At the press conference, there was actually a reporter who raised a question about the use of Black actors.
As everyone knows, because of special historical reasons, Hollywood's Black acting community is usually very united and distinctive, often being granted certain privileges.
Carrying the banner of racial discrimination, most film companies and directors dare not provoke these Black actors.
Thus, when watching Hollywood movies, one often notices a phenomenon, almost a spectacle: there is usually an important Black character written into the story, most often a positive figure playing a crucial role.
Or else they serve as the comic relief, bringing a dose of uniquely Black humor to the film.
The Black characters in the Fast and Furious series, or Chris Tucker in the Rush Hour series, are positioned in this way.
As for a highly popular Black actor like Will Smith, he has already broken free from the label of being just a "Black actor." Rising to the position of an A-list Hollywood star, Will Smith himself is no ordinary figure.
So the question was: why have Gilbert's films in recent years basically not featured Black actors? Was this discrimination against Black actors?
Of course, before the reporter even finished his question, the press officer had already escorted him out.
But the issue still spread within the Black acting community, with accusations that Gilbert discriminated against Black actors.
They tried to blow the matter up, but soon discovered that almost all Hollywood studios and mainstream media outlets simply ignored their protests and complaints.
Meanwhile, at Sky Film Studios, David Ellison and Michael Ovitz had just returned from the set of Van Helsing.
The filming progress of Van Helsing was going well, and it seemed on track for release in next year's summer season. David Ellison was very confident about going head-to-head with Gilbert at the summer box office.
He had of course heard about the discontent among Black Hollywood actors toward Gilbert, so he asked Michael Ovitz:
"Could we get some media outlets to stir this issue up a bit?"
Michael Ovitz disagreed and flatly rejected the idea.
"David, that's unwise. This is a completely unreasonable accusation. If we step into this, then Disney and Warner will immediately turn their fire on us."
David Ellison thought about it and realized he was right. If the two media giants attacked, even his father Larry Ellison would have to back off, let alone himself.
Still, letting this opportunity slip away left David Ellison feeling very regretful.
If Gilbert could be branded as a racist, even if it didn't utterly ruin him, at the very least it could divide and weaken part of his fanbase.
But unfortunately, Disney and Warner—these two powerful media empires—were protecting Gilbert. And with the entrenched "Hollywood Squid Club" behind him, ordinary public opinion storms simply could not touch Gilbert.
When his agent Sheena Boone mentioned that the Black community in Hollywood was displeased with him, Gilbert felt utterly innocent.
"They say I haven't used Black actors in recent years?" Gilbert was speechless:
"Come on, how could I put Black actors in The Lord of the Rings? Should I have added some Black elves?"
"And Pirates of the Caribbean? That period was when Black people were still enslaved. Wouldn't portraying that make them even angrier?"
They always say Americans don't know their own history, but Gilbert did—He understood the painful history of Black people.
Sheena Boone laughed.
"Indeed, "I think you don't need to bother with this at all. Others will naturally step up and speak for you."
Gilbert shrugged. Indeed, this kind of foolish talk—whoever engages with it loses. Better to ignore it.
And so the mainstream media collectively ignored the so-called demands of Hollywood's Black community. Jada Smith tried to push her husband Will Smith to take the lead.
But at home, Will Smith slapped Jada across the face, leaving her utterly stunned.
"You… you dare hit me?" Jada flew at him like a madwoman, trying to scratch him, but Will shoved her to the ground.
Then Will Smith lectured loudly.
"What's in that head of yours all day long? Can't you see that even Spike Lee, that fool, isn't getting involved in this? Do you want to destroy me?"
Spike Lee was a well-known Black director in Hollywood. As for his works, none really stood out. But because of his role in Hollywood's Black rights movement, he became a leader of Black influence there.
Yet this time, when the Black community protested Gilbert, Spike Lee uncharacteristically chose silence instead of leading the charge.
It was clear that Spike Lee knew very well who could and couldn't be provoked, and he didn't want to touch this nerve.
Jada Smith, on the other hand, belonged to the brainless type—a stereotypical uneducated, brash image. But Will Smith was different; he had brains.
Will Smith still hoped that one day he could collaborate with Gilbert. Why would he offend him by standing up for unrelated Black actors?
And truth be told, maybe twenty years later Will Smith wouldn't think this way anymore—but by then Black people would no longer be "noble."
After all, twenty years later the world would be fully diversified, with groups like QTBGLIAPKDXUCS and countless others. What would Black people count for then?
In short, once the Black actors realized Gilbert was no pushover, that he wouldn't even respond to them, they instantly shifted targets—and smaller directors ended up suffering.
