Chapter 793: What Is the School Faction?

"Wow, Duke is Best Director!"

Across the Pacific Ocean, Duke was the most popular director around. The moment the Best Director results were announced, the internet immediately boiled over. The group dubbed "Duke fanboys" by many began leaving comments everywhere.

"This is his second Best Director Golden Statuette. Duke has already surpassed James Cameron!"

"In terms of total box office, Duke left James Cameron in the dust a long time ago."

"Duke is the number one director in Hollywood."

"The great Duke, the great Director Rosenberg! He doesn't need any awards to validate him; his greatness was recognized by fans worldwide long ago!"

"It's just a pity that his single-film box office still can't compare to James Cameron's..."

Seeing that comment, Wang Ziming sighed. For a ten-billion-dollar director to lack the top spot for a single film's box office was, in his mind, Duke's greatest regret.

When would Duke finally surpass the box office of James Cameron's Titanic and Avatar?

That was something Wang Ziming was very curious about.

Thinking of this, he quickly switched back to the live broadcast. Duke hadn't given his acceptance speech yet, after all.

On the stage of the Kodak Theater, Duke had already accepted the Best Director Golden Statuette from Kathryn Bigelow. He gave her and Hilary Swank a gentle hug before stepping up to the microphone.

His PR manager, Penny Kalis, had drafted an acceptance speech for him well in advance. It was entirely unremarkable. In her words, one still had to carefully manage their image on the Oscar stage, and eccentric remarks had no place at such an event.

Duke felt the same way.

"Thank you, everyone! This is a truly wonderful moment! I will never forget it as long as I live!"

Looking at the Golden Statuette in his hands, Duke appeared deeply moved. In reality, his mind was busy recalling the speech he had reviewed last night.

"Thank you to the Academy for this recognition. I find it truly incredible to win a Best Director Golden Statuette with a sci-fi film."

That little joke immediately drew a ripple of laughter across the Kodak Theater.

"There are so many people I need to thank. They have always been there for every important moment in my life."

Reining in his expression, Duke continued with utmost sincerity.

"Tina Fey, thank you for helping me handle every task. Nancy Josephson and Penny Kalis, you two are the best. Charles Roven and Robin Grande, without you, none of these films would have been shot so smoothly. Zack Snyder, Hannah Serena, Anna Printz, Joss William, Jimmy Carter, and John Schwartzman—every single person on my team, you are the greatest working partners in the world..."

Estimating his remaining time, Duke sped up slightly.

"I also want to thank my mother, Leah Rosenberg. You are the best mother in the world! And my girlfriend, who put an unimaginable amount of effort into this film—you are the greatest actress!"

"Thank you to everyone who loves me. Thank you!"

Enthusiastic applause thundered through the venue once more. Duke left the stage and headed backstage. The moment he stepped behind the curtain, Scarlett Johansson, who had been waiting there, pulled him into a tight embrace.

Neither said a word, but their hug carried all the communication they needed.

Next came the routine post-award interviews. Duke had a whole pile of clichés prepared.

The ceremony continued. Only one final award remained at this Oscar Awards Ceremony: Best Picture!

"Duke Rosenberg's win isn't because his work was exceptionally outstanding. The School is merely rewarding him for the track record he has built up over the years..."

Watching the internet broadcast, Wang Ziming once again heard the commentary from that expert named Zhang Yibai.

"Compared to the other nominated directors, his seniority and commercial success are top-tier. Hollywood is ultimately a commercialized sphere, and commerce can sometimes dictate a lot of things. Therefore, his Best Director win does not mean Gravity will take Best Picture. I believe The Social Network still has a chance..."

Back on the Kodak Theater stage, Steven Spielberg was standing at the podium, tearing open the envelope.

"The winner for Best Picture is The King's Speech!"

Seeing Harvey Weinstein step onto the Oscar stage once again, the crowd in the Kodak Theater suddenly realized something: the four most important pieces of the cake had actually been split evenly between two production crews...

After finishing his interviews, Duke didn't leave the backstage area. He soon spotted Harvey Weinstein walking in. The two exchanged no words, only a tacit, understanding smile.

Both were massive winners tonight, and both had achieved their respective goals.

On the internet across the Pacific Ocean, many people couldn't accept that The King's Speech ultimately won Best Picture. In the eyes of the majority, the film was simply too mediocre, lacking enough standout highlights.

As a live broadcast guest, Zhang Yibai launched into another grand speech. However, compared to his previous unreliable remarks, Wang Ziming felt that these words actually made some sense.

