Generation Z Artists

Chapter 315 Better and better
It was late at night. Liu Yifei, who had just returned from a radio program, stepped out of the elevator and passed by Fang Xinghe's suite. She found the door wide open and the man who stirred her complicated feelings was writing at the small bar.

Her steps involuntarily stopped, and she hesitated for a moment.

Should we not bother him?

But I've been in the US for many days now and haven't had any direct communication yet. Is that not a good thing?
Two conflicting thoughts were raging in the little girl's mind, leaving her bewildered.

"Hey? Sisi, what are you standing there for?"

Wang Chali personally pushed the food cart out of another elevator, and then broke through her hesitation with his enthusiasm.

"Perfect timing! Did you just get back and haven't had a late-night snack yet? I specially invited a Chinese chef from Chinatown to cook for the boss. Today we have authentic Sichuan and Hunan cuisine. Come on in and have a couple of bites!"

Wang Chali's accent has finally become that of a native of Northeast China, and paired with his blond hair and blue eyes, he looks quite comical.

"Hunan cuisine?!"

Suddenly, her senior sister appeared out of nowhere, her eyes shining, and grabbed her and dragged her away.

"Hurry up, hurry up! I've been eating so much pizza and burgers these past two days that I haven't been able to poop!"

Liu Yifei was pulled into the suite in a daze and sat opposite the man, where she was given a special meal.

She didn't dare to look up at the director much.

But Fang Xinghe looked at her openly and asked, "How does it feel to become the new goddess of North America?"

"It's not that exaggerated."

Liu Yifei shook her head and replied calmly, "Not many people like me. The few who do are probably just lucky because the movies are so good."

Fang Xinghe couldn't help but look at her with new respect.

So clear-headed...

Indeed, in Fang's version of "Young Love", Chen Nian is the character with more screen time and more room for performance, but Zhang Xiaobei is the character with a more appealing personality and more fans.

Chen Nian's gloomy and withdrawn nature in the early stages only evoked pity, and her acceptance of Zhang Xiaobei's help in taking the blame made her seem cowardly and selfish. It wasn't until she let go and took responsibility that she was completely redeemed and transformed into a butterfly.

Zhang Xiaobei is different. His character was extremely appealing from the beginning, and his ending was incredibly cool.

The visual impact is hard to describe in words. Anyway, the last scene, shot by Fang Xinghe, was absolutely breathtaking. He only used half of Zhang Xiaobei's profile to make him the most handsome guy of the year.

Keanu Reeves and Fang Xinghe are currently "fighting" on Magazine, with fans arguing every day about who is the most handsome man in the world.

Liu Yifei certainly gained fans, but in terms of both quantity and degree, they were far less than before. The benefits of "Young Love" for her were more reflected in her global fame, status, and development potential.

Unlike her previous life, she is now a big star with international fame, but she doesn't have many fans, and is even deeply disliked and envied by the stars in the sky.

However, the girl was quite indifferent to her own situation, and all her curiosity was directed towards the dog.

"Director, what are you still writing?"

"Press release".

"You even wrote the press release yourself?"

"It wasn't written for us, it was written for 'The Hulk'."

"what?"

Nenxian became more and more confused as she listened, but she didn't care about saving face and asked questions whenever she didn't understand.

"Are you going to attack them?"

"Pretty much, it's a kind of comparison and belittling."

Fang Xinghe dared to do this, so he wasn't afraid of anyone finding out.

He raised his hand as if it were a knife and chopped down.

"If I strike with this knife, 'The Hulk' will fall to the ground on the spot, and the rest of the market will be ours."

The little girl was still too naive and innocent, and asked in confusion, "Our movies are so good, is it really necessary? Besides, 'The Hulk' isn't even the same type of movie as ours..."

Since he couldn't work while eating, Fang Xinghe decided to chat with her for a bit longer.

At the same time, it was also to explain to Wang Charlie, so that this student who studied both Chinese and American studies could catch up with his thinking as soon as possible.

