578: Chapter 578 The Audience's Voice

...

Clap, clap, clap — — A sudden burst of applause like a downpour erupted in the venue.

Before the attendees could even react, the students in the audience area were the first to clap until their palms turned red.

"Finally, I got to see Lin Chuyan scold someone with my own eyes, hahahaha!"

"Holy crap, idol! He's worthy of being my idol!"

"His eloquence is amazing. Before, when I saw him roasting reporters in Hollywood, I thought it was a bit fake."

"One person isn't enough, he's scolding everyone, right? Lin Chuyan is awesome!"

The students' applause spurred the attendees, and everyone finally began to clap as well.

However, the thoughts of these film industry practitioners were not as simple as those of the students.

[Arrogant, too arrogant. A perfectly good seminar has been completely derailed...]

[Seeing is believing; this guy really is going crazy.]

[Making so many enemies, how has this guy survived until now?]

[Is this guy really not afraid of offending the entire film industry?]

But no matter how much they grumbled internally, they couldn't easily show it on the surface.

After all, Lin Chuyan didn't say a single dirty word throughout; he simply pointed out the objectively existing problems in the industry with pinpoint accuracy. Who would dare to stand up and criticize him? Not only could they not criticize him, but they also had to applaud him! He was speaking up for the development of the film industry; it was faultless in both emotion and reason.

Furthermore, the accusation of "scolding people" was debatable. Did Lin Chuyan really scold anyone? As long as you didn't take it personally, these words didn't seem to have anything to do with you...

To put it bluntly, if pointing out facts is considered scolding, it only proves one thing: someone took it personally.

For example, if Lin Chuyan said: "Why is your head so pointy?" Most people would just reply: "Oh, really? I don't feel it." But some people would say: "Then let me ask you, let me ask you!"

This seminar was originally tailor-made for la la land. Everyone had no past grudges or recent enmity, and Lin Chuyan didn't blast them—well, did he? At least he didn't name anyone. Since that was the case, there was even less reason to get upset over these words. Besides, arguing with Lin Chuyan? Could you win? Weigh whether you have the ability first! Even if you won the argument, what benefit would you get? Just look at the fate of Director Deng Yu to know; one must have self-awareness in life...

Thinking this way, the applause from the crowd became even louder, and all sorts of praises followed.

"Great, Director Lin spoke so well! Pinpoint accuracy, he hit the nail on the head!"

"These problems have indeed existed for a long time; it's time to properly rectify them!"

"Director Lin's speech today can be called the essence of the seminar; we must organize everyone to study it in depth!"

"The title of The Oscars Best Director is truly well-deserved. The future of domestic films relies on you young forces to innovate!"

This is reality. Regardless of whether they agreed internally, or whether they liked it or not, on the surface, they had to continue saying nice things.

Lin Chuyan didn't care much about what they said; he was never afraid of offending people.

In his view, those who could be offended by these words were all people without real talent or learning, so what did it matter if they were offended? True filmmakers with ambition and pursuits would only agree with his views, cheer for him, and, like him, hope for the industry to get better and better.

Therefore, the true audience for Lin Chuyan's words was not those conservative film industry practitioners. He knew in his heart that many problems were deeply entrenched. In this circle, many people were already beyond saving; talking was useless, and the effect was limited. He wouldn't be so naive as to think that a few words could solve the problems.

However, the act of "pointing out the problem" itself was of great significance.

The audience needed to understand the crux of the industry; they longed to see more high-quality works. Only by making more people aware of the problems could a powerful force be formed to force the entire film industry to make changes.

Yes, to force change.

Expecting those who lack culture and only know how to stick to the old ways to proactively seek change was simply unrealistic. Just as Lin Chuyan said: lack of culture leads to path dependency; they simply don't know how to break through.

But it doesn't matter; as long as the audience's aesthetics and demands change, the market will naturally push the industry to undergo reform.

For example, people start to value the role of screenwriters and understand how important an excellent screenwriter is to film and television works; for example, the trend of prioritizing traffic is no longer prevalent, and the audience loses interest in vase-like actors without acting skills; and for example, talented and capable directors can stand out and not be suppressed, because they can truly create value for capital.

This was Lin Chuyan's goal. Simply put, it was to break the vicious cycle of "bad money driving out good."

This path was destined to be full of difficulties and obstacles, but as the saying goes, regardless of whether it's difficult or not, someone has to say it, someone has to point it out.

