Note: Good thing she said it would be animated—otherwise I was about to drop the novel.
<<_____
"Is this a divine revelation, or the true reality of humanity? At the end of the film, Sean Connery, who plays the protagonist, leaves us with the word 'man.' Does this mean 'a person,' 'a human being,' or a variation of 'Amen'? The brilliant Kathleen Edson has generously shown us the wasteland. Is this our future—this world, this humanity? Or is this the horrifying true face of mankind?" — The New York Times
"This is a revelation from God." — The Christian Truth Journal
"This marks a new chapter in cinema. Kathleen Edson's DreamWorks special effects have crushed every other film studio in Hollywood." — Los Angeles Times
New York was boiling.
Los Angeles was boiling.
All of North America was boiling.
Fallout achieved unexpected success; not even Kathleen Edson herself had anticipated that audiences would enjoy the film so much.
Compared to the fact that most moviegoers were white, a large number of Black audiences also went to theaters this time.
They knew that the opening credits featured their own music, and that one of the film's leading actors was Black.
Even the Chinese community in the United States—normally a small, insular society of its own—was drawn to the film.
However, unlike white audiences, who tended to focus more on the plot, they were more interested in the fact that a Chinese person appeared in the movie and played a major role.
Just one month earlier, President Kennedy had been assassinated, plunging the entire United States into confusion and uncertainty. This, combined with his sensational speech in August, became a key factor in the box-office surge of Wasteland.
When Katherine received the news, she was actually in the middle of planning a film adaptation of Harry Potter.
For Eastwood, making a movie itself was not a problem, but creating special effects like those in Wasteland would be extremely difficult. Many magical effects require visual effects that are usually very hard to reproduce—unless Catherine were to develop a supercomputer capable of handling post-production.
That, however, was impossible for the time being.
Catherine now spent her days reading books—not academic ones, but books about film and special effects.
Harry Potter didn't require complex editing or music, but its demands for special effects were extraordinarily high.
Devil's Snare, giant spiders, Two-Face…
The time and effort required to make such a film would likely exceed even that of Wasteland.
So Catherine came up with an idea: make it an animated film!
She kept turning the idea over in her mind right up until the release of Wasteland.
However, once Wasteland was released, Catherine's plans were temporarily disrupted.
The response to Wasteland far exceeded Katherine's expectations. She had originally projected box-office earnings of around fifty million dollars, but it had already more than doubled that. Now she estimated it could reach eighty million dollars—which would amount to five hundred million over ten years!
The film held the number-one box-office spot throughout the entire Christmas season.
Katherine was on the verge of becoming rich, but she knew that compared to giants like IBM, her company was still very young.
It couldn't be compared to corporations worth billions, or even tens of billions.
And in the future, there would be companies worth hundreds of billions—or even more. Microsoft alone would be valued in the hundreds of billions of dollars. Not to mention the military–industrial giants.
Katherine's ambitions went far beyond fifty or eighty million; she wanted far greater goals!
Wasteland continued its triumphant run, and Katherine's reputation as a genius girl grew even stronger. Although she rarely made public appearances, people always spoke enthusiastically about this "magical" girl.
But at that very moment, something unpleasant happened…
Katherine's film was wildly popular, and as a result, sales of the Fallout books and strategy games skyrocketed as well.
The European release of Wasteland was also put on the agenda.
Because one of the protagonists was Black, the film was extremely popular within the Black community.
Moreover, by echoing Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech from August and subtly addressing racism, it gained the support of anti-racism activists and advocates for Black civil rights. But—
At that very moment, white supremacist marches unexpectedly broke out in many places!
Historically, in 1964, the KKK burned down a Black church, beat its congregation, and brutally murdered three Black individuals. Many of the perpetrators were acquitted, and those who were imprisoned served no more than six years. This incident was one of the causes of the subsequent outbreak of conflict. The hippie movement began to flourish, but racism also became increasingly rampant, and the entire United States seemed to transform into a distorted society—a collision of two worlds.
During the unauthorized and illegal marches that erupted in January, many Black churches were vandalized, and many people were attacked without cause—some even killed.
On the surface, this seemed unrelated to Katherine's film, but in reality, it unexpectedly became a catalyst for racial tensions.
After many illegal marches were dispersed, leaflets and slogans opposing Katherine's ideas of "racial unity" and "satire of racial discrimination" were frequently found.
These actions by white supremacists pushed many neutrals and Black sympathizers into the anti-racist camp, turning them into targets of public criticism.
However, this did nothing to improve Katherine's situation.
Katherine was prepared.
But the impact of Wasteland had far exceeded her expectations, spiraling out of control…
Especially for the Edson family.
They were terrified when they received the news.
After all, Kennedy had been assassinated in November over the Civil Rights Act.
"Kate, maybe you should hide for a while…" Emma said to Katherine worriedly.
"Yeah—do you know what? Both sides—racists and anti-racists—have gone crazy! White people have gone crazy! Black people have gone crazy! Who knows if the Chinese in Chinatown and the Japanese will go crazy too! My God! I went to the company today and saw at least three protests. The police are completely overwhelmed. It's the first time I've ever seen the NYPD actually doing something serious…" Bruce complained as well.
But what could they do?
Catherine didn't know what to do after causing such a huge stir.
"Your father and I have talked about it, Kate. We've decided to send you to England first—at least you can stay with your aunt. Do you remember that family tree assignment? That's when you got in touch with her…"