Huayu: Are you even sitting up straight? You're going to be the director?

Chapter 32 The Four Major Battle Situations
In the evening of that day.

The same trending topic instantly flooded the news feeds of major portal websites.

Perhaps it was Cao Zhong's rhythmic tone and impassioned words at the project launch ceremony that stirred people's emotions so deeply.
Or perhaps the appearance of Han Sanpin, Xu Zheng, Huang Xiaoming and others gave the launch ceremony a certain initial buzz, making most media outlets want to use it to gain traffic.

Major media outlets quickly reported on Cao Zhong's remarks.

"A freshman from the Performance Department of Beijing Film Academy switched to directing and slammed the rotten state of the art academy at the launch ceremony!"

"Shocking! Ozu, the artistic master hailed by domestic film and television, was actually a member of the invading Chinese government! How can such a figure appear so openly in the curriculum?!"

"Heartbroken, Cao Zhong claimed that he switched to making movies because he was heartbroken by the characters in his textbooks, so he sacrificed himself to blow up a cesspool!"

"The courage of contemporary youth, the mission of contemporary youth?"

"Han Sanpin appeared at the launch ceremony of the new movie 'Nanjing Photo Studio,' seemingly to support Cao Zhongyan's remarks!"

"Huang Xiaoming, Xu Zheng, Mei Ting, Zu Feng, Hai Qing and others have joined the cast of 'Nanjing Photo Studio'! The project launch ceremony for the new film by a director from the Beijing Film Academy has been announced!"

"Domestic film and television schools, why don't you apologize?"

"Director Cao Zhong of 'Nanjing Photo Studio' gave a fresh and thought-provoking interpretation of the story behind 'Tokyo Story' on site!"

Most of these media outlets are actually quite neutral, but in order to generate traffic, they began to recount the events that happened on the scene in detail.

The title is just a little scary!

Some media outlets that support Cao Zhong strongly agree with his statements and loudly praise him.

They also actively promoted Cao Zhong's film.

"Director Cao Zhong talks about 'Nanjing Photo Studio,' which tells the story of a city bearing the mission of its darkest hour."

"Cao Zhong offers his film outlook! The Nanjing DTS incident should be elevated to the level it deserves globally!"

"On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of Nanjing DTS, let us hear the voices of young people."

In fact, some people already knew about these things in the industry.

However, the volume of voices was limited.

Seeing an opportunity, they immediately began to fuel the related events while protecting themselves.

From NJDTS's perspective, the goal is to draw everyone's attention to the essence of this matter and to make all of humanity aware of the atrocities committed by the Japanese army back then.

As we approach the end of 2006, Xiao Rizi still refuses to acknowledge the relevant events.

This is completely out of step with the times.

This opportunity will help people avoid forgetting, which will greatly benefit next year's publicity campaign.

They were thrilled!
For some people who have been preparing related promotional activities, this was the first time they had experienced the immense impact of having a large online following, which was quite unique.

However, some media outlets were very perceptive and somewhat flustered, noticing the potential crisis behind Cao Zhong's remarks and decisively approaching the topic from a different angle.

Can art and character be equated? A closer look at the human weaknesses behind world-renowned art masters.

"We must resolutely resist inciting patriotism among the people."

But soon,
"Is it Ozu Yasujiro's fault? It is also our fault."

The related topics also included an in-depth analysis of Yasujiro Ozu's identity.
An intellectual named Mao Yushi quickly wrote a powerful article.
And it is clearly stated in the article,
"The soldiers and civilians who sacrificed their lives in the war were innocent, and they bore no responsibility for the war."

Their deaths were due to being tricked by war criminals, and most were forced to their deaths. We should commemorate the fallen soldiers of the victorious nations, and we should also commemorate the fallen soldiers of the defeated nations.

This is the humanity that each of us should possess. (The above is an excerpt from the original text.)

In an instant, the whole world was shaken.

Cao Zhong's words were too radical.

But it also garnered a lot of attention. Whether it's a critique of related teaching methods from an art student's perspective, it's all very insightful!
There's also an analysis of why "Tokyo Story," a pinnacle of East Asian cinematic art, won awards, directly pointing to the subservient mentality prevalent in contemporary Chinese art narratives!
This has sparked a lot of discussion among movie fans about many of their previous films.

Furthermore,
With the 70th anniversary of NJDST approaching, discussions of such events are only to be expected.

This topic is filled with Cao Zhong's selfless courage, the people's call for historical memory, and because it was brought together by the medium of film, it triggered a massive online frenzy among movie fans and enthusiasts, which in turn sparked some reflections within the art world.

There's just too much to talk about!

The related topics quickly went viral on major portal websites and forums, and soon formed four major battlegrounds.

Huang Xiaoming's fans occupied the moral high ground and mobilized their voices from the perspective of denouncing the war criminals who invaded China, and carried out a large-scale publicity campaign for "Nanjing Photo Studio", in which Huang Xiaoming was the protagonist.

These days, there aren't many movies that mainland male stars can act in.

Apart from Ge You, who is Feng Xiaogang's go-to leading man, the other male stars are basically overshadowed by Hong Kong and Taiwan stars and have no voice at all.

In other words, Chen Kun's "The Knot" and Ning Hao's "Crazy Stone" loosened the restrictions on the film careers of male actors in China.

But overall, there aren't many opportunities for everyone.

Huang Xiaoming's fans were not about to let this opportunity pass.
Regardless of the impact this incident would have on Huang Xiaoming, they immediately launched a massive campaign to flood all platforms with the movie's name.

Just to show that I, Huang Xiaoming, am the male lead in "Nanjing Photo Studio"!
And it also makes mild mockery of male celebrities of the same level.

From a personal perspective, Huang Xiaoming achieved a win-win situation.

Furthermore, discussions about the correlation between art and personal character quickly emerged in the literary and artistic circles.

Since most of these people have their own fans, they have also attracted a large number of netizens to join in.

However, both sides have their own arguments on this topic, and for a time it was impossible to determine a winner.

Subsequently, in the global discussion about the World War II narrative behind "Nanjing Photo Studio," two opposing sides emerged.

The affirmative side represents the general public, who, upon learning that the relevant events were largely ignored and not of concern globally, instantly hardened their resolve! Their resolve hardened.

When more people learned that Xiao Rizi not only denied it, but was also slowly revising the textbooks, a wave of outrage against Xiao Rizi swept across the internet.

But most people who go online at this time are still relatively calm.

Everyone talks the talk, no walks the walk. They're all gentlemen.

However, their support for Cao Zhong's words immediately surged.

A student, heartbroken by the portrayal of Chinese invaders in art education, switched careers to filmmaking because he wanted to make the Nanjing Massacre during World War II known to the world. He became incredibly famous!

This kind of person is the role model for us young people.

These are the true successors to communism!

However, the relevant personnel lacked organization, and the public opinion was disorganized, with a large momentum but very low aggressiveness.

Only Mr. Mao Yushi, who had previously published a powerful article, became the common target of everyone's attacks.

For a time, Mao Yushi's scolding almost drove him to depression.

The opposing side consisted of some Jr. supporters and goodwill ambassadors.

They are relatively few in number, but they do have some supporters.

They engaged in precise interactions with supporters, divided them, and conducted a large-scale brainwashing campaign. The results were sometimes good and sometimes bad, but at least they created a local strategic advantage.

Later, Mr. Yi Zhongtian also expressed his insightful views on the related topic:
If anyone shows any disrespect to Mr. Mao Yushi, I consider him not human.

This expanded the scope of the third-party battle to a wider area, making the impact even greater.

(End of this chapter)