"Who is David Fincher? He's forty-nine years old, became a lead cinematographer for independent films at seventeen, and went on to spend years grinding in the technical sphere at Industrial Light & Magic, the advertising world, and MTV. All in all, his true mainstream Hollywood education consists only of his three years at Industrial Light & Magic, yet today he is one of Hollywood's premier top directors. But the fact that he has not yet been favored by the Oscars is, in reality, quite awkward for both parties."

"David Fincher isn't an alternative director in the vein of David Lynch. He's not your typical independent filmmaker, nor is he a director with B-movie tastes. He certainly isn't one of those obnoxious directors who treat self-expression as their sole duty. David Fincher has never strayed from Hollywood's mainstream course, yet he remains unclassifiable among mainstream directors. He shoots star-studded genre films, but they aren't purely commercial. He takes a technical route, yet doesn't spark new trends like James Cameron; deep down, he is still quite old-school. He is highly skilled, yet unconventional. Call him a craftsman, but he doesn't churn out standard studio fare the way Ron Howard does. His films have incredibly high recognition value, earning him the title of an 'auteur,' yet he isn't a true auteur in the style of old Woody."

"Losing Best Director to Duke Rosenberg leaves nothing to complain about—after all, the man's prestige, fame, and track record are right there for everyone to see. But losing Best Picture to The King's Speech brings up an unavoidable point: the fierce PR campaign backing that film!"

"And speaking of that, we must mention the famous—or rather, infamous—Harvey Weinstein. What this film mogul excels at most is campaigning movies completely lacking typical Oscar appeal, like Shakespeare in Love and No Country for Old Men, into Best Picture winners, and turning Gwyneth Paltrow into the Best Actress winner with the worst performance in history."

"It is no surprise at all that David Fincher chose to film Zuckerberg's story. His previous films have, without exception, pointed the lens at rebels and outsiders. He tells stories of killers and anarchists hiding in filthy, dark little rooms and basements, turning the world that rejected them upside down. Zuckerberg, John in Se7en, and Tyler in Fight Club—they are all the same crazy men and boys, just wearing different faces."

"He is a gloomy master of mischief, yet this very trait perfectly represents the era we live in. Aside from Sony dropping the ball on PR, could it be that these themes frightened the School voters? We will never know. Best of luck to Fincher and his The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo next year."

This commentator clearly had a strong affinity for David Fincher.

Wang Ziming was equally dissatisfied—even angry—that Best Picture went to The King's Speech. The implication of the Oscars dividing the spoils was far too obvious, and even if they were just slicing up the cake, The Social Network was far more qualified than The King's Speech.

However, he did have some understanding of Hollywood, so he quickly calmed down, went to a related website, and hastily typed out a commentary on the Oscars.

"The Oscars' stance is bizarre. They want ratings, yet they keep their distance from commercialism. They want art, yet they don't dare go overboard, leaving them in a state of ambiguity. They're called the School Faction, but what is the School Faction? God only knows. Maybe even they can't explain it themselves. All I know is that they're just as pandering as the rest, only their methods are more conservative."

"If they had awarded the grand finale prize to Avatar last year, it definitely would have been pandering. But by not giving it, did that mean they weren't pandering? The Hurt Locker was equally pandering. Because no one believes the Oscars are pure. Their very approach is to appease, intolerably tacky; erecting more monuments to their virtue is useless. This year is the same: the King ascends his throne, taking his seat safely and smoothly. On the other end, daydreams wake up to become empty dreams, and no matter how much of a frenzy Gravity caused, it still couldn't reach the top when it counted."

"The internet is dissolving the Oscars' aura of authority, leaving this traditional awards ceremony increasingly awkward. In an era where everyone is a film critic, it is destined to be unable to accommodate the most valuable films of our time. It is nothing more than a show put on by Americans for the whole world. A show like that can never truly escape vulgarity, so don't get angry over it, and definitely don't blindly worship it."

As the Oscar broadcast gradually hit the internet across the ocean, every award ceremony always sparked plenty of discussion. But one thing was exactly as Wang Ziming said: this country's understanding of the Oscars had deepened. They could now see the many gears turning behind the scenes of the awards, and the so-called Oscar Campaign films explicitly produced for the statue were becoming increasingly rare.

Inside the Kodak Theater, the annual grand gathering representing Hollywood's most glamorous side had come to an end, but everything surrounding the Oscars was far from over. Many people left the Hollywood District and flocked to Beverly Hills. The annual Oscar Night parties were an equally indispensable part of the festivities.