Generation Z Artists

Chapter 317 Hiking in the Mountain
The release of Terminator 3 did not cause any trouble for The Young Ones.

The new movie naturally had a high box office, but "The Young Ones" had a stable audience and, after entering a long-term run, was hardly affected by external factors.

This is thanks to Director Fang's masterful control over the plot.

Anti-bullying was just a gimmick; once the potential of the gimmick was exhausted, the true essence of "Less Than You" began to shine.

Essentially, what he praises and celebrates is the innocent love and redemption of youth.

As a touching and delicate love story, "The Younger You" is extremely appealing to female audiences.

Female viewers, however, are always able to generate more buzz.

So starting around July 5th, the promotional style for "Less Than You" changed drastically again.

Where can I find a perfect boyfriend like Xiao Bei?

Similar topics have begun to emerge on the internet in major developed countries around the world.

Internet traffic generation is the new era's boat.

As the captain, Fang Xinghe knew how to arouse the interest of netizens, especially female netizens.

The post, based on fantasy, lists the qualities a perfect boyfriend should possess, outlining a dreamy romantic template for teenage girls.

The posters are mostly women, and they are engaging in first-person fantasy from their own perspectives.

He must be shy and introverted, so that the sisters can take the initiative to develop him.

He should also be brave and passionate, able to take the lead when needed.

He possesses a masculine spirit and is a bloodthirsty hunter, ruthless to outsiders and fearless in the face of danger.

He reserved all his tenderness for his lover; he was patient and tolerant.

In a society like a jungle, he is a strongman.

In romantic relationships, he is a haven.

When it comes to truly critical moments, he is courageous in taking responsibility, dares to tackle difficulties, and is adept at solving problems.

Most importantly, he was as handsome as a gentle breeze and the bright moon...

The post immediately received a positive response from female netizens.

That's... pretty inhuman.

To be honest, everywhere in the world, the common characteristics of teenagers are always recklessness, impulsiveness, immaturity, and fickleness. There is no such thing as perfection.
The result of setting the standards too high is... nobody can have a good time, everyone has to break up with me.

The material Warner had previously accumulated quickly came in handy.

The TV station made a special program to share the big battle between young couples after watching "Les Young".

"Fuck you! You don't love me at all!"

"Snapped!"

He slapped her hard across the face, and the girl ran away angrily.

The reporter immediately approached the boy and asked, "Hey buddy, what's going on? Did you two have an argument because of the movie?"

"I don't know!"

The boy looked completely bewildered, holding back his tears with a wronged expression.

"When she questioned me about why I didn't stand up for Lina when she bullied her..."

"So why is that?"

When the reporter pressed for more details, the boy became even more aggrieved.

"But how am I supposed to know she was bullied? They were laughing and joking together, but after they separated, she suddenly rolled her eyes and called Lina a bitch. I just don't understand it!"

"puff!"

The reporter, utterly lacking in professional ethics, turned away and burst out laughing.

And such farces are not isolated incidents; they occur frequently.

American teenagers are quite casual about dating, breaking up and getting back together frequently, and behaving frivolously.

This is a cultural gene, originally insignificant, but after Warner's clever interpretation, normal emotional changes became the unique influence of "Les Young".

Warner specifically chose a handsome man and a beautiful woman as the typical representatives.

The boy is a member of the baseball team, and the girl is the captain of the cheerleading squad.

They broke up on the spot in the movie theater, had a big fight, and the whole thing was captured on camera.

Finally, the reporter asked the girl why.

She replied, "That bastard only thinks about sex. He's with me for my body, there's no love at all!"

I didn't ask him to escort me to and from school; I just wanted him to go shopping with me. But he told me: "Go find your sisters. You have your life, and I have mine. We shouldn't interfere with each other."

Fuck! When you asked me to come out to a hotel, weren't you worried about intruding on our personal space?!

I'm done with him!

Next time, I'll be more discerning and find a man like Xiao Bei..."

"Men like Xiao Bei" quickly became a topic of casual conversation among North American girls.

On a higher level, "Less You" has become a synonym for a unique concept of love.

The women's magazine wrote: "It is pure, beautiful, and sincere. It transcends the basis of lust and is sublimated in the inner circle of the spirit. It does not pursue momentary pleasure but desires to fill each other's gaps, thereby finding the meaning of existence and obtaining a deeper satisfaction."

This is the most authentic form of love, and also the original fantasy of all adults about love.

Unfortunately, it only exists briefly in first love, leaving us longing for it but unable to reach it.

We are too muddled and too complicated. As we grow older, we become more and more adept at navigating this society, but we also lose the ability to love wholeheartedly and simply.

I see this state as the greatest tragedy of humanity—perhaps men have different opinions, seeing it as maturity and growth, but I don't.

