How did I become famous?

"A bunch of bitches! Old fogies! Trash!"

In a villa in Beverly Hills, a 1.9-meter-tall, muscular man with thick chestnut hair was cursing wildly.

"Come on, bro, what's wrong with you today?"

The middle-aged man sitting opposite him was his agent.

The man who is currently furious is none other than Tom Smith, a well-known "tyrant" in Hollywood and a two-time Oscar winner for Best Director.

His previous film, "Mississippi," raked in a billion dollars worldwide last year, making it the undisputed top-grossing film of the year.

He was originally going to have afternoon tea with several college chairpersons and members of the judging panel today.

However, his good mood was completely ruined.

"Jerry, you don't understand. Those damn bastards deserve to go to hell!"

His agent, Jerry, knew his personality very well, because he didn't seem puzzled at all, but instead laughed and said, "God! Did they somehow give your 'Mississippi' a hard time?"

"On the contrary, they lavished praise on 'Mississippi,' and that's not why I'm angry."

Tom took a sip of his coffee, which had no sugar or milk at all, and sighed, "I just think they're short-sighted."

"What did they do to upset you this time?" Jerry asked casually.

He had known this "tyrant's" character for over twenty years.

Tom is usually a cheerful, approachable guy next door, but when it comes to movies or on set, he transforms into a ruthless, tyrannical man, and he's criticized more than one top actor.

But people still flock to work with him because they know that if they play an important role in his film, their chances of winning an Oscar will be much higher.

When Jerry asked about it, Tom's expression, which had calmed down, turned ugly again: "They showed me several films nominated for Best Foreign Language Film. There was one that I really liked, but they scoffed at it."

"Oh? British? French? Or Italian?"

"No, that movie is Chinese."

"China?" Jerry was taken aback, then became interested. "Didn't you always look down on movies from there?"

That's true.

China is a very powerful country in this world, and its film market has long been close to North America's second largest box office market.

But Tom never liked the movies there.

He felt that the films from that country all had an old and decadent feel to them.

He's someone who likes innovation, and that's not what he likes.

"This time is different." Tom shook his head and repeated his words, "Buddy, this time is different."

"Actually, the old guys at the academy also thought highly of the film. It was even nominated for six awards: Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Music, Best Editing, Best Costume Design, and Best Makeup."

"That amazing?" Jerry paused slightly, stirring his coffee with his spoon. "Which country has experts of this caliber?"

"Of course it's amazing. The editing, music, special effects, and everything else in that movie are all amazing, especially that 'bullet time' thing, which has never been done before! Man! That movie really gave me a lot of inspiration!" Tom's face turned red, one of the signs that he was getting excited.

Jerry asked curiously, "Then why are you still angry?"

"What angers me is that they didn't grasp the essence of that film," Tom said, taking a sip of his coffee. "That film pioneered a new genre, which I call 'Superhero'!"

He sighed: "It's ridiculous that those short-sighted old guys treated it like a big-budget popcorn movie, so they only gave nominations to the special effects, editing, and music that they thought were amazing. But what's truly amazing is the movie itself."

That's right, he discovered what made that movie unique!

Ultimately, movies are meant to be seen by the majority of people.

Some niche films may be appreciated by some professionals, but most people won't understand them, so what's the point?

Actually, compared to the three major European film industries, the Oscars are already quite commercial.

For film, the distinction between "art" and "commerce" is a difficult one.

Typically, Oscar voters take a compromise approach, selecting films that are both "artistic" and "commercial," achieving the best balance between the two—neither too highbrow nor too vulgar.

However, when faced with extreme films, such as those that receive rave reviews but perform poorly at the box office, the Oscar judges generally choose to pass on them.

But the Oscars also have a big problem, which is that they are "correct in their own way".

To put it bluntly, it means conforming to Western aesthetic values.

The Oscar judges are all highly respected industry veterans.

Their problem is that they are out of touch with the times.

They are often a generation younger than the directors of the films in competition, and more than two generations younger than the movie audience.

This is very difficult.

Moreover, their selection process began to become bizarre.

Want to win Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actor/Actress?

You can't be too handsome, nor too beautiful.

Various forms of bizarre behavior have become a common feature of the performances of male and female Oscar winners. These include playing an old person with a youthful face; portraying a person with eccentric behavior, a genius, or even a madman; playing a hero based on a real person; and pretending to have a heavy accent.

This is also why Tom doesn't care much about Oscar.

Of course, this is also because he has already won two Oscars.

Tom shook his head and put those thoughts out of his mind.

He suddenly leaned forward, looking seriously at his agent who was leisurely stirring coffee on the opposite sofa: "Jerry, I need you."

Jerry rolled his eyes, giving him a helpless look: "Alright, director, what crazy idea have you come up with this time?"

"Do me a favor. I've found out that the director is already in America. Can you find him for me? I need to see him!"

"I knew it." Jerry slapped his forehead. "But Tom, I don't know which hotel he's staying at."

"So this is a request." Tom smiled. "Jerry, I believe you will find them with God's guidance."

"Come on, I'm a follower of the Flying Spaghetti Monster." Jerry downed his coffee in one gulp, then stood up and straightened his tie. "Give me three hours."

"OK! I'll wait for your good news!"

Three hours later—

"Tom, I've found them."

"Great! Where is it? I'm coming right now!"

"Um... I'm afraid you won't be able to see him for the time being."

"Why? Is it because he doesn't want to see me?"

"No, it's just... his companion said he got lost."

"what?"

P.S.: Novels are different from reality, and some dramatic elements are necessary for the sake of drama. Please don't worry about the minor details; I'll try my best to handle them well.

After all, I've never been to the Oscars.

If I'd been to the Oscars...

Then why should I even bother writing novels...?