America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM...

Chapter 215, Section 214: Demonic Brainwashing

YouTube, as the world's largest video website, has a global reach.

Therefore, a video that goes viral on YouTube is what truly makes it a global phenomenon.

Looking back at YouTube's history, there are many videos with hundreds of millions or even billions of views, but most of them are music videos.

There is only one Asian singer in the top ten, Psy's "Gangnam Style", which has been played over 50 billion times. Although many people criticize the song as trash, it is still a source of pride for Asia.

The remaining eight spots in the top ten are occupied by Western singers, including Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, and Charlie Puth.

Some videos have 2 to 3 billion views, while others have over 6 billion views. The highest number of views is 62 billion for Ed Sheeran's "Shape of You".

Even with a staggering 62 billion, it still only managed to secure second place on the list.

The champion is the children's catchy shark song "Baby Shake Dance" released by Pengpenghu, which has been played over 130 billion times, a clear case of overwhelming superiority.

In Japan, the most-watched song is Kenshi Yonezu's "LEMON," with 8.5 million views.

The most-viewed video on China is G.E.M.'s "Light Years Away," with 2.7 million views.

Excluding the Western music scene, if we only compare the musical influence of China, Japan, and South Korea, China tragically ranks at the bottom.

And judging from the situation before Eric's time travel, there was no hope of turning things around within ten years.

Many people criticize the Chinese music scene for becoming increasingly decadent, overly sentimental, lacking creativity, stagnant, and closed-minded, and their criticisms are not entirely without merit.

It's only because China has a large enough population that it can support so many terrible singers.

However, these are all highly professional music videos, and are definitely not suitable for the general public to film.

Videos that appeal to the general public must be funny, novel, and catchy, but they shouldn't be too difficult; they should be simple, easy to understand, and easy to follow.

After some deliberation, Eric decided to personally shoot a few short videos and then have MGM staff expand on several video types.

He directed "Shoulder Dance" himself, and then brought in Andrea and Mike to direct "Shark Dance" and "PPAP".

MGM staff filmed some bizarre videos to prank enemies like Eminem.

I'll also shoot some videos featuring food sharing, technology explanations, handicrafts, family fun, cosplay, and other similar content.

There's also the major category of film and television commentary, which we'll take as an example of "The Walking Dead".

The former's goal was to take YouTube beyond its original niche, ideally becoming a global phenomenon like in later generations, thus inspiring positive imitation.

The latter aims to broaden people's thinking and guide users to create a variety of videos. Once their horizons are broadened, their thinking will naturally become more active.

Since the goal is to break out of the niche, then we should go big.

Burbank, the filming location for MGM, saw a steady stream of luxury cars parked there today.

Ryan Reynolds, the Olsen twins, the British trio, Chris Evans, Anthony McCann, and others entered the studio one after another.

Seeing this, someone who didn't know better might think that some blockbuster movie was about to start filming.

When everyone had almost arrived, one person stood out from the crowd.

Everyone else stared at him expressionlessly, clearly not wanting to talk to him. He was a little embarrassed, but seemed to have gotten used to it, and simply walked to a corner by himself.

The group of people in front of him were all currently popular A-list actors and actresses, and Robert Downey Jr. wanted to get closer to them.

But seeing their attitude, and then thinking that I'm just a celebrity with a bad reputation, it's understandable that they don't want to talk to me.

A few days ago, he was exercising at home, practicing Wing Chun on a wooden dummy. When he doesn't have any acting jobs, this is the only way he can pass the time.

Then he suddenly received a call from an unknown number. When he answered, it turned out to be someone from MGM, inviting him to star in a movie.

Because of his own self-destructive behavior, Hollywood has almost no place for him anymore. Even his agent has abandoned him, and it's unclear where the agent got his contact information.

He will play a comic book character, Tony Stark, the male lead in Iron Man.

Robert Downey Jr. is not a comic book fan; he had only heard of the character but knew nothing about him.

But it doesn't matter. We've already come to this point, what more could we ask for! We're lucky to even have any filming opportunities.

His salary was only $20?

