"Wow, Duke is Best Director!"
Across the Pacific, Duke was the most popular director. As soon as the Best Director award was announced, the internet immediately exploded. Many who supported Duke, called "Duke fans," started leaving comments everywhere.
"This is his second Best Director Oscar. Duke has already surpassed James Cameron!"
"In total box office revenue, Duke has long left James Cameron far behind."
"Duke is Hollywood's number one director."
"Great Duke, great director Rosenberg. He doesn't even need any award recognition; his greatness has already been acknowledged by film fans worldwide!"
"Unfortunately, the box office for a single film still can't beat James Cameron…"
Seeing this comment, Wang Ziming sighed. As a billionaire director, having no single film topping the box office was, in his opinion, Duke's biggest regret.
When would Duke finally surpass James Cameron's Titanic and Avatar in box office revenue?
This was something Wang Ziming was very interested in.
With that thought, he quickly switched back to the live broadcast; after all, Duke's acceptance speech had not yet started.
On the Kodak Theatre stage, Duke had already received the Best Director Oscar from Kathryn Bigelow. After a brief, gentle hug with her and Hilary Swank, he stepped up to the microphone at the front.
His public relations manager, Panny Kallis, had prepared the acceptance speech well in advance. The speech contained nothing unexpected. According to her, even on the Oscar stage, image must be carefully crafted; any strange or bizarre remarks would be inappropriate.
Duke agreed.
"Thank you all! This is a wonderful moment! I will never forget it!"
Looking at the Oscar in his hand, Duke appeared very emotional. In truth, his mind was replaying the speech he had just reviewed last night: "Thank you to the Academy for recognizing me. I think winning Best Director for a sci-fi film is truly unbelievable."
This little joke immediately drew laughter from inside the Kodak Theatre.
"There are many people I want to thank. They have always been present at every important moment of my life."
Collecting himself, Duke said very earnestly, "Tina Fey, thank you for helping me with every job; Nancy Josephson and Panny Kallis, you're the best; Charles Roven and Robin Gland, without you, none of these films would have been smoothly made; Zack Snyder, Hannah Selina, Anna Princz, Josh Williams, Jimmy Carter, and John Schwarzman—each member of my team—you're the best colleagues in the world..."
Estimating the time, Duke slightly quickened his pace. "I also want to thank my mother, Leah Rosenberg you are the best mother in the world! And my girlfriend, who worked incredibly hard for this film, you are the best actress!"
"Thank you to everyone who loves me. Thank you!"
Once again, the audience burst into warm applause. Duke left the stage and headed backstage, where Scarlett Johansson was waiting to embrace him tightly.
They said nothing, but everything was communicated in that hug.
Next came the routine post-award interviews. Duke had prepared a whole bunch of standard remarks.
The ceremony continued. Only one award remained Best Picture!
"Duke Rosenberg winning isn't because his work is outstanding; the Academy is more rewarding his accumulated achievements over the years…"
Wang Ziming, watching the live broadcast, heard the expert named Zhang Yibai's commentary again. "Compared to the other nominated directors, his qualifications and commercial success are top-notch. Hollywood is, after all, a commercialized industry; commerce can sometimes decide many things. Therefore, him winning Best Director doesn't mean that 'Gravity' will win Best Picture. I believe 'The Social Network' still has a chance…"
On the Kodak Theatre stage, Steven Spielberg was already there, opening the envelope.
"The Best Picture winner is 'The King's Speech'!"
When Harvey Weinstein stepped onto the Oscar stage again, many in the Kodak Theatre suddenly realized something—the four most important awards were actually split between two teams…
After the interviews, Duke did not leave backstage. Soon, Harvey Weinstein entered. The two exchanged no words but shared a knowing smile.
They were also the big winners tonight and had achieved their respective goals.
On the other side of the Pacific, many people could not accept that 'The King's Speech' won Best Picture. To most, the film was too mediocre and lacked enough highlights.
As a live guest commentator, Zhang Yibai began lecturing again. However, compared to his previous unreliable remarks, Wang Ziming felt that what he said this time made some sense.