I will always believe that love is both the beginning and the end.

Women who are obsessed with being artsy and pretentious are incomprehensible.

Don't be surprised, Europe and America not only have female literary youth, but also a large number of them, and their quality is high.

As a result, "Less You" also became popular among adult women.

Romance movies, in the end, always revolve around women.

Therefore, when the movie-watching frenzy caused by the bullying marketing subsided, "Better Days" did not suffer a setback. Instead, it stabilized at an incredibly high base, steadily reaping box office revenue.

One statistic, whose source is unknown, suggests that every committed female viewer can generate at least four additional viewers.

This data may not be accurate, but the period of stability for "Less Than You" was indeed surprisingly long.

From July 5th to the end of July, the weekday box office of "Better Days" started to decline slightly from 4 million yuan, and continued to fall to 2 million yuan at the end of July. After the scale of screening was reduced, the box office per theater actually rebounded a bit.

On weekends, box office revenue can rebound by two to three million US dollars.

This gives "Young You" and "Under the Sea" a rather special value for long-term screening.

The 5 million mark was firmly broken, and 5.5 million did not become an obstacle. The box office data slowly but steadily moved towards 6 million.

While the revelry in Japan and South Korea ended and people were exhausted from the release, "Les Young" still had a place in North America.

Domestically, there's also a constant stream of good news—the education authorities are truly outrageous, dragging fifth and sixth graders into movie theaters.

Thanks to the absence of violent, gory, or erotic scenes in "The Young Ones," the administrative viewing requirements did not encounter resistance from parents, and the box office skyrocketed from 1.6 million yuan.

When it was taken off the screens, the official gross was 302 million. But don't think that's a small number. It took two screenings for "Hero" to break the 400 million mark. Given the number of screens in China in 2003, "Lesser Ones" was practically the ceiling for a single screening.

More importantly, as the audience for the film rapidly expands among teenagers, the reputation of "Better Days" is becoming increasingly solid.

When enough young people have seen the movie, it doesn't matter how much the media, experts, and old-timers in the film industry criticize it. Whether you like it or not is a very personal matter, and coincidentally, Fang's version of "Young You" is exciting enough.

One of the most direct pieces of evidence is that Yang Xiaomi has completely become the An Jiahe of the campus.

When Mr. Feng Yuanzheng was walking on the main road or in the market, he would often find that an older woman would suddenly spit at him.

"Pah! You disgusting, damned piece of trash!"

He gets scolded every day; there's never a day without him being scolded.

Yang Xiaomi is the same; she gets eye-rolls and rumors spread about her by girls from the same school every day.

"You vixen!"

"She looks really mean."

"She's so annoying... Turn around quickly, she's looking over here, or you'll get beaten up!"

"I'm so angry! I really don't know what she's so smug about!"

"Wow, really, I feel angry whenever I see her."

In reality, everyone understands that Wei Lai is just a character.
It's simply that they're too deeply involved and can't get out of it.

As Fang's mouthpiece, the Beijing Youth Daily reported this situation as an interesting anecdote and offered an "objective" evaluation.

"The students' likes and dislikes are simple and sincere. For every person who dislikes Wei Lai, there is just as many who love Bei Nian."

Fang Xinghe made an idol movie for the 80s and 90s generation in a way that was not typical of idols. Bei Nian's posters sold like hotcakes, Bei Nian's nickname flooded the internet, and Bei Nian's lines became the catchphrases of young people... All of this stemmed from the restlessness of emotions.

Some scholars criticize "Young Love" for advocating early romance, but where is the romance? There is only the approach and comfort of two barren souls.

There's nothing wrong with teenagers envying and yearning for this kind of relationship.

What Fang Xinghe was conveying was not a view on love, but rather a more fundamental set of values ​​and beliefs.

In other words: In our limited youth, what is more important?

The answer is the righteousness of protecting the weak and the courage to admit and correct mistakes. Zhang Xiaobei went without hesitation, and Chen Nian turned back at the edge of the cliff. Happiness was once so far away from them, but in the end, they still held it in their hands.

Personally speaking, I consider "Young You" to be the greatest youth film in modern China.

However, a good friend in the industry corrected me, saying: China didn't have any truly meaningful youth films before "You Are My Destiny" came out.

So I will revise my answer—

From my personal perspective, "The Younger Ones" is the best teen narrative film in my opinion, regardless of nationality or language.

It moved me to the point of being overwhelmed with emotion and joy.

I look forward to seeing more films like "Young You" in the Chinese film industry, and I believe that day is not far away...

Following the trend, Old Zhou, who had styled his hair in a "Z" shape on the side, shook his newspaper, clicked his tongue, and sighed at Han Han.