And now, Lin Chuyan had the qualifications to stand up and speak out.

When his status was low, he wouldn't say these things, because even if he did, no one would care — — Who are you? What good films have you made yourself?

But now: I have, brother, I have.

lotus lantern TV Best Actor, the mission Best Actor, la la land The Oscars Best Director, a single film with a global box office exceeding 8 billion...

His insights into the industry might not be absolute truth, but they carried more weight than most people's.

The seminar was over, but the influence it brought was just beginning to ferment.

The content released by the Film Association was all about how la la land was this and that, basically revolving around the film to elaborate.

But what was circulating online was a different set of content.

Multiple videos of Lin Chuyan's speech went viral on major platforms, with one video that was complete in length and clear in quality being pushed to the very front.

Lin Chuyan's remarks quickly sparked heated discussions online.

He said: Blaming the downturn in the film market on the audience not liking to watch is meaningless; the root of the problem lies with the filmmakers themselves.

He said: It's not that the audience doesn't like watching movies, but that there are too few good movies.

He said: This circle generally lacks cultural depth. Directors have no culture, actors have no culture; too many uncultured people occupy high positions.

He said: A great cause requires everyone to work together and contribute.

[Holy crap, my brother is shining!]

[Finally someone has spoken my inner thoughts! I have thought about this problem, but I couldn't summarize it!]

[Did you notice? This passage by Lin Chuyan hits the nail on the head, which just proves his own cultural literacy!]

[The main contradiction in today's domestic film market is the contradiction between the audience's increasingly improving cultural quality and the directors' lagging cultural level. Too real! Couldn't agree more!]

[Uncultured people are making movies for cultured people, right? 666]

[I'm impressed, my brother just cast an AOE spell...]

[Lin Chuyan is awesome; this passage really explains a lot of things I couldn't figure out before.]

[If this group of entertainers in the entertainment industry were even half as hardworking as my brother... Sigh, never mind.]

[Cultural workers cannot be uncultured! Strongly support celebrity artists showing off their academic qualifications!]

[To the person above, you're asking for their lives; if they don't fake it, thank heavens!]

This time, even the Haters who usually love to pick faults stood on Lin Chuyan's side.

There's no helping it; Lin Chuyan always does things that even Haters can't hate. It was like that with charity donations, and it's the same this time.

You tell me, you always stand on the side of the masses, how can people hate you? Haters are also part of the ordinary audience.

[Lin the Dog is really awesome this time; being inside the circle, yet able to think for the audience outside the circle.]

[Others have said similar things before, but they were all outsiders, people who had retired from the circle, or self-media; insiders, as vested interests, dared not and would not say it. Just for this point, Lin Chuyan cannot be hated, and he deserves a like.]

[Lin Chuyan hit the spot for me this time; I had previously complained that these people had no culture, but I didn't expect that in the end, the person I hated became my mouthpiece.]

[Can't hate him anymore; such things have happened too many times. If Lin Chuyan doing charity is putting on a show, then is this time also a show? A gentleman judges by actions, not intentions; switching from a hater to a passerby.]

Film blogger Gao Jun also published his own views on Weibo.

[I completely agree with Lin Chuyan's point of view. From my observation, the profession of a director requires rich knowledge and also a clear self-awareness. For example, some directors can still make decent works as long as they don't interfere with scriptwriting, but they just love to give blind orders, and screenwriters have to listen, resulting in a pile of garbage. Another example is commercial blockbusters, which have high requirements for a director's organizational and coordination skills, but many directors don't realize they lack this ability, blindly taking over, diving in headfirst, and the result is another pile of garbage. This is what Lin Chuyan said: some people are ignorant and fearless, yet feel good about themselves; they are truly beyond saving.]

Finally, Gao Jun expressed his admiration for Lin Chuyan without reservation:

[Some say Lin Chuyan is now a capitalist too, and some sympathize with Director Deng Yu, feeling that Lin Chuyan went too far and that there is no difference between him and Director Deng Yu. But now everyone should be able to see the gap, right? After a person achieves success and fame, they can still stand in the position of ordinary people, speak up for the audience, boldly point out industry problems, and hope for the healthy development of the industry. As long as he can continue to produce excellent works, he will always be worth following. This industry is in dire need of people like Lin Chuyan.]