Cage and Daniel Lewis' performances were by no means bad. The former lost out due to his personal reputation and artistic image, while the latter's failure was due to director Martin Scorsese.

Forcing Fang Xinghe into the Best Actor competition would be too blatant and would likely dilute the focus of that mysterious power.

Now it's great, personal honors are obtained without any cost, and "Heroes" can still keep an eye on the last two major awards.

Soon it was time to announce the Best Director.

The entire Heroes crew held their breath, on tenterhooks, watching Martin read his script on stage.

The Pianist, Talk to Her, The Hours, Chicago...

Excerpts from one masterpiece after another were played on the big screen, and the atmosphere in the room grew increasingly tense.

Mou Zi truly exemplified what it means to be restless, constantly changing his sitting posture as if nowhere he could put his hands and feet.

However, the other directors were in similar situations.

The Oscar for Best Director is a prestigious award that any director would undoubtedly value and care about.

The fact that it is the world's largest single market at a fault level gives it a sacred quality.

No matter how many people are enthusiastic about praising the artistry of the three major European cinemas, in terms of fame, power, and monetization ability, the three are still inferior to the Oscars.

"The winner is..."

"The Pianist!"

call……

A loud sigh came from beside Fang Xinghe, and Mou Zi's tense body completely relaxed, collapsing to the ground.

At the same time, a curse came from not far to the side.

"Fuck!"

Looking up, as expected, it was Harvey.

Just as Fang Xinghe was about to look away, Harvey suddenly turned his head, his angry and cold eyes locking onto Fang Xinghe.

Oh? So much hatred...

Fang Xinghe smiled nonchalantly and nodded to Fatty Ha.

It doesn't mean anything special, I just don't care—whether you're angry or furious, I don't care.

Harvey's face stiffened, and before he could react, their gazes met and were interrupted by the crew of "The Pianist".

Once they were on stage, Harvey resumed his seated posture, and Fang Ge stopped paying attention to the losers.

However, both of them knew in their hearts that the feud had been completely formed.

There are no secrets in Hollywood. Harvey knows perfectly well what Sony and Fang Xinghe did.

Now that "Chicago" has lost the Best Director award to "The Pianist," it's hard to say that Fang Xinghe's harsh criticism didn't have a negative impact on the film.

Although this is "fair competition" that everyone is doing, and it was even Harvey who started it, this fat guy doesn't care about any of that. His pettiness and unreasonableness are quite famous in Hollywood, and he doesn't need a reason to annoy anyone he wants.

Now that he's got his eye on me, I'm in for some fun...

Sister Li noticed this and asked worriedly, "Little brother, have you completely offended Harvey?"

Fang Xinghe replied with a smile, "No, it's him who has completely offended me—seeing that I don't even smile, that fatso is already courting death."

"Naughty!"

Sister Li slapped him lightly, not hard, but she did look very angry.

"You need to be careful. That guy is a complete scoundrel with a terrible reputation in the European film industry."

"Don't worry, I know what's going on."

Fang Xinghe understands Harvey better than any other Chinese filmmaker, having witnessed his rise to prominence, his lavish banquets, and his eventual downfall, experiencing the entire process over time.

It's troublesome, but I'm not afraid of it at all—I'm not even within your jurisdiction, and besides, I have even higher levels of power.

Fang Xinghe was even very excited, filled with a desire for battle.

When I come to Hollywood again next time, let's have a good time and see who is the father of public relations and the mastermind behind the online PR team!

With that in mind, he became even more excited about the final big prize.

Judging from the current situation, "The Pianist," which won Best Director, is out of the running, and "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" was just there to make up the numbers, leaving only three contenders.

Chicago, Gangs of New York, and Hero.

Actually, "Gangs of New York" can also be ruled out, as its quality is simply not on the same level as the other two.

That leaves only two movies.

Logically speaking, Chicago should almost certainly win.

There's no need to list its advantages; the core flaw of "Hero" itself poses no threat—it's a non-English language film.

