I'm just trying to ride the wave of popularity!

Chapter 339 Harvesting Older Women and Children!
Since the global success of "Twilight," Zhou Yang, who plays a mysterious Eastern exorcist, has unexpectedly gained a group of loyal fans in Europe and America.

These predominantly female fans spontaneously created a fan website called "Zhou's Ashes".

Thanks to the influence of "Twilight" and the online exposure of Zhou Yang's other works, the number of fans flooding into this website is astonishing, with around 30 fans in North America alone...

This website was initially used only to share Zhou Yang's film and television information and personal photos, maintaining a purely fan-oriented nature. It did not organize offline events or involve commercial operations, and was more like a simple fan forum.

Despite the sudden release of "The President Falls in Love with Me" and the lack of extensive promotion by Marvel Studios, it still attracted the attention of some movie fans.

Someone posted information about this movie, and the screenwriter's name is listed as "Zhou Yang".

When the name "Zhou Yang" appeared in the screenwriter section, it briefly sparked discussion within the [Zhou's Ashes] community, but did not generate widespread interest.

On the one hand, some fans questioned whether this might be a work by Zhou Yang under a pseudonym; on the other hand, some people were hesitant because Zhou Yang himself did not act in the film. Nevertheless, many loyal fans went to see the movie out of support, and these fans inadvertently became some of the film's first audience members...

A significant proportion of these women are from a group similar to the protagonist Martha, living in obscurity, like cogs in a machine, struggling to survive at the bottom of society, and largely ignored by others...

With the official release of "The President Falls in Love with Me", this previously dormant fan group suddenly burst forth with amazing energy.

……

Early morning of March 23th!
[Zhou's Ashes] has suddenly exploded!

The website's homepage features a thousand-word article written by Lisa overnight: "When all movies are praising perfect goddesses, only Zhou Yang is willing to create dreams for ordinary people like us!"

The accompanying photo is a comparison of her with Martha from the movie, showing the same freckles, slightly plump figure, and timid eyes.

"Yes, I understand that all of this is fiction, but it is precisely because of his setting that the president is an ordinary girl fighting against the whole world that he has made our dreams come true!"

"This is a movie!"

"A film that was downplayed by mainstream film critics!"

"But who says movies have to follow a certain formula? I'm fed up with all those lovey-dovey movies, I'm fed up with all those long-winded stories, I'm fed up with those damn romance movies!"

"Who says the female lead can only be a glamorous beauty? In this society, everyone is trying to please girls! They are kind, they are cute, they are innocent and naive. Aren't we kind too?"

"Why can't people like us be the protagonists of a story!"

"I do not accept such prejudice!"

"Right now, film critics are attacking this movie!"

"These people are so hypocritical!"

"They give high scores to the movies they like, but low scores to the movies we like!"

"Yet they contemptuously call this gift that Mr. Zhou Yang gave us garbage!"

"This is discrimination, this is unfair!"

"Sisters, it's time to unite!"

"Let's use Lisa's image as our symbol to make our voices heard by those high and mighty film critics! Let everyone see us!"

"Please, this is not just a movie, it's a declaration of war by Zhou Yang's fans, it's a declaration of war on our behalf, a declaration of war against discrimination!"

"..."

Lisa's appeal was like a spark that instantly ignited a raging fire in the [Zhou's Ashes] community.

Her long post was shared wildly, and the comment section was quickly taken over by the "Masa Army"—countless girls changed their profile pictures to the same freckled faces, posted comparison photos of themselves with the female protagonist, and captioned it "We deserve to be seen!"

The hashtag #RealMarthaChallenge swept through Twitter like wildfire, climbing to the top three of the trending list in just two hours.

Someone edited together a scene from "The President's Revenge" where Martha is bullied, juxtaposed it with a film critic's harsh commentary, and shared their own experiences of discrimination in the workplace and at school. Outraged, they posted these stories online, attacking these condescending film critics...

A campaign to "save the ratings" has been launched, calling on fans to flood Rotten Tomatoes with comments like, "Every five-star rating is a bullet aimed at arrogant critics! A bullet against discrimination!"

In the dead of night on the internet battlefield, these previously ignored voices finally coalesced into a torrent, brandishing the "Lisa" avatar, and fought their way into major film critic circles in Europe and America...

Zhou Yang's name was repeatedly mentioned, and some people even went to Chinese websites to leave messages saying, "Thank you, Zhou Yang, for making us visible!"

In this atmosphere, the fans of Zhou Yang's Home in China were completely excited!

They bypassed the Great Firewall to register Twitter and Rotten Tomatoes accounts, and flooded the movie review sections with machine-translated English.

"The sisters from Zhouyang's Home in China are here to help! Keep it up!"

"Keep it up, we support you! Keep it up! Yes, why must movies always have a fixed format? Why?"

"Yes! As long as we like the movie, we'll give it a high score together!"

"come on!"

"Hold on!"

The European and American film critic circles were instantly stunned by this sudden surge of enthusiasm.

The latest negative review of The Hollywood Reporter was suddenly flooded with thousands of Chinese replies: "You call this a bad movie? Look at your Twilight! Without Zhou Yang's participation, how much box office would this movie have made? Look how bad it is!"

"Some even dug up film critic Johnson's old post from three years ago praising 'Fifty Shades of Grey' and lashed out at him: 'Double standard dog! A president falling in love with a janitor is considered a sign of low intelligence, but a wealthy man training an intern is considered art? Typical discrimination. Are pretty girls universally popular?'"