"Who is David Fincher? At 49 years old, he became the chief cinematographer for independent films at 17, then spent many years struggling in the technical world of Industrial Light & Magic and in the advertising and MTV industries. All in all, his formal Hollywood mainstream education consists of only three years at Industrial Light & Magic. Today, he is one of the top few directors in Hollywood. Yet the fact that he has never been favored by the Oscars is awkward for both parties."
"David Fincher is not an alternative director in the style of David Lynch; he's not a typical independent producer director, nor a B-movie enthusiast director, and certainly not the kind of provocative director who prioritizes expressing his own will. Fincher has never deviated from the mainstream Hollywood course, but he still defies easy classification among mainstream directors. He makes star-studded genre films that aren't quite commercial; he pursues a technical path but does not lead new trends like James Cameron. At heart, he's quite old-fashioned. His skills are superb, yet not strictly conventional. Calling him a craftsman isn't quite right, since he's not as prolific as Ron Howard. His films have a very distinctive style, almost 'authorial,' but not the true auteur like old Woody Allen."
"Losing Best Director to Duke Rosenberg is understandable, considering the other's prestige, fame, and achievements. But losing Best Picture to 'The King's Speech' raises one issue powerful PR behind Best Picture!"
"Speaking of which, we must mention the famous or infamous Harvey Weinstein. This film tycoon's specialty is turning films like 'Shakespeare in Love' and 'No Country for Old Men,' which seemingly lack Oscar potential, into Best Picture winners, and maneuvering Gwyneth Paltrow into becoming the worst actress to ever win Best Actress."
"David Fincher choosing to film Zuckerberg's story is not surprising. His previous films all focused on rebels and outsiders; he told stories of killers and anarchists hiding in filthy, dark little houses and basements, turning the world that excluded them upside down. Zuckerberg, John from 'Se7en,' and Tyler from 'Fight Club' are all similarly crazy men and boys with different faces."
"He is a gloomy prankster, a trait that perfectly represents our era. Aside from Sony's PR disconnect, could it be these factors made the Academy's judges afraid? We don't know. Good luck to Fincher and his 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' next year."
Clearly, he held David Fincher in high regard.
Wang Ziming was also very dissatisfied, even angry, that 'The King's Speech' won Best Picture. The Oscar's division of prizes felt far too obvious, and even if it were dividing the cake, 'The Social Network' was more deserving than 'The King's Speech.'
However, with some understanding of Hollywood, he quickly calmed down and went to related websites, typing out a rough comment about the Oscars.
"The Oscar's stance is strange. It wants ratings but keeps distance from business. It wants art but dares not go too far, resulting in ambiguity. They call themselves 'the academy faction,' but what exactly is the academy faction? Who knows maybe even they can't say. I only know they're just as kitschy, but more conservative in approach."
"If last year's finale award went to 'Avatar,' it would have been kitschy, but not awarding it didn't make it any less so. 'The Hurt Locker' was also kitschy. Because no one believes the Oscars are pure; their methods are inherently pandering and unbearably vulgar. No matter how many high-sounding claims they make, it's useless. This year is the same: the king is crowned, sitting down in a steady manner, while on the other side, daydreams wake up as wasted dreams. No matter how wildly popular 'Gravity' was, it couldn't rise, and still couldn't."
"The internet is dissolving the Oscars' aura of authority. This traditional award ceremony is increasingly awkward. In an era where everyone is a film critic, it's destined not to accommodate the most valuable films of this era. It's just a show Americans perform for the world. Such a show cannot transcend vulgarity, so don't get angry or worship it."
As the Oscar live broadcast gradually appeared on the opposite side of the internet, every ceremony sparked many discussions. But one thing was indeed true, as Wang Ziming said: the country's understanding of the Oscars had deepened, and people could see many things behind the Oscars. The so-called "Oscar-bait" films made specifically to win awards had become fewer and fewer.
Inside the Kodak Theatre, the annual event representing Hollywood's most glamorous side had ended, but the matter of the Oscars was far from over. Many people left the Hollywood area, flocking to Beverly Hills, where the annual Oscar night parties were an essential celebration as well.