"Do you know how a movie can achieve excessive box office revenue in the United States?"

The young fairy shook her head honestly: "I don't understand."

"A very simple four-step process—"

Fang Xinghe counted them one by one on his fingers.

First, choose a good time slot;

Second, secure the theater chains and obtain large theaters and prime screening times;
Third, they used every means to lure audiences into the cinema;
Fourth, we must do everything we can to eliminate all our competitors from the same period.

After mastering these four points, excess profits will naturally follow.

The head of the online trolls spoke eloquently, revealing a business understanding that bordered on art.

"This logic is different from that in China, different from that in South Korea, and different from that in Japan."

Because in the United States at this moment, watching movies is a very cheap daily expense; it is not an occasional activity, but a high-frequency and high-intensity lifestyle habit.

In the city, most families go to see a movie every weekend.

In the vast countryside, young and middle-aged people are so bored that driving to town to watch a movie is often their only form of entertainment.

And once summer vacation arrives, movies become a regular pastime for teenagers.

Based on statistics from the past five years, the total number of moviegoers during the North American summer season has remained relatively stable, without significant fluctuations due to the quality of the films themselves.

Last year's total box office was 34.5 billion yuan, the year before it was 37 billion yuan, and this year's will also fall within this range.

There is no other film market in the world as stable and large as this one, and this stability naturally gives rise to a special possibility—

If there are no particularly outstanding films during a certain period of a major movie season, then viewers with fixed consumption habits will be passively deprived of their choice and will have to watch a film that is not their favorite but is the only one they can afford.

Ultimately, all the box office revenue will concentrate on the film that generates the most buzz…

That's how "The Blair Witch Project" reaped all the benefits. If there had been a serious blockbuster movie at the same time, it wouldn't have had the chance to use its marketing to capture that group of idle people.

As the leader of Gen Z online trolls, Fang Xinghe is fully qualified to say: No one understands the American film market better than me.

This time, all his actions were essentially about taking the first three steps well.

In terms of scheduling, he drove away all the competitors who exceeded his standards and gathered a few mediocre people around him.

On the theatrical front, Warner Bros., with no films to release, went to great lengths, mainly to disrupt Universal and Sony, and secondarily to make money through "The Young Ones".

In terms of publicity, bullying and anti-bullying have become a social focus, arousing great curiosity among the audience.

Now, it's time to do the fourth thing.

As long as "The Incredible Hulk" remains strong, then next week will still be a strong period for "Young Love," and there will still be something to do with it.

Liu Yifei was amazed by Fang Xinghe's way of thinking, but also felt a little awkward about it.

"But, but..."

She hesitated for a long time before finally managing to say, "But you're an artist..."

"When I'm making movies or writing novels, I'm an artist."

Fang Xinghe calmly replied, "When the movie is released, I can also be an art dealer. There's no conflict between the two."

With a snap, Nenxian felt something inside her crack open.

This is not the Director Fang she imagined.

But for some reason, Fang Xinghe in this state suddenly made her feel at ease.

just like……

From a god who was high above, untouchable, and unfathomable, he regained warmth, humanity, and flaws.

"Oh fine."

She nodded, bewildered but solemn, offering her carefully considered blessings.

"Then come on!"

……

It's just a dig at the Hulk, what's there to cheer him on for?
Fang wrote several sharp film reviews with his eyes closed, then sent them to Warner Bros.' marketing department, where they quickly appeared in the most prominent place. "The Hulk is a passable art film, but at the same time, it's also a zero-point comic book superhero movie."

Director Li imbued this film with too much meaning, thought, and profound narrative, but the irony is that it completely contradicts the audience's expectations.

Before stepping into the cinema, I hoped to see amazing special effects, a giant green monster beating everything up, and flames of anger burning fiercely, with every frame pushing my adrenaline to new heights.