It was at this moment that Roger Ebert, a diehard Gilbert fan, stepped in on his program, where he brought up the recent issue concerning Hollywood's Black actors.
Roger Ebert even mocked.
"I doubt whether their intelligence is functioning normally. I believe that normal functioning intelligence is a basic physiological feature of being human—no matter who you are, even if you were an alien."
The moment he said this, the Hollywood Black groups immediately redirected their attacks, now targeting Roger Ebert.
One longtime Hollywood actor, himself suffering from terminal HIV, spoke up.
"I think Roger Ebert's brain must be broken. Any normal person knows how much we've contributed to Hollywood and to this country."
But Roger Ebert retorted without backing down.
"What contribution? Did you help Washington and Jefferson build America? Did you help win the righteous Second World War?
We are demanding equal rights, but you are using this to demand privileges?"
What Roger Ebert said was not wrong. Most so-called equality movements were in truth nothing more than demands for privilege under the banner of equality.
It was just like the so-called "boxers" that had gradually begun rising in recent years.
The pursuit of power—for what? For the wealth and status that power brings, for the good life that power affords.
Gilbert had power in Hollywood, so he had status, yachts, private jets, and several girlfriends and mistresses.
But along with the pleasures that power brought, came responsibilities as well.
For Gilbert, that meant working tirelessly every year, making films, drawing up business plans, just to maintain his empire of power.
Hollywood is a place where if you do not advance, you retreat. If you think climbing to the very top means you can rest easy and start to indulge yourself, then you couldn't be more mistaken.
Gilbert had once read a saying that he felt was very true.
It was that these so-called equality-seeking groups, who in fact only wanted privileges, essentially just wanted to become dependents—those who enjoy wealth and status without bearing any of the responsibilities that come with power.
So indeed, the saying was correct: laborers are the greatest. As long as the work is legitimate, no matter what kind of laborer, they are great.
At the very least, these laborers strive with their own hands to earn their own future. Unlike certain groups, who do nothing but demand that society hand them the best resources.
Sometimes Gilbert very much wanted to use the BBC's style and ask these Black groups, and those future diversity groups as well: "Doing this may bring you benefits in the short term, but what is the cost?"
Of course, the so-called "diverse future world" was in fact driven by certain hidden capital groups and forces, whose purpose was to fragment the lower classes of society.
And Disney Hollywood—where Gilbert was—would in the future be at the forefront of this trend.
As a Disney shareholder and a member of the Disney board, Gilbert felt he had a duty to set things right. If not to restore clarity to the whole world, then at least to ensure the preservation of normal film aesthetics.
In his conversations with Robert Iger, Gilbert often promoted his set of aesthetic theories.
And following this small-scale protest by Black groups, Gilbert once again went to see Robert Iger.
Gilbert believed that the pursuit of beauty was something given to humanity by God, inscribed into our genes. Therefore, when someone attempted to break apart this philosophy of aesthetics, it was nothing less than an act of defying God.
Robert Iger was puzzled.
"Gilbert, are you saying one of our Disney films cast a female lead that doesn't meet your standards of beauty?"
"No," Gilbert replied. "I think it's precisely because they match our standards of beauty that we must pay attention to protecting them.
Bob, can you imagine… a Black mermaid?"
"A Black mermaid?" Robert Iger pictured the image and immediately shivered:
"How could there be a Black mermaid? Wouldn't that be a scavenger fish?"
"Not just that. What about a Black Snow White? Things like that." Gilbert casually sketched a rough drawing, reminiscent of a version of Juliet from a past-life rendition of Romeo and Juliet.
Robert Iger took one look at the sketch and felt physically ill:
"That thing will never appear in Disney."
"Really?" Gilbert sounded doubtful.
"Of course," Robert Iger swore.
"Whoever dares design such an image, ruining my Disney brand—I'll destroy him."
Gilbert, however, could not quite recall—he seemed to remember that in his previous life, by the time Disney launched the "Black Mermaid," Robert Iger was no longer Disney's president.
The new president seemed to be someone whose gender couldn't even be clearly defined, a so-called champion of diversity.
Now, with Gilbert inside Disney, he would never allow such a person to become president of Disney. That might sound like the stance of an Elephant Party supporter, but in fact, Hollywood leaned overwhelmingly toward the Donkey Party.
Gilbert wanted to support no one, but if the Donkey Party insisted on forcing diversity down his throat, he would not hesitate to throw his support behind the Elephant Party.
In this world, living untouched and detached is nearly impossible. Reaching Gilbert's level, it was even less possible to sever oneself from the labels and chains attached to him.
As that classic saying goes: politics has never been far from Hollywood.
...
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