Or it could be called a foreign film.

Call me whatever you like, anyway, this is exactly the kind of thing that the proud members of the Academy of Sciences despise the most.

The most stubborn group of people wouldn't even glance at it, so how could they possibly vote?

The CCTV-6 host had already given up hope when reading out the nominations, and poured cold water on the national audience with a tone full of regret but also with a hint of ease.

"If it doesn't win Best Director, then Hero's journey to this year's Oscars can be completely over. The ultimate award, Best Picture, theoretically does not exclude foreign films from the competition, but in reality, there has never been such a precedent."

The Oscars are, after all, American awards, and we should fully respect the language, customs, and cultural background of the American judges… Giving *Hero* an original screenplay and a Best Supporting Actor award is enough to prove its excellence; we shouldn't ask for more. The influence of Chinese films hasn't reached that level yet…

Blah blah blah, showering Oscar with endless praise.

The intention may not have been to look down on "Hero," but in reality, it was a form of worshipping foreign things and belittling oneself.

Sadly, the audience who heard it didn't see anything wrong with it.

Back when "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" won Best Foreign Language Film, the Chinese people had already received a brief explanation of its difficulty and felt that this laurel was unattainable.

Hero is indeed better than Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, but it's not good enough to win Best Picture.

Which Chinese person would dare to covet this ultimate prize?

Mouzi, Kaizi, and Gangzi have all fantasized about it—thinking about it isn't illegal, but who dares to take it seriously?

In short, the media generally believe that Chinese films are not yet at that level, or in short, they are not worthy of it, and the Chinese people have accepted this brainwashing and also feel that we are not good enough.

Fang Xinghe, however, never had such a thought.

In his view, the reason why Chinese films fail to win Oscars is not because they are bad, but because Western audiences are bad, the Oscar judges are bad, and even those corrupt governments are bad.

What a great movie "The Wandering Earth" is! How is it inferior to "Interstellar"?
"The Chinese People's Volunteer Army" is so righteous! It's better than "Saving Private Ryan" and all the other Hollywood war movies, right?

Weight loss movies aren't bad either! Since toilet comedies can get high box office returns in the US, and action-packed boxing and neoliberalism can win awards, then inspirational weight loss movies aimed at women should also get extra points.

As long as there are no double standards, this logic is sound.

Chinese films certainly have all sorts of problems. When it comes to domestic films, Fang Xinghe also can't stand these illiterate idiots and bad-blooded bastards who are born out of wedlock.

However, the core reason why Chinese films cannot go global cannot be found internally; we must look outward.

I can only reflect on myself behind closed doors, but what right do I have to reflect on myself while standing on foreign soil?!

If you ever make me unhappy, don't bother explaining; it's definitely your fault.

Does that make sense?

Yes, I am the truth!
Knowing he was about to die, Dafang quickly mastered "egocentrism"—a non-liberal and non-idealistic mode of response to external stimuli.

Within his framework, reflecting on one's own problems is for the purpose of becoming a better person; it is an absolutely private matter that must be processed alone.

All accusations, educational attacks, and suppression from outsiders can be considered PUA (Pick-Up Artist) tactics. Don't worry about whether they mean well or badly; just screw them.

We only live a few days, so don't waste your energy on things that aren't worth it.

As for what is worthwhile and what is not... this difference in values ​​directly distinguishes those born in the 70s, 80s, and even Generation Z.

The values ​​of those born in the 80s are difficult to summarize, as they are too complex, but the thoughts of Generation Z are roughly as follows—

As the only ancient civilization on Earth, the true recorder and creator of Earth's history, the source of civilization in its essential sense, the former and future ruler of Earth, the great architect of the community of shared future for mankind, and a citizen of the New Era of Industrial Cthulhu, is Lao Tzu here to reason with you?
Do I need to reason with you?!
If you're not happy, let's fight! We'll see who's last standing!