But what did I actually see?
Banner didn't officially start transforming into the Hulk until the 40th minute, and the first battle finally began in the 65th minute, but he only fought a few dogs.

In that dark night, in that blurry scene, the Hulk beats up three dogs!

Jesus!

I never expected action scenes as imaginative as those in "Hero," but this kind of scene is just too absurd.

Give me an hour to prepare, and I can do five at once!

I was drowsy and endured a full 130 minutes of boredom and regret. Guess what happened?
The final battle was even more ridiculous!
Both of them transform, then you hug me and I hug you, I absorb you, and after absorbing you I'm so full I die from overeating, and that's the end.

Good heavens, a $1.37 million investment, and the special effects seem to have cost only 5 cents? There are no big-scale fight scenes, no decent visual spectacles, and the whole thing is dull, dull, dull. You call this a summer blockbuster?
It's not even half as good as Better Days!
I genuinely believe that *The Incredible Hulk* and *Better Days* should switch directors. That way, *Better Days* would be more artistic, profound, and melancholic, while *The Incredible Hulk* would be incredibly exhilarating, perhaps even smashing half the Earth with a single punch…

The film reviews, written by the head of the online trolls, are characterized by their unprofessionalism and populism.

He doesn't talk about anything profound; he just hits the points that the audience cares about most.

After the film review was published, a new meme began to circulate across the United States: "How many dogs can you beat in 60 minutes?"

The Hulk suffered a major blow to its reputation, and Universal was certainly trying its best to make up for it. They forced the Rotten Tomatoes critics' rating to 62%, which is a passing grade, but the audience approval rating was only 25%.

Oh, it started at 29%, but after Fang posted a few complaints, it quickly dropped to 25%.

Over the weekend, "Hulk" still raked in $5800 million at the box office, which is the base for the combination of a blockbuster and Li An.

But starting next Monday, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse.

The Hulk flopped at the box office and received even worse reviews. Audiences in the movie theater lobby joked, "Hey, are you planning to watch that green giant abuse dogs? Give me $20, and I can beat him up!"

Then I turned around and chose "Less You".

"I heard this is a heavy-themed, yet exciting movie that will make you laugh and cry. I'll definitely go see it!"

"The Incredible Hulk" dropped to the 500 million level of daily box office, while "The Young Ones" rose instead of falling, returning to the 800 million level.

In its third week of release, $800 million on a weekday is simply amazing.

The media quickly predicted that Fang Xinghe would be the box office champion in the third week and began to call him a genius director.

How did they describe Li An?
"Only suitable for making art films."

"A dull, middle-aged man lacking imagination."

"This failure once again proves the lack of business acumen in my mind."

"He probably really doesn't understand what an orgasm is."

……

Director Li was furious.

He hurriedly went on a talk show to defend himself.

“From a cultural perspective, I must understand why the Hulk behaves and speaks in this way. What kind of cultural spirit does it represent? From a psychological perspective, I must also understand what kind of symbol the Hulk represents and why the Hulk is so popular with the public. These are obviously two very fundamental questions regarding the social and cultural aspects of art.”

Unfortunately, the audience didn't buy it.

One audience member even stood up and asked, "What do you think of Star River's 'Better Days'? Its box office performance was much better."

The media has recently been quite keen to compare the two.

One is from mainland China, the other from Taiwan; both are renowned for their talent, both have won Best Director awards, and both have directed blockbuster martial arts films…

The similarities are so numerous that it's hard not to make it a topic of conversation.

Old Li was already being harassed by reporters every day, and now the audience members at the scene were also yelling at him, finally breaking his spirit.

"What's so interesting about a pretentious kid trying to be cool and dating?"

Well, now the media is absolutely thrilled, constantly chasing after Fang Xinghe, asking for his opinion.

Fang Ge didn't mention "The Hulk" at all, giving it no attention whatsoever, and calmly replied, "We're already considering our next competitor."

Fun fact: This wasn't McGrady's original quote.

