How can you become a star without money?

Chapter 86 Rotten Pride, Rotten Glory [3rd Update, Please Subscribe]

[King of bad movies or savior of cinema?]

The main character in the post is Wang Jing, who recently stood out in the Qu Shou incident.

Even though he gained some temporary favor from netizens, he still couldn't change the public's impression that Wang Jing was a director of bad films.

The title of "King of Bad Movies" is truly well-deserved.

But when the adjectives "king of bad movies" and "savior of movies" are combined, the level of controversy and discussion naturally skyrockets.

Countless netizens who clicked in with the answers in mind were left confused after reading the post.

It was even somewhat chaotic.

The post was a bit long, but because it was well-written, it was captivating, and I finished reading it before I knew it.

The post's concept is also very simple.

It mainly describes how Wang Jing, as a director, emerged out of nowhere from the very beginning, surpassing even Bruce Lee and veteran Hong Kong directors.

Secondly, it expresses Wang Jing's terrifying productivity, having produced more than 250 film and television works in 34 years, making her a veritable film and television stud.

Finally, it was explained why Wang Jing maintained such high productivity: in order to support a large number of film and television professionals during the dark decade of Hong Kong cinema.

Furthermore, it was specifically emphasized that Wang Jing's choice at the time laid the foundation for the entire Chinese film industry to have its own film industry.

If it weren't for Wang Jing, the film industry that Hong Kong had cultivated over decades would have been destroyed due to the collapse of many practitioners and companies in the industry chain.

Hollywood's strength is built on its film industry system, which ensures a stable production and sales pipeline, thus enabling it to exert a global cultural influence.

At its peak, Hong Kong, with a population of less than ten million, produced more than 300 films a year, creating a huge box office market worth hundreds of millions. Its influence radiated throughout East Asia during the Hong Kong film era, and Hong Kong stars were once on par with Hollywood superstars.

It could even be argued that without Hong Kong's industrial system, the global film and entertainment industry would be Hollywood's playground, and the cultural industry would be completely undermined.

With a population of over one billion, mainland China produced just over 400 films last year.

In 2000, mainland China produced only about 80 films.

In other words, it was only after filmmakers led by Wang Jing brought the Hong Kong industrial system to the mainland that China was able to rapidly develop its industrial system in a short period of time, and within ten years.

From an annual box office of less than one billion yuan, it has grown rapidly to a massive scale that is expected to exceed 100 billion yuan this year, creating related jobs for tens of millions of people.

The poster even compared Wang Jing's role in the film and television industry to the fall of Manchukuo.

The post uses data comparison and illogical reasoning to conclude that Wang Jing is willing to bear the criticism and make bad films in order to support half of Hong Kong's film industry.

Using a robber's logic, it's claimed that Wang Jing became the king of bad movies in order to prevent the Chinese film industry from being dominated by Westerners and to preserve its flame.

There's a kind of rottenness to it, a pride in it, a glory in it.

What kind of spirit is it to wait for the dawn of Chinese film and television single-handedly and without saying a word?
Absolutely selfless dedication!

Most people who read the post only had one thought in their minds.

Without Wang Jing, there would be no Chinese film industry, no tens of millions of film and television-related jobs, the means for exporting Chinese culture to the outside world would disappear, China would become Hollywood's backyard, and lose its cultural sovereignty!

The author uses the technique of attributing credit to someone else to portray Wang Jing as a plausible savior of the film industry.

Making bad movies is a way to save cinema!
Anyone who read the post, especially those who had no basic knowledge of the entertainment industry, almost instantly accepted its viewpoint, feeling both shocked and deeply moved.

In an instant, the mockery turned into silence, the silence into support, and the support—oh, no one supported them before, but now they do.

[Wang Jing's films are not bad; they represent the future of Chinese cinema]

When this headline appeared on the trending topics, it was clear that Weibo's top management had run out of ideas to try and bring traffic back.

The news caused an uproar among film and television professionals across the country.

When I woke up, Wang Jing had become my savior?

Viewers and netizens across the country were moved to tears.

I woke up to find that I owe director Wang Jing a movie ticket.

Oh?
Does Director Wang have two movies being released at the same time recently?