As the hype grew, Rotten Tomatoes accounts that had initially given the film 1-star rating began to collectively change their reviews. Professional film critic Anna Cana's account was so overwhelmed that she had to close her comment section. Her latest post featured a fan-made parody image of her wearing "elite filter" glasses with the caption "Everything looks like garbage."

Under this pressure from public opinion, some film critics began to publicly clarify their positions.

Film critic Mark Johnson issued an urgent apology: "I never questioned the value of love for ordinary girls, I only criticized the film's narrative logic." Anna Cana defended herself, saying the low score was due to product placement, and posted an old article she wrote supporting diverse aesthetics.

However, angry netizens were not convinced and dug up her past remarks mocking "the fantasies of the lower class," accusing her of hypocrisy.

This tug-of-war over the right to aesthetics and the right to speak continues to escalate, with its popularity soaring dramatically, attracting more and more people who seem to have found an outlet for their emotions...

……

this world!

It seems to be getting more and more surreal!

It's so surreal that it's hard to understand, and somewhat incomprehensible...

[Warman Pictures]

From the 20th to the 27th, for a whole week, Carl kept a close eye on the daily updated box office reports!
As online discussions continued to grow, more and more female viewers moved by the film's themes were inspired and went to the cinema to support the work.

Although countless viewers still regard "The President Falls in Love with Me" as a poorly made commercial film, for a certain group of women, this movie is like an irresistible masterpiece with a strong sense of immersion, making them incredibly crazy!
Fueled by the wave of support from the "Martha Legion" on social media, the film has become a spiritual banner for them to fight against aesthetic prejudices, and its box office performance has soared accordingly.

then……

Carl is like a witness!
He witnessed the film's box office grow from over $100 million to over $200 million, and then to $350 million. When he saw "The President Falls in Love with Me" break $500 million in a single day, he was completely dazed...

The secretary nervously handed over the latest data: the global box office has exceeded $1700 million in just seven days!
Oh, God!
Could this movie possibly gross over $5000 million at the box office?

Just as Carl was in a daze, his secretary received another phone call, this time revealing the enormous commercial profits behind the film!
........................

Warner Bros.

In 2004, DV and Warner Bros. were in a critical period of transformation.

With the male market gradually becoming saturated, they have turned their attention to female consumers...

After intense discussions, the decision-makers "keenly sensed" the enormous potential of the female market and decided to bet on the "Catwoman" project, attempting to create the first truly female-oriented superhero movie, seize the initiative in this untapped blue ocean market, and thereby create a consumer-related product line for women...

However, the complete failure of "Catwoman" led them to abandon the idea and instead focus all their energy on "Batman"...

but……

Nobody could have predicted this!
A novel titled "The Domineering President Falls in Love with Me" suddenly appeared out of nowhere!
……

Early in the morning of June 9.

Blunt sat in his office, his fingers tapping silently on the desk, his eyes glued to the box office figures and social media frenzy surrounding "The President Falls in Love with Me" on his computer screen.

Initially, he scoffed at the absurd film, thinking it was just another poorly made Mary Sue farce.

However, when the daily box office exceeded $500 million and related topics continued to dominate the trending searches, he suddenly realized that things were not so simple.

Next!

He witnessed what it means to be shameless and invincible!
The product placements in the movie, which critics ridiculed as "outrageous"—including Chinese brands like Roushun shampoo, Kangzheng screwdrivers, and Bingbing tea—saw a 300% surge in search volume on e-commerce platforms like Amazon!

Twitter is flooded with photos of girls posting about the same products, captioned with things like "Presidential anti-dandruff shampoo" and "Master's proposal screwdriver." There are even groups dedicated to "Martha's Shopping List," enthusiastically recommending these affordable items...

Blunt suddenly stood up, his expression changing slightly: "Immediately retrieve the sales data for 'Catwoman' merchandise!"

When his assistant nervously reported that "DVD sales were only 23 and the co-branded leather jackets were not selling well," he closed his eyes!
He also felt like the world had gone mad!

Their $1.2 million "Catwoman" was completely outshone by this bizarre film with a budget of less than $500 million in terms of merchandise...

At that moment, he suddenly thought of the news from Venice a while ago!

I suddenly remembered that Chinese director from [XuanShi Entertainment] wearing that advertising T-shirt at the Venice Film Festival...

It turns out that it wasn't a farce at all, but a meticulously planned global marketing rehearsal!

Then, seeing the extraordinary buzz online, he stared at his secretary and asked, "Is there someone pulling the strings here?"

"Yes, according to our investigation, apart from the very active 'Lisa' account which is local, some of the accounts that are stirring up trouble seem to be newly registered... Some of these accounts seem to originate from the Chinese website 'Movie House'... These accounts have been consistently pushing for 'being seen'... Several of their articles are incredibly moving, clearly written by professionals, not ordinary people..."

"After these people started the drama, the fans of [Zhou Yang's Home] were also drawn into it. Several accounts that came with [Zhou's Ashes] clearly have professional management teams... They used the film critics' insults to make this drama very intense... It's still trending now!"

this moment!
Blunt fell silent.

Suddenly, the image of that bespectacled figure flashed into his mind. This Chinese madman had long ago calculated the desire of a specific group to "be seen," and used one film after another to simultaneously reap box office and brand benefits.

"He tapped into a specific female market! These products from China precisely hit the target user profile."

The secretary reported in a low voice.

But Blunt's gaze shifted to the data of China's internet film industry, and what he saw shocked him...

"No! He's not just reaping the benefits of the female market!"

"he……"

"My God, this, this, this..."

"..."

(End of this chapter)