Fun fact: Fang Xinghe's original words were indeed like this.

The appearance of the "King of Pretense" has further boosted the film's popularity.

On Thursday, he boarded a private plane in a grand manner and left the United States for Japan to attend an "Anti-bullying Seminar" hosted by the Ministry of Education.

Our second-ranked brother couldn't withstand the social pressure. Whether it was to divert attention or to show that we were making efforts, he held a big meeting, which was quite interesting.

Fang Xinghe can ignore other excitements, but he absolutely has to join in this one!

When American media saw that Fang Xinghe had gone, a large number of top media outlets, such as The Washington Post, The New York Times, and CNN, followed him.

At the start of the meeting, a Japanese Ministry of Education official gave a deep 90-degree bow as an apology to the world.

Fang almost died laughing. It seemed like he was about to resign after the meeting.

To be honest, he really didn't expect that casually making a movie would not only showcase the traditional skills of Japanese potters, but also bring down two high-ranking officials. It's truly outrageous...

The meeting then proceeded smoothly, and the organizers specially prepared a speaking opportunity for Brother Fang.

This time, the "King of Pretentiousness" didn't try to be pretentious. With extreme honesty and rationality, he elevated the theme.

This is how he uses his speaking skills.

“I was a very typical victim of bullying before. My father left home, my mother died, I had no one to protect me, no ability to survive, and I was both an outsider and a weak person.”

After that, I began to transform into a somewhat atypical bully.

I don't need anyone to whitewash my behavior. Back then, I did gather a group of friends, collect protection money from my peers, and often used violence to maintain my status.

I'm using my own example to illustrate that school bullying is a complex, systemic problem that cannot be solved by any administrative order, any law or regulation, or the efforts of any one or a few institutions.

Does individual resistance have a positive effect on alleviating school bullying?
There is.

However, this balance is very difficult to grasp.

Protests can easily escalate conflicts, create new forms of bullying, and even polarize into pure violence like that seen in the United States.

However, failing to resist can easily allow bullying to become normalized, solidified, and concealed...

This problem has no solution at the level of the teenagers themselves.

My film, "Less You," was entirely a spontaneous act of resistance. However, I must remind everyone that such resistance is too idealistic and can only provide encouragement to teenagers on a spiritual level. It lacks guidance for systematically solving the problem of school bullying.

The truly effective approach must involve multiple parties working together with one heart and one mind.

The government is responsible for alleviating and channeling social pressure, preventing adults from passing on their stress to their children.

Legislative bodies should conduct research and enact legislation as soon as possible to incorporate the issue of school bullying into the legal framework.

The education authorities should adjust their internal governance structure as soon as possible and establish a supervision and defense mechanism at the school and teacher levels.

The media should provide timely and accurate reminders to parents, using social education to correct their family education concepts, emphasize the importance of children's mental health, and prevent weakness and excessive resistance...

In summary, Fang Xinghe spoke seriously like a true expert and professor, sharing a lot of valuable insights.

The applause was thunderous when it ended.

This was not an occasion for showing off, so he displayed his best attitude, most meticulous logic, most expansive thinking, and most fervent sincerity.

His last words were this:

"I am already walking on a road paved with flowers, and I hope that all teenagers around the world, just like me, can walk on a road paved with flowers."

I cannot save anyone, but a child with a heart full of love will naturally save the world twenty years from now, our world.

The world isn't always a good place, but if there's a chance to make it better, I'm willing to do everything in my power to do so. Better, and better.

The speech, with its profound message, naturally made headlines in major media outlets.

Whether in Japan, South Korea, or, most importantly, North America, discussions about bullying and anti-bullying have reached their peak.

The meeting was held on Thursday and the news was published on Friday. By Saturday, June 28, after being released for half a month, "Better Days" saw its daily box office rise instead of fall, and even hit a new high of $2026 million, becoming the highest-grossing youth film in history!

(End of this chapter)