Oh?
Some kind netizens have suggested that it's possible to buy discounted movie tickets?
Oh?
Watch movies online? Buy tickets online, redeem them offline?

[Winter Break Family Card] 7.5% off?

[Family Fun Package] 6.6% off?
Oh?
It just so happens that the movie theater near my house is open! My child is on holiday and has nothing to do at home, so we can go see a movie. Consider it a contribution to Chinese cinema and a way to pay back the movie tickets we owe Director Wang!
It's blown up! It's blown up!

Film and television professionals were outraged even before the public outcry.

To be honest, they acknowledge the part of the post that is attributable to Wang Jing's objective contributions, but they absolutely do not agree with the robber logic at the end of the post.

What do you mean by saying that without Wang Jing there would be no Chinese films?

What right does a loser like him, who only cares about making easy money, have to represent Chinese cinema?
Did he win an award or break a box office record?

The development of Chinese cinema today is thanks to the efforts of every practitioner!

How come it's all up to Wang Jing alone!
However, they cannot publicly accuse or refute anything, because they are indeed correct in their stance on some objective facts, at least the Hong Kong film and television industry will acknowledge this fact.

Moreover, everyone knows Wang Jing's character. If she jumps out at this time, he will definitely accuse her of 'jealousy'. It's like a toad on your foot, it doesn't bite but it disgusts you!
Moreover, this post was obviously written by someone hired by Wang Jing himself to promote his two lousy movies. But didn't this fat guy always use women and scandals as his publicity methods in the past?

Why are you suddenly switching to such a sophisticated approach?

Is someone with expert guidance behind the scenes?
Everyone was shocked and furious, wanting to curse but not daring to be the first to speak out.

Until February 4th, Wang Jing's image as the savior of the film industry was almost deeply ingrained in people's minds, and few truly influential filmmakers came out to speak out.

However, a group of true film enthusiasts came out to angrily denounce the post as utter nonsense.

Then it was attacked by furious netizens.

How can you eat from a bowl and then curse your mother after putting it down?
Without Director Wang, there wouldn't be any footage of you bunch of mad dogs and parasites who only know how to talk and write!

It has to be said that film critics, who are used to harshly criticizing others, are finding the internet so unsafe for the first time. Who would dare to criticize me so harshly?!

Do you peasants even deserve to be called that?
Then they started arguing on Weibo with netizens. The situation seemed great, even harmonious, but Wang Jing, who had never fought such a successful and prosperous battle before, got anxious first.

"Boss, judging from this trend, why are they going to target me like a ruthless villain?" Wang Jing said somewhat fearfully.

He knew better than anyone the power of public opinion to influence people's judgments.

He has seen countless examples of people who fall harder the higher they climb, so he would rather be a nobody or a scoundrel and be criticized than be praised by thousands of people like he is now.

It's really scary.

"Isn't the situation pretty good?" Wang Yao asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Yaozai, why isn't anyone coming out to scold me? Could they actually be secretly grateful to me and build a shrine for me?" Wang Jing said suspiciously.

"What? You're not used to nobody scolding you? Director Wang has a thing for McDonald's, huh?" Wang Yao laughed heartily.

He didn't expect that this post would have such a big impact on netizens.

In less than 24 hours, the online ticketing event on Kanpianer.com has sold nearly 200 million yuan worth of pre-sale tickets!

This is different from speaking out for Qu Shou; this costs money.

In some first-tier cities, cinemas were even sold out on the opening day, with people booking tickets for the next day – a rare occurrence in the online ticketing industry in 2010.

At this rate, the film might be able to guarantee 1000 million in box office revenue on its opening day.

Ren Quan was already considering whether to take a gamble and book the entire venue.

Wang Yao advised him to calm down, since the online ticketing policy allows refunds up to 8 hours before the show. Since this was their first time working together, there was no need to be too greedy. Moreover, since the tickets were discounted, the possibility of local scalpers taking advantage of the situation could not be ruled out.

However, it must be admitted that, thanks to Wang Jing's example, the online ticketing model is indeed showing initial promise.

"Sigh, it's really hard to get used to no one criticizing me. It's not that I'm cheap, it's just that I've never been praised before, and I feel a little lost all of a sudden," Wang Jing said with some emotion.

