Chapter 205 204. Exploding public opinion, soaring box office, and the voice of the best actress
"Honey, what happened? You have such a deep frown on your face."
I don't know when Theron walked behind Eric and gently rubbed his temple. They had been busy for too long last night, and Theron knew that her man was not in good spirits yet.
Feeling the warm and delicate skin, Eric sighed: "Disturbing my sweet dreams, there's nothing good about it so early in the morning."
"In Massachusetts, an extremely anti-gay guy set fire to a movie theater yesterday."
"Oh my God! Is someone dead?" Theron widened his eyes in surprise.
"We were lucky. A dozen people were injured to varying degrees, but no one was burned to death. The cinema and the surrounding houses were reduced to ruins."
"So serious? Why set the fire? Was it a movie?"
Eric shook his head helplessly: "We have to admit that there are a group of crazy people in the world, and their minds have been distorted."
"This guy didn't even flee after setting the fire, but waited there openly, waiting for the police and the media to arrive."
"When the reporters arrived, they held up signs and shouted slogans such as 'homosexuality is shameful, 'oppose homosexuality,' and 'homosexuality is blasphemous'."
"They also shouted that they wanted to set fire to the cinema because it showed Blue Is the Warmest Color and wanted to burn those homosexuals and perverts who support homosexuality to death."
"Mad man! Absolutely mad man! God did not teach him to set fire to others."
Theron sighed, "I wouldn't be too surprised if it was Massachusetts. Did you hear about what happened last month?"
"What's up?"
"November 18th. Oh, that's when Transformers premieres, and you're busy."
"Also in Massachusetts, the state supreme court heard a case about same-sex marriage. Julie and Goodrich and seven other same-sex couples filed a lawsuit against the Department of Public Health, demanding that they be allowed to register for marriage like normal couples."
"This matter has been very contentious, with many legislators involved, including President Bush, who has clearly opposed same-sex marriage, and the state Supreme Court has not yet made a ruling."
"If you pay more attention to the news in Massachusetts, you'll find that there are demonstrations every few days, both for and against same-sex marriage."
"The release of Blue Is the Warmest Color at such a sensitive time must have irritated the anti-gay crowd and led to this extreme incident."
After listening to what Theron said, Eric pondered secretly.
"Honey, there's been an arson incident. The media will definitely make a big fuss about it. Someone will definitely throw dirty water on you."
"I know that at least the Independent will never miss any opportunity to discredit me."
"So what are you going to do?"
Eric raised his eyes to look at Theron: "My beautiful lady, tell me, do you have any ideas?"
"As for my advice, since you can't escape, you'd better take the initiative."
"You want me to fly over and visit those patients?"
"Well, it's better to cover their medical expenses as well. It might cost one or two million dollars, but it will bring good reputation to you, the movie, and MGM."
"Standing on the moral high ground, you can rationalize blaming others."
"I didn't say the second half of the sentence, but at least it can shut up a lot of people who attack you, and it will also help promote the movie. Reversing word of mouth will also be good for the box office, right?"
Eric couldn't help but pinch her pretty face: "Smart woman, are you interested in working in my company? Publicity, PR or other positions?"
Boo! Theron kissed Eric on the forehead: "Can you keep the position? I'll go when I'm older and tired of acting."
"No problem, I'll keep it for you forever."
Hmm The two kissed passionately, and it felt like Eric's little brother was starting to get cocky again, so Theron quickly got up and dodged.
"You've only slept for more than three hours, don't you feel tired?"
"Hehe. There's no such thing as being tired when doing it with you."
"I give in to you. Stop making trouble and go now. The sooner the better."
"Um."
At around noon, Eric and the Olsen sisters arrived in Boston, the capital of Massachusetts, and then went straight to the hospital.
On the way, Eric received a call from Chen Xing.
"Sure enough, public opinion has fermented, the media and the Internet are hyping this matter, and some media have criticized us."
"What did those guys say?"
There was anger in Mary's tone. The sisters were woken up by anger early this morning.
"The same old story, saying that this kind of movie shouldn't be made during a sensitive period, asking MGM to remove it from the screen, asking major cinemas to refuse it, and asking the audience to boycott it on their own initiative."
"And then they asked us to make a public apology, that's what they meant."
"Asshole! These demands are too unreasonable. It's not us who set fire to the cinema. Shouldn't the criminals be severely punished?"
"Don't pay attention to these people. It's impossible to reason with them. Go through the procedures at the hospital and accept the interview. Don't make radical remarks."
"I see. We are businessmen, not politicians. If businessmen want to make money, they cannot offend any group. It is right to do what we should do."
An hour later, the car arrived at the hospital gate, which was surrounded by vehicles from various TV stations.