Based on this core idea, Fang Xinghe's first reaction to Hollywood's collective rejection was to overturn the table, introduce external forces from a higher dimension, mess things up first, and then deal with other issues as they came.

Which Gen Z reincarnated individual would be stupid enough to slowly confuse you guys within the rules?

Whether I win an award or not isn't the most important thing. It would be great if I did, but it's okay if I didn't. The most important thing is that I'll slap you all across the face so that no one can have fun anymore.

Now, hearing the host's comments, he truly feels that his efforts have not been in vain.

"A rare phenomenon has emerged at this year's Oscars – the competitors include not only regular dramas and art films, but also rare fantasy films, kung fu films, and musicals."

This is historic evidence that Hollywood is on the right track and is becoming increasingly prosperous. Never before has an Oscar been as inclusive, open, fair, rigorous, and full of artistic exploration and curiosity as this one…

A round of applause erupted from the audience, accompanied by a series of buzzing sounds.

Those were people who understood the subtext of the opening remarks, and they were whispering among themselves with their friends.

It's decided that today's best film will definitely be chosen from niche films.

Therefore, there is a 95% probability that it will be "Chicago".

The film crew nearby discussed the matter while frequently glancing at Harvey.

Harvey sat in the very center of the "Chicago" crew, as steady as a mountain, not moving an inch. He simply tapped the armrest of his chair with his short, stubby fingers, his eyes exuding an air of dominance and his expression revealing a confident and determined air.

Hey, that's so bossy!
Meanwhile, people frequently glanced at Fang Xinghe—although he was neither the executive producer nor the director, the entire Hollywood regarded him as the core of "Hero".

What they saw was a more composed face.

Even though no one in the crew had any hope, he remained composed and calm.

There was no expectation or anxiety, just calm.

That's all I've done in terms of doing my best. The part about leaving things to fate has been taught to a bunch of lunatics. Why can't I be at peace?

Facing the photographer who deliberately closed the distance, Fang Xinghe didn't even blink, nor did he interact with anyone, leaving only a profile view frozen like an oil painting for millions of girls around the world.

This is the last important shot; looking cool is more important than anything else.

Under the indifferent gaze of the handsome guy, the producer and director of the previous season of "A Beautiful Mind" took to the stage together, opened the envelope, and their expressions showed a slight surprise.

The entire audience held their breath.

The two men, each holding a letter, glanced at each other and suddenly began to defer to one another.

Harvey's heart sank with a sudden shock.

Fang Biwang deliberately raised his chin slightly, not much, no more than 15 degrees, but it was this slight angle that made his profile look even more divine and arrogant.

Ultimately, producer Brian Glazer took on the responsibility of reading the announcement.

He read aloud in a slightly trembling, incredulous tone—

"The film that won Best Picture at the 75th Academy Awards is... *Hero, China*!"

The moment the word "hero" was uttered, the entire audience erupted in a roar of "Wow!"

Everyone turned their heads and looked at the area centered around Fang Xinghe.

Mou Zi stiffly turned her head, her eyes wide, staring intently at Fang Xinghe, and asked in a trembling voice, "Who? Who won the award? I...I think I heard..."

"Yes, you heard me right."

Fang Xinghe patted Mouzi on the shoulder, then helped him up.

"Stand up straight, Director Zhang, we did it! Now, stand up straight, chests out, and prepare to receive the highest honor for Chinese cinema..."

Fang Xinghe did not speak in a single long sentence or use a single complex word.

No one could find a trace of excitement in his face, eyes, or words. Amidst the chaos of the crew, he was like a pillar of strength, firmly anchored there, suppressing all unease.

In faraway China, as the audience watched the 17-year-old boy standing straight as a gun amidst the chaotic crowd, many of them involuntarily had tears welling up in their eyes.

why?
Can't figure it out.

But... just looking at him like this makes me feel at ease.

**********
I rushed to have two teeth pulled while the inflammation was getting better; it hurt terribly.

(End of this chapter)