[Chapter 146: Oscar Night, Conflict]
The award ceremony was hosted by Billy Cristal, who kicked off the night with an impressive stand-up routine, officially marking the start of the Oscars.
Tonight, Warner Brothers' Unforgiven was without a doubt the big winner, taking home four major awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Film Editing.
Winona Ryder starred in Bram Stoker's Dracula, which had been released last November and grossed $216 million worldwide. The film won three awards for Best Costume Design, Best Sound Editing, and Best Makeup, though it didn't snag any of the top-tier categories.
Universal's Death Becomes Her managed to secure Best Visual Effects, adding valuable leverage for future licensing and keeping their losses minimal.
Linton presented the Best Supporting Actress award. Amidst cheers from the crowd, he took the stage, opened the envelope provided by the staff, announced the nominees, and finally revealed the winner: Marisa Tomei for My Cousin Vinny.
...
The ceremony was relatively smooth, and prior to Harvey Weinstein's notoriously unscrupulous Oscar PR antics, the Oscars were still considered quite objective and fair. The awards this year were mostly well-received.
However, the winner of Best Foreign Language Film, Indochine, sparked considerable controversy.
The main issue was that an Argentine film, A Place in the World, was far superior both in quality and artistic merit.
...
The story behind A Place in the World was legendary.
In 1992, the Argentine Film Association had initially submitted the film to compete for that year's Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. But due to the sensitive content of the film, they changed their mind and replaced it with a different movie.
Out of frustration, the director took the film to his wife's home country, Uruguay, to be their official submission since his wife was Uruguayan and had contributed to the screenplay.
Although it was made entirely by Argentine nationals -- director, actors, and crew -- the film represented Uruguay in the competition and even got nominated for Best Foreign Language Film.
Ironically, the replacement Argentine submission failed to get nominated.
...
This put the Oscar foreign film jury in a tough spot. The film was undeniably excellent, but awarding it would violate the rule that a film must represent the country of the majority of its creators.
In the end, the jury stuck to Oscar's rules and gave the award to the French film Indochine, even though A Place in the World was actually the better film.
This outcome faced overwhelming criticism from public opinion.
Under the pressure, the Oscar committee later revised their selection rules, making the foreign film submission process more transparent and stringent.
Consequently, A Place in the World gained tremendous fame, and its rights and box office performance far exceeded the boost from the Oscar itself.
...
To be fair, in the early 90s, America had just won the Cold War after the Soviet Union collapsed, national confidence was high, industries flourished, and diversity was embraced. So, the Oscar committee's rule change made sense then.
Unfortunately, ten years later, as America's dominance grew amidst global upheaval, attitudes shifted toward arrogance. By that time, no one even questioned the increasingly shameless PR tactics openly manipulating Oscars.
Another ten years on, with fierce political battles between parties, extreme methods emerged, and bizarre social movements gained stages -- Black Lives Matter, women's privileges, LGBTQ+ rights, environmental and animal protection groups, and more.
Less than ten years after that, American society fractured deeply, with chaos reigning across all social strata. America had effectively become a battleground of social unrest.
However, Linton had no intention to change any of this. As long as it didn't interfere with his Starlight Spark cultivation, it was all irrelevant. His method was versatile -- it could be pure or dark, and he would clear any obstacles without hesitation.
---
After the ceremony, Linton took Cameron along with the crowd to the Beverly Hills Hotel for Vanity Fair's "Oscar Night" party.
The most striking impression at the party was that everyone, young and old, was joyfully feasting.
To prepare for the ceremony, guests had been dieting for days, only sipping small amounts of nutrient juices recently, and since this morning hadn't eaten or drunk anything.
Now that the ceremony was over, no one could hold back their hunger. It was a moment where nothing mattered more than the growling stomach.
Tina Brown, Vanity Fair's editor-in-chief, was a longtime acquaintance of Linton's. She greeted him warmly and quickly arranged a time to conduct a feature interview.
After everyone ate their fill, the socializing began. As a film company head and renowned director, Linton was the center of attention.
Numerous directors and stars came over to greet him and exchanged contact information.
Especially the actresses -- one after another approached with bright eyes, eager to stick close to Linton, even though Cameron stayed tightly by his side.
Soon, Linton found himself surrounded by a crowd that included Sharon Stone and Nicole Kidman, who seemed determined to spend the night with him.
He had planned to meet legendary directors George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola but found it impossible to break away.
...
As Linton was busy handling the flock of starlets, a commotion erupted near the lobby. The sound of a woman shouting caught his attention.
It was Naomi. Could she be in trouble?
Without hesitation, Linton excused himself. "Excuse me, I think a friend over there needs help. I'm going to check it out."
When he hurried over, he saw Naomi struggling as Harvey forcibly led her toward a corner. Naomi was shouting, "Let go of me!"
Linton was both angry and amused. In broad daylight surrounded by well-dressed celebrities, this fat jerk dared to openly try to force himself on his woman.
"Stop right there, Harvey. In the middle of the day, in front of everyone, what do you think you're doing?"
"Mind your own business. I'm giving her a chance to come to my room to discuss the script."
"Linton, help me. He's not here to talk about the script; he's trying to force me."
"Shut up, bitch. Me showing you the script is a favor. Don't be ungrateful."
Linton was furious. This was no different from a thug from a bygone era trying to kidnap a woman. At least make a better excuse.
"Harvey, you're a well-known producer. Don't you have any shame? So many people are watching."
"Mind your own business."
Harvey's arrogance shocked Linton, but what surprised him more was that no one around intervened.
Fuming, Linton stepped forward, grabbed Harvey's hand, and used 30% of his Mind Shock ability to intimidate him. He hissed, "Get lost."
To the crowd, it sounded like a normal voice, but to Harvey, it was like thunder crashing -- a fierce roar from a tiger against a lamb.
Terrified, he ran off without a word, stumbling and falling a couple steps away. Shaking, he got up and kept retreating without looking back.
The onlookers were stunned. How did the arrogant and domineering Harvey suddenly change? Just a "get lost" from Linton and he ran?
Soon, Tina Brown and the hotel manager arrived, apologized sincerely to Naomi, and asked everyone to keep the incident confidential.
Out of respect for Vanity Fair, everyone agreed to keep quiet, though whether they would actually comply was anyone's guess.
...
After this incident, Linton was deeply disappointed in the so-called celebrities who constantly preached democracy and freedom but lacked basic justice.
He also felt disgusted with Vanity Fair and the Beverly Hills Hotel. How could a top-tier media and a five-star hotel host a party where a woman was openly assaulted in public, and neither staff nor organizers intervened? There was something fishy, and he refused to believe otherwise.
Now that the situation seemed resolved, they thought a simple apology would make it all go away. No way.
Linton bluntly said, "Tina, I need an explanation from both your organizations."
He then ignored everyone else and left with Cameron and Naomi.
*****
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