America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 802 I've Seen Your Secrets

Upon seeing Seth McFarlane enter the arena, Martin instinctively glanced at Charlize Theron.

Charlize asked in a low voice, "What is it now?"

Martin said, "This comedian is good at pranks, I wonder what kind of show he has prepared."

Charlize had seen "Ted" and said, "At most, he'll imitate Ted."

Just as the two were speaking in hushed tones, Seth McFarlane finished his introduction and it was time for the Oscars' usual opening song and dance number.

The most memorable opening song and dance performance in recent years was Hugh Jackman's "I Am Wolverine".

Tonight, Seth McFarlane put on a huge show for the Oscars, for all the guests at the event, and for all the viewers across America.

These are songs that people will still talk about even twenty years from now.

McFarlane pointed to the area where the most A-list actresses were gathered in the audience and sang the first line of the song: "We've seen your secrets! We've seen your secrets in the movies we've watched!"

Next comes a long, comprehensive movie-watching guide for film buffs.

"I saw Meryl Streep's in The Silkwood, Naomi Watts's in Mulholland Drive, Halle Berry's in The Ballroom, Nicole Kidman's in Eyes Wide Shut, and Marisa Tomei's in The Wrestler."

"We saw Kristen Stewart's secret in 'On the Road,' Charlize Theron in 'Monster,' and Helen Hunt's in 'Intimacy Therapy,' but we've never seen Jennifer Lawrence's secret..."

Almost every prominent female celebrity present was sung by McFarlane.

But those who get shot the most are also the ones who act the craziest.

"Kate Winslet is in 'Heavenly Creatures' and 'Jude the Obscure,' as well as 'Hamlet,' 'Titanic,' 'Life Together,' 'Motherhood,' and 'The Reader'..."

Martin has experienced Kate's "no madness, no life" acting style, and Kate is indeed a queen of artistic drama among Oscar-winning actresses.

The atmosphere inside the Dolby Theatre immediately became lively.

Although many award-winning actresses were clearly unhappy, they were not to the point of being furious.

How can an actress play the Oscar game if she doesn't take her clothes off and show skin?

As the song ended, a commotion erupted in the audience, with laughter filling the air.

Charlize muttered, "That guy, I hope he gets hit by a car!"

Martin suddenly had an idea: "Sally, didn't Stuart Townsend call you? Tell him to beat McFarlane up first, then talk about other things. Hint at it, 'I'll have Old Brooks prepare some technical means for you, so that bastard can't record this…'"

Charlize turned to look at Martin: "People in the industry might get the names wrong, since some are stage names, but the widely circulated rumors are indeed true."

Her hand, which was under the chair, suddenly landed on Martin's leg: "Does this make you feel better?"

Martin was exasperated and didn't want to deal with Charlize anymore. He was clearly trying to help her, but she kept going around in circles with the same idea.

Charlize kept smiling, and the camera panned to her several times without capturing a sour expression, leading people to believe she was very magnanimous...

The Oscar giveaway has begun.

Anne Hathaway, the first actress to win an Oscar tonight, specifically thanked Martin Scorsese in her acceptance speech for his help during a low point in her career.

In the subsequent series of technical awards, the "Growing Pain" crew, who were nominated, won nothing.

The film was affected by a series of bad and good news during its public relations and publicity period, and could only end its run at this year's Oscars in disappointment.

Charlize Theron left her seat and went backstage at the Dolby Theatre, where she was one of the presenters for the evening.

This year's awards ceremony also included the usual lengthy nostalgia and tribute segment.

However, compared to previous years, tonight's tribute segment had more highlights.

Paul Walker and Jordana Brewster, representing the family members of the film crew, took to the stage to recount Vin Diesel's charisma on set, leading to a special segment commemorating Vin Diesel.

As classic clips from Vin Diesel's movies played on the big screen, a rising stage slowly ascended, and two singers, one in black and one in white, appeared together to sing a song specially created by the Fast & Furious crew to commemorate Vin Diesel.

Martin knew it was "See You Again" just from the intro.

The theme song for Family Heroes.

Listening to this song and watching Paul Walker stand on stage to commemorate Vin Diesel's unexpected passing, Martin had an indescribable, strange feeling.

Fast & Furious 6 is sure to be a box office smash.

Martin was certain of this, as various memorial events for Vin Diesel had once again begun in North America.

Just as Martin was lost in thought, the Argo film crew won their first Oscar of the night.

Dustin Hoffman and Charlize Theron presented the awards for Best Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay, with Argo taking home the Best Adapted Screenplay award.

Sandra Bullock then announced, "Best Editing goes to Bill Gordon."