“A gentleman judges by actions, not intentions. No one in the world is perfect. Director Wang, you truly deserve this reputation now,” Wang Yao said solemnly.

"Yao-zai, shall we continue to wait?" Wang Jing asked.

"There's no way around it, Director Wang's personal charisma is just too great, he has no enemies in the industry," Wang Yao joked.

"It would be great if Jackie Chan and Stephen Chow jumped out," Wang Jing sighed, seemingly genuinely.

"You'll behave once someone exposes your dirty secrets," Wang Yao said with a smile.

"Don't worry, no one dares to do it, because compared to them, I'm really a saint." Wang Jing laughed heartily.

"Just wait, the preview screening is tomorrow anyway. Don't be shy, you have to stick to the script," Wang Yao reminded her, afraid that Wang Jing might act like a saint because of her temperament.

"Don't worry, I'll just curse even harder!" Wang Jing sneered.

Because both of his films are released on February 2.7th, the preview screenings are staggered: "The Secret" will have a preview screening on February 2.5th, and "Unknown Police" will have a preview screening on February 2.6th.

On February 5th, Wang Jing and the main cast held a preview screening of "Beauty Secret" in a 1,000-seat cinema provided by Shanghai United, one of the four major cinema chains.

The nearly 1,000 seats were almost full, filled not only by industry media but also by a large number of industry insiders who had paid high prices for their seats just to be among the first to watch the movie and give Wang Jing a good scolding!
I can't criticize you, but I can at least criticize your terrible movies!
During the more than one-hour movie screening, the most frequent sound was the clatter of keyboards; everyone was completely absorbed, eager to analyze the film frame by frame.

The movie was unsurprisingly bad, but it was still within Wang Jing's caliber.

But before their sharp film reviews could go viral online...

Wang Jing's interview sent everyone's blood pressure soaring once again.

"Director Wang, what's your opinion on the recent online debate about whether you're the king of bad movies or the savior of cinema?"

"I love to tell the truth. Who has the right to judge me? Only the audience who paid for my tickets has the right. No one else does. You say you are a professional film critic, then I ask you, who has that qualification?"

"Director Wang, do you think you made a bad film?"

"I like to tell the truth. What is a bad movie? Those who criticize me are just jealous colleagues."

I make films that audiences love to watch. I make films for audiences to watch, not to win awards. You can buy awards, but you can't buy an audience.

"Director Wang, your box office is not as good as Stephen Chow's, and your reputation is also not as good as Stephen Chow's. Even if you make it for the audience, it's still a bad movie, right?"

“I like to tell the truth. If you compare them like this, Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige's box office is not as good as Stephen Chow's, and their reputation is not as good either. Are their movies bad? Feng Xiaopao's box office is high, but his reputation is not as good. Is that a bad movie or a good movie?”

"I like to tell the truth. As the person involved, I can't comment on the online discussions about me, but I can say that I have a clear conscience regarding the film and the audience. Secondly, I think that film can be art, but if you're going to make an art film, then don't sell tickets."

Because art is priceless, and you can't blame the audience for not understanding art after a bad box office performance. If you've sold tickets, then it's a commercial film.

But I make commercial films. My goal is to entertain the public and sell tickets. If the public is unhappy after watching my film, they can criticize me however they want. I won't criticize back, because I've made money from ticket sales.

I love to tell the truth. Did the audience force you to make art films? Didn't you want to make them yourself?

Then why do you expect the audience to pay for your services and shut them up?

"You can't have it all. Wanting both art and box office success, and then blaming the audience for not getting it—what kind of logic is that?"

Wang Jing's interviews were transmitted to major social media platforms and forums almost in real time.

Netizens applauded the move, and the phrase "I love to tell the truth," coupled with Wang Jing's unusual pronunciation, quickly spread.

But the industry was truly in an uproar. Those who had initially thought of turning a blind eye finally couldn't sit still any longer.

If you're going to create hype for yourself, fine! But why are you digging into our private lives?
The fight has begun.

At the same time the preview screening ended, a post was made by Wang Jing's verified account on the movie website.

A sentence paired with a picture.

I am ashamed and unworthy of such praise. Success need not be attributed to me, but I will certainly be a part of it.

Red flags waving

　P.S.: Some typos are to avoid risk.

　　Thank you again for your support, readers!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)