Sure, he'd take the role for $10, let alone the lead role.

Moreover, the comic book adaptation market is booming right now, so maybe I can make a comeback with this movie.

Then yesterday, he received another call telling him to come to Burbank for a small cameo role.

I found out after asking that it was actually a movie by the super big boss Eric Cooper. Forget about the salary, I just had to come and participate.

A few minutes later, Eric arrived and, after looking around, asked, "Is everyone here? Robert Downey Jr., where's Robert Downey Jr.?"

From the corner, Downey hurried over: "Director, I'm here."

Seeing him squatting alone in the corner, Eric knew what had happened, but who could he blame?

Growing up in such a family environment, even with his extraordinary talent, Robert Downey Jr. inevitably became a drug addict.

Then came the separation from his wife and children, frequent in-and-out prison sentences, until he was finally released at the beginning of last year.

This time he seems to have truly come to his senses, declaring to the public that he will definitely quit drugs completely and start a new life.

Eric didn't believe he could truly kick his addiction because his history of drug use was too long; the terrifying thirty years had made it ingrained in his very being.

However, judging from the situation before the time travel, Robert Downey Jr. has indeed never been involved in drug-related incidents since his release from prison. In fact, he has been enthusiastic about publicizing the dangers of drugs and has become an anti-drug pioneer.

The reason is that the acting industry is lucrative, and actors can use drugs to suppress their addiction.

Simply put, it means replacing a more harmful drug with a less harmful drug that is not yet defined as a drug.

This is something that most families simply cannot afford; it's too expensive.

Moreover, Eric is currently unsupervised and restrained by his second wife, Susan Levine, so he still has concerns about this.

The contract also included a guarantee clause: if Downey relapses, all his salary will be recovered, he will be immediately removed from the production crew, and he will have to issue a public apology.

In the United States, having experienced the impact of hippie culture, society has a relatively high tolerance for marijuana and drugs.

But repeat offenders like Robert Downey Jr. are equally hated, and fans will boycott him; just look at Ezra Miller.

He specifically brought Donnie along because Donnie hadn't appeared in the public eye for a long time.

To boost his popularity for "Iron Man," and the flamboyant Tesla in the video would also be a good fit for him.

Eric pulled Downey over and patted him on the shoulder: "Don't you guys know him? Robert Downey Jr., an Oscar nominee, his 'Chaplin' is brilliant."

People were giving you forced smiles. They hadn't seen "Chaplin," but they often saw you in the news.

"Okay, it seems you really don't know him. Downey will be the male lead in MGM's new movie 'Iron Man,' a big-budget A-list production with a budget of $1.5 million."

"Forget the bad things. Standing before you is a newborn Robert Downey Jr."

Upon hearing this, everyone's expression changed, and the way they looked at Robert Downey Jr. changed as well.

The male lead in an A-list production is someone many haven't even achieved yet, and to gain Eric's approval must mean he has something extraordinary about him.

Donnie felt a warm feeling in his heart, knowing that Eric was helping him build a positive image and integrate into the group.

He humbly greeted everyone again: "Hi Robert Downey Jr., everyone."

Everyone smiled and nodded in response.

"Great, I like the harmonious atmosphere of the crew. Although it's just a short three-minute film, I still hope the filming goes smoothly and we can finish it in one day."

As he spoke, Neill Blomkamp shared the plot summary with everyone, letting them understand the roles they were playing.

They watched while putting on makeup, and the team regrouped half an hour later.

They were all professional actors. Although I found the plot strange and the scene composition odd, I just had to follow the instructions.

"Neil, set up the camera, get ready to shoot some behind-the-scenes footage."

"Everyone else, come with me. Let's learn how to dance the shoulder-shaking dance first."

"The first step is to jump high into the air. When you land, make sure your left foot is forward and your right foot is back, then look to the side."

Eric demonstrated, and everyone immediately followed suit.

"The second step is to rock your shoulders back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth."

"Very good, speed up, faster, even faster."

"Have you ever driven or seen a hand-cranked tractor from the last world? When you wanted to start it, you had to keep cranking it, everyone cranking together!"

