69novels Chapter 50 Polarization
Chapter 50 Polarization
In March 2005, which was supposed to be a relatively peaceful month, 20th Century Fox dropped a precision-guided depth charge that detonated directly in the heart of Hollywood.
Driven by 20th Century Fox, Variety and The Hollywood Reporter updated their website headlines almost simultaneously:
"After four script hiatuses, Fox has restarted production on 'The Devil Wears Prada,' with Chinese director Ryan Lam at the helm and two-time Oscar winners Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway starring. French luxury goods giant PPR Group has invested five million dollars in cash."
As News Corporation, the parent company of Fox, quickly followed suit with its media resources, Fox News continuously broadcast photos of Lin Ruiyang holding the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival during its morning news, with the female anchor announcing in an impassioned tone:
"Hollywood is welcoming a 20-year-old Eastern magician."
News flashes from various media outlets followed closely, filling major portals within hours.
The New York Times: "Twentieth Century Fox announced today that twenty-year-old Chinese director Ryan Lam will direct 'The Devil Wears Prada,' and Meryl Streep has been confirmed to play Miranda Priestley."
This Berlin Silver Bear winner has, in less than a month, moved from the realm of arthouse films to the heart of Hollywood A-list productions.
The Los Angeles Times: "Fox Searchlight has officially rebooted 'The Devil Wears Prada,' with a surprising choice for director—a 20-year-old newcomer from China."
The Chicago Sun-Times: "It doesn't really follow standard operating logic for Fox to hand over a commercial comedy to a young director who has only made one low-budget film. But perhaps they have their own reasons."
However, this one-sided praise was torn apart just an hour later.
As a long-time rival of News Corp., NBC (National Broadcasting Company), a subsidiary of General Electric, gave a completely opposite assessment on its Today Show.
"This is simply the biggest international joke in Hollywood this year," a senior NBC commentator said, spreading his hands at the camera with an extremely sarcastic tone.
"Asking a 20-year-old Chinese boy who may never have even seen a snowy day in Manhattan to instruct Meryl Streep on how to dress is as absurd as asking a vegetarian to teach a Texan how to grill a steak."
Are Fox executives engaging in some kind of cultural charity? Or do they believe that Hollywood directors are all dead?
Not only NBC, but ABC (American Broadcasting Company), a subsidiary of Disney, followed suit, broadcasting a highly provocative short commentary during its midday entertainment news:
"The Devil Wears Prada is a film about class, power, and aesthetics in New York, all of which are rooted in Western civilization. We predict it will turn into a Chinese kung fu movie with expensive suits, or a fashion disaster pieced together from various sources."
This rhetoric, a mixture of Western-centric arrogance and industry envy, quickly spread among film critics in North America.
However, this war of words that ignited on the eastern coast of the Pacific Ocean almost instantly crossed the fiber optic cable and unleashed an even louder tsunami on the Chinese mainland, which was in the dead of night.
At 2 a.m., the entertainment channel editorial offices of Sina, Sohu, and NetEase were brightly lit. Within ten minutes, sensationalist headlines from domestic media began flooding the screens at an almost frenzied pace:
"Global sensation! Lin Ruiyang takes the helm at Fox, a 20-year-old Chinese director helms a Hollywood A-list blockbuster!"
"PPR sponsors Chinese director's new film with five million dollars; luxury giants rush into Hollywood."
"From Berlin to Hollywood: Lin Ruiyang covered in 20 days what others take 20 years to do!"
As dawn broke, the domestic internet fell into an almost silent stillness.
Especially within the industry, no one expected that the first to make a splash in a Hollywood A-list production would be a twenty-year-old student who had just returned from winning the Berlin Film Festival.
For the rest of the morning, the domestic film and television industry, media circles, and even ordinary netizens were in a state of extreme excitement.
In the Nortel forums and various group chats, everyone's first reaction was: "Really? This is Fox!"
However, this shock quickly escalated into a fierce battle of public opinion a few hours later, as negative reviews from NBC and ABC, imbued with Western-centric arrogance, were translated and sent back to China.
In less than an hour, the homepages of domestic portal websites were once again dominated by bold red headlines:
"Polarization! Fox throws money at Chinese directors, while rival media openly criticizes them: Hollywood doesn't need Chinese directors."
"American media outlets are collectively pessimistic about Lin Ruiyang's appointment as Fox News's CEO! They criticize him for his lack of fashion sense and even call him an 'international joke'!"
The film and television section of Tianya Forum was the first to explode with discussion.
"Who does NBC think they are? Do they think Chinese people are only fit to film restaurants in Chinatown?"
"I support Director Lin! This is typical Western arrogance. As long as the project succeeds, they deserve a slap in the face!"
Meanwhile, in the office of China Film Group, Han Sanping was looking through the newly printed foreign media briefings. He picked up the phone on the table and dialed Lin Ruiyang's number in Los Angeles.
"Ruiyang, this is Han Sanping. I've read the Fox press release, and I'll ask you one question now: Are you really the director? Not just a figurehead, not a co-director."
"It's me, Mr. Han. The contract has been signed."
There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone. Then Han Sanping slammed his hand on the table, making the receiver vibrate.
"Good! This is the real deal. Do you know how many calls I've received today? From acquaintances at the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television to several film studios, they're all asking whether the director mentioned in the Fox press release, the one we know, is actually Lin Ruiyang."
"So, what was your reply, senior?"
"Who else could it be but him?" Han Sanping's tone carried a rare hint of undisguised smugness.
"But there's one thing you need to hear me out of here first. Ignore those comments from NBC and ABC. They're not targeting you, they're targeting Fox."
News Corp. and General Electric have been battling it out in the media sector for over a decade, and you just happened to be caught in the crossfire, becoming the target.
"I know."
"What you don't know is yet," Han Sanping said in a somber tone.
"The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television has already spoken with me. Don't worry about the domestic publicity and public opinion. Since they want to make trouble, we'll go all out with them. If you need any support, don't hesitate to ask me."
"Thank you, Mr. Han. Once things are settled here, I will return to Yanjing and report to you in person."
"Okay. The General Administration is waiting to hear the details of your trip to Hollywood. Prepare your materials and come over then."
The call ended. Lin Ruiyang placed his phone on the table. Outside the window, the sky over Los Angeles had completely darkened, and in the distance, the office buildings of Century City were ablaze with lights.
Roger pushed open the door and came in, holding a stack of freshly printed resumes, which he placed on the table.
"I've finished the first round of screening for the supporting roles. Here are the candidates for the main supporting roles, as per your requirements."
Lin Ruiyang spread the resumes out one by one on the table.
For Andy's boyfriend Nate, the role needs an actor who can make the audience feel genuine on screen, not to elicit sympathy, but to allow the audience to truly feel the differences between the two lifestyles.
Miranda's husband, a character with few appearances but significant importance...
He singled out Emily Blunt's resume and placed it on his left, then pointed to Stanley Tucci's name: "How do we resolve Nigel's scheduling conflict?"
"Tucci's agent suggested concentrating his scenes in the middle of the four to five weeks of filming, so he wouldn't have to be on set the whole time. He himself is very interested in the role and is very willing to cooperate."
"Then let's proceed with this plan." Lin Ruiyang picked up the next resume, flipped through a couple of pages, and suddenly stopped.
There was a name he had heard in his previous life, but that person's resume in this timeline was still blank.
He put the resume in the "pending" pile without marking it.
The Los Angeles night was falling outside the window when Roger came over with two cups of coffee and placed one of them next to him.
"CAA's packaged projects are indeed as difficult as I heard in my previous life!" Lin Ruiyang thought to himself.