"Your buddy is awesome! I'm impressed! Young Master Han, when can you introduce us? I want an autograph and a photo too, it'll make me look really cool when I go to take pictures with my girlfriend later!"

Han Han looked at his sideburns, her expression incredibly complicated.

This hairstyle isn't unusual; you see it everywhere.

What's strange is that this group of unruly drivers not only started imitating Fang Xinghe's hairstyle, but also began to highly praise one of his younger brothers.

In this day and age, who do you admire most when it comes to racing cars?
However, as far as he knew, not only in the racing circle, but also in the motorcycle circle, the tattoo circle, the gangster circle, the trendy circle... all of these circles were convinced of Fang Xinghe's sincerity.

Almost all marginalized teenagers regard Fang Xinghe as an idol.

These people can't contribute much money, nor do they buy Xinghe's endorsed products. They just blindly wear Xinghe and AS clothes and imitate Fang Xinghe's words and actions in every way.

What kind of force is this?
The naive and rebellious Han Han couldn't figure it out. He just felt stifled and stubborn, gritting his teeth to dispel the shadow of that mountain in his mind.

"I'm not that familiar with him."

Han Han tried her best to appear nonchalant.

“We’re not on the same path at all. He has his own scenery, and I have my own future.”

In a flash, all the friends around him turned to look at him.

The atmosphere remained tense for a while before the elder brother, Wang Yi, spoke up to smooth things over.

"Yes, our Young Master Han is no slouch either. He'll definitely make a name for himself in the racing world in the future. Then we'll be cross-disciplinary geniuses, not inferior to Fang Xinghe at all!"

Isn't that a lie?
Actually, the older brother was incredibly nervous, but he didn't want to think about it anymore. He simply said casually, "Once I've saved enough money, I might make a movie. It'll be about our story, a racing version... about us when we were young."

The group laughed heartily, not taking it seriously, but still enthusiastically imagining what was going on.

Only Han Han truly planted the seed of belief in his heart.

It consists of two famous quotes that have been passed down through the ages—

This is how a husband should be!

And...he can be replaced.

But that's a story for later. The reality right now is that Brother Fang's reputation is at its zenith, and he's garnered immense popularity.

In just over a month of its release, it surged by 20 billion, enough to spend what it couldn't afford, and also gained an extra 4 Star Points.

Commercial achievements like box office revenue aren't really suitable for generating star power, as they lack emotional stimulation. However, when the fan base is large enough, anything is possible.

Starlight can only be used to ignite inspiration and is not very useful for the time being, but those 4 points of starlight instantly maxed out the power to 99 points.

At this point, only three attributes—Perception, Immunity, and Health—are still incomplete, leaving a Star Glory gap of 27 points.

Fang Ge wasn't in a hurry. Although it was becoming increasingly difficult to obtain Star Glory, his career path was already on the right track. To use a famous saying to describe it: he was calm and composed, handling everything with ease.

Upon returning to China in early July, Fang Xinghe found himself facing another meeting at the Film Bureau. Unable to bear the prospect of dealing with it, he fled to Japan and South Korea.

After the meet-and-greet, he plunged headfirst into the advertising shoot. These eager merchants were like tigers and wolves, wishing they could tie him to the set 24 hours a day.

These days, advertising creativity is just so-so. In fact, businesses really wanted Fang Xinghe to direct it himself, but he didn't accept the offer.

They just want to make money by accepting endorsements in Japan and South Korea; why bother with genuine feelings?
The director's fee is a separate price.

So far, only Jeanswest's parkour advertisement has benefited from Fang Ge's all-out efforts.

Even big-name ads, including those for Samsung phones, only feature one face – that's about it.

Having evaded the Film Bureau's summary and commendation meetings, I returned to China in late July.

Fang Xinghe began to ponder another important matter—which two younger brothers should be selected for the new provincial scholarship fund?

The poor guys, including Qingqing, Shanshan, Gangan, and Guigui, rushed out without even putting on their coats properly, just pulling up their underwear.

Bro, look at me, look at me! I can do a backflip!

In the competition for this educational grant, which is worth hundreds of millions of yuan, an unprecedented phenomenon has emerged across the country—every border province, and most of China, is singing praises for this young man.

Different perspectives, same feelings: just praise.

Although his combined influence cannot compare to that of the media in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Pearl River Delta, and his substantial help to Fang Xinghe is not significant, his influence is even stronger in poorer areas.

On a smaller scale, this is the foundation for the future.

On a grand scale, this is the highest level of self-actualization.

Therefore, Fang Xinghe declined all unnecessary social engagements and personally embarked on the inspection trip.

With the revenue from "Heroes" already being settled in installments, now is the perfect time to distribute it.
There is only one goal: to flatten all the mountains in China that block young people from pursuing their education!
(End of this chapter)