"Very good. Pay attention to your expression; a blank face is not right."

"Show your professionalism, make exaggerated expressions as much as possible, be shocked, wink, be seductive and flirtatious, and don't forget to be sexy."

"Then, the third step is to move to the beat of the music!"

Snapped!

Eric snapped his fingers, and a lively background music immediately started playing.

What initially seemed like silly moves immediately looked even sillier, and since they all had dance backgrounds, they found the rhythm and beat on their own, even without Eric saying a word.

"Very good, shake your shoulders!"

"Donnie's expression was great, so flamboyant."

"Ryan was great too, his expressions were very varied."

"Chris, you need to open yourself up more, unleash your true nature, and make your expressions a little more devilish."

"Ryan, Chris, you two are the male leads, get closer, and try to act as gay as possible."

Mary burst into laughter: "I think they don't need to put on any act. Their attire, actions, and the background music already make them look very gay."

The others couldn't help but laugh along, and the more they laughed, the more excitedly they twisted and turned.

Soon the rhythm was gone, and the shoulder-shaking dance turned into a chaotic mess, with everyone improvising as if they were in a nightclub.

Chris Evans pointed to his shoulder and asked, "Director, who came up with this dance? Why is it so mesmerizing? It wasn't you, was it?"

Eric nodded.

"Genius, you really are a genius! But could you please stop making Ryan and me look so gay? I'm with Optimus Prime."

"Can I not wear a vest and khaki pants? And can my name not be Kiki? It sounds weird."

Ryan Reynolds chimed in, "Director, can we not call him 'Chuchu'? Can we not wear overalls? Or take off the fake beard, it's too gay."

Tom Hardy chuckled, "Isn't that even better? Gay culture is all the rage now, and Ashley and Mary both won Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress."

"So, you look down on homosexuals?"

"You're too kind, you're too kind. I look down on heterosexuals, okay?"

"Look at McAvoy's expression. He and Fassbender look like they're the real gays."

James and Fassbender quickly separated, lest they be mistaken for an English gay man.

"Look at Downey, with that alluring and sexy expression and that little mustache, he looks like Tesla from afar, Howard Stark up close, and even a bit like Edward Woods."

Amidst the playful banter, the filming of the shoulder-shaking dance went very smoothly, and it was indeed completed in just one day. We worked overtime that night to do some editing, and it will be released tomorrow.

I went to check out Andrea and Mike's place. Shark Dance is the most difficult to film because it mainly features children. Children are the hardest to control, second only to animals and babies.

The filming of "PPAP" was not very difficult, and Eric only captured the first half, making the video only a few tens of seconds long.

The main problem was that Michael had high standards, which exhausted the Japanese-American actor they had finally found. They filmed dozens of takes and were still not satisfied with his movements and expressions.

That evening, at Leonard's restaurant, Eric and Mike had dinner and a few drinks together.

"Eric, they're starting to urge me from China; Christmas is just around the corner for them."

"McDonald's, it's not Christmas, it's Chinese New Year."

"Yes, they say it's the Spring Festival, which is equivalent to Christmas in the United States."

"What is the length of your contract?"

"China Television wanted to sign me for a week, but the recording of 'The Voice of America' was not finished yet, and I couldn't leave for that long, so I only signed for three days."

"If you factor in the round-trip airfare, three days only leaves two and a half days. Is that enough time for rehearsals?"

Michael smiled and said, "I already have a plan in mind. In fact, I have been training ever since Mei Yi Records was established, in preparation for this year's national tour."

"Although my physical fitness and condition can no longer reach the peak of the past, I can still sing and dance continuously for more than an hour."

"The team is all experienced; once they arrive, we just need to make appropriate adjustments based on the stage setup, and there won't be any problems."

Michael has always been very responsible when it comes to performances, and Eric is confident that he will not let the record down when hundreds of millions of people are watching at the same time.

"Eric, come visit Neverland Ranch sometime. Paris keeps asking where the handsome uncle is."

"Bring Elizabeth and your friends along, she'll love it."

(End of this chapter)