The Argo crew, including Martin, applauded again. Bill Gordon high-fived Martin and David Fincher before going on stage to accept the award.

David Fincher was visibly excited because winning the screenplay and editing awards would greatly increase the team's chances of winning Best Director and Best Picture, even bringing the chances of winning one of them to as high as 90%.

A staff member came over to remind Martin that he had left the film crew's side and entered the backstage area through a side door.

He is also an award presenter tonight.

As last year's Best Actor, he will be awarded Best Actress this year.

The director took out an envelope and handed it to Martin. Martin took it and carefully looked at the label on the back of the envelope to confirm that it was for Best Actress, and not a mistake that led to Best Actor.

Martin waited patiently at the stage entrance for a few minutes, then received a signal from the director and walked onto the stage to the beat of the music.

While he wasn't as experienced as Nicholson in award presentations, he had done it a few times.

As Martin walked toward the microphone, he glanced at where Nicholson was. The old bastard was sitting with Jennifer Lawrence, smiling at him.

This bastard went public with Jennifer Lawrence last year, though he never admitted it, he didn't try to hide it either.

Jennifer Lawrence was able to land the lead role in "Silver Linings Playbook" thanks in large part to Nicholson's efforts.

During this awards season, apart from providing Martin with Ralph Jackson as the catalyst for the email scandal, Nicholson never got involved with him, as he devoted all his energy to helping Jennifer Lawrence win Best Actress.

After Martin finished reciting his lines, he turned to the side of the large screen and announced the names of the nominated actors as the images appeared: "Emmanuelle Riva for *Amour*, Quvenzane Wallis for *Beasts of the Southern Wild*, Naomi Watts for *Beasts of the Wild*, Jennifer Lawrence for *Silver Linings Playbook*, and Sally Field for *Lincoln*."

Of the three Martins on the nomination list, I didn't even know them; I'd only heard of them for the first time at the nomination luncheon.

The most famous is Naomi Watts, but she belongs to the type of actresses that the Academy doesn't favor. She has blonde hair and blue eyes, is quite pretty, and her roles aren't bad enough to ruin her image.

Martin immediately understood that Nicholson had stolen his trick, putting Jennifer Lawrence in a fair and square showdown with the other nominees!

Because those that are truly threatening are addressed as much as possible during the nomination process.

Martin snapped out of his reverie, deftly tore open the envelope, took out the card, glanced at it, and said, "The Best Actress award goes to Jennifer Lawrence!"

This result was not unexpected, given that it was the same as the winner of the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actress.

Overwhelmed with joy, Jennifer Lawrence opened her arms and embraced Nicholson tightly. Amid applause, she lifted her skirt and walked towards the stage.

Natalie Portman looked rather grim as the newly crowned Oscar-winning actress walked past her. She is the first and currently only actress born in the 80s to win an Oscar for Best Actress.

She hadn't enjoyed this honor for long, and before she could even touch the threshold of becoming a Hollywood leading lady, the first post-90s Oscar-winning actress was born.

Jennifer Lawrence walked briskly forward, then suddenly felt that this wasn't enough to generate buzz. She looked up and saw Martin waiting on the stage, remembering what he had said at the Cannes Film Festival.

That time, she did as Martin suggested and stole the show.

Because of Nicholson, Jennifer Lawrence trusted Martin implicitly. As she walked quickly to the steps, her foot slipped, and she fell forward.

Martin kept watching, even silently counting in his head: "5, 4, 3,..."

But when he counted to 1, Jennifer Lawrence fell to the ground, causing a gasp from the entire arena.

All eyes and all camera lenses turned to Jennifer Lawrence at that moment.

For Nicholson's sake, Martin quickly stepped down and helped Jennifer Lawrence up.

Before the two even returned to the stage, the internet was already flooded with discussions about Jennifer Lawrence.

Without a doubt, this first female Oscar winner born in the 90s has successfully grabbed the first real headline of tonight's Oscars.

No need to wait until tomorrow; within half an hour at most, photos of Jennifer Lawrence falling will be all over the internet on YouTube, blogs, Twitter, and Instagram.

Back on stage, Martin took the Oscar statuette from the emcee and handed it to Jennifer Lawrence.

Jennifer Lawrence smiled at him and said softly, "Thank you, Martin."

Martin stepped aside and gestured to the microphone to let them through.

The first actress born in the 1990s to win an Oscar began her acceptance speech.

Jennifer Lawrence was very excited, but she must have been advised by Nicholson beforehand to be relatively cautious in her remarks, offering only a long list of thanks instead of loudly thanking Harvey for helping her eliminate her rival, as she had done in the past.

Next, Daniel Day-Lewis unsurprisingly won Best Actor.

(End of this chapter)