When Eric and the other two got out of the car, they instantly attracted the attention of all the reporters. Like sharks smelling blood, a group of people rushed over to surround them, pointing cameras at their faces and asking questions.
"Mr. Cooper, why are you coming to the hospital at this time?"
"Ashley, can you answer a question? Do you think the arson incident was related to the movie?"
"Mr. Cooper, what prompted you to make this movie and use sisters as the dual protagonists?"
"Mary, look here, look here, what is your attitude towards homosexuality?"
"Ashley, Mary, it's now rumored that you two sisters have a friendship that goes beyond family ties. Can you explain this?"
Fortunately, Eric anticipated that the operation would not go smoothly and hired five bodyguards in advance. The media was secondary, as he was mainly worried about more attacks by extremists.
As a time traveler, he has no system and no superpowers, so he is still a little weak.
Eric said loudly, "Please be quiet, everyone. After hearing this unfortunate news, we were in a very bad mood and deeply saddened, so we flew here from Los Angeles immediately. Please let us go in and visit the victims first, okay?"
After saying that, the five burly men forcefully separated the crowd and made a passage for the three people.
After entering the building, I was first led by the hospital staff to the lounge where the victims' families gathered.
Seeing the three people, many people had complicated expressions.
Eric knew that some of them must be resentful towards him. After all, if you didn't make this movie, my children wouldn't go to see it, and if they didn't go to see it, they wouldn't encounter misfortune.
"Everyone, I hope you understand that I'm sorry this happened, and it was not our intention."
"We just wanted to make a movie, nothing else. We are deeply sorry for what happened to you!"
"Of course, we understand that no matter how many apologies we say, it will not make up for the suffering you have experienced, so we are doing this in the spirit of humanitarianism."
"MGM and DoubleStar Entertainment have decided to bear the medical expenses of all victims, hoping that this approach can alleviate your pain and burden."
After hearing this, everyone's eyes began to show friendly expressions.
Although money cannot prevent tragedy, it can at least make up for the pain caused by tragedy.
The three of them stayed in the lounge for a while, and then met with the victims with less serious injuries one by one, took photos with them, signed autographs, gave them small gifts, and said many encouraging words.
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There are still three patients with serious injuries who are being rescued. The hospital said it will do everything it can and the probability of successful treatment is still very high. Eric was relieved.
It would be best if no one died and public opinion would not deteriorate.
After doing all this on camera, Eric and the Olsen sisters walked out of the building and formally accepted interviews.
The Fox reporter was the first to step forward and ask the heavy questions.
"Mr. Cooper, did you choose to make this film because you support homosexuality?"
Eric did not answer directly, but asked: "Mr. Reporter, have you seen "Blue Is the Warmest Color"? "
"Not yet." The other party answered somewhat awkwardly.
"Then I suggest you take a serious look at it. After you finish, you will find that Blue Is the Warmest Color only borrows the perspective of homosexuals. The core of the movie is actually love and life."
"It doesn't matter whether you are gay or straight, as long as you are a human being, you can love, right?"
Not getting the answer he wanted, the Independent reporter continued to stir up trouble by asking, "Mr. Cooper, what do you think of homosexuality? Do you think it goes against the Bible?"
Eric shook his head. “I’m sorry, I’m not a believer, so I can’t answer this question accurately, but I respect everyone’s beliefs.”
"Let's talk about it briefly. Everyone wants to know." The reporter asked.
"Well, actually my mother is a devout believer. She goes to church every week and sometimes she takes me with her."
“She always taught me that it was God who created us in his own image, that it was God who created human beings in his own image.”
"Then I can't help but wonder, if we are all incarnations of God in some sense, doesn't that mean that same-sex feelings are also part of God."
"After all, people's sexual orientation is innate, right?"
A rhetorical question left the Independent reporter speechless, and he couldn't help but sigh at Eric Cooper's sharp tongue.
I've known for a long time that this guy would be difficult to deal with, but I didn't expect his level to be so high.
He always makes trouble for the other party but never succeeds. He can only attack them through force and gets scolded by users.
"Of course, I'm not a religious person, so this interpretation may be incorrect. If it is wrong, my mother will definitely scold me when I get home and teach me a good lesson."
Hehehe Eric added another sentence, which caused many people to laugh, and the subsequent questions became harmonious.
After a dozen minutes of interview, the three reiterated their position that they are representatives of love, not representatives of a certain group.
After doing these things, the three of them hurried back to Los Angeles.
That evening, reports appeared on the Internet. The three people's impartial attitude and their willingness to bear medical expenses that had nothing to do with themselves won them widespread praise.
Even the media that didn't get along with Eric didn't dare to report this randomly. What if there were extremists again? Then the victims' families began to be interviewed, and the victims with less serious injuries also posted updates on Facebook, announcing their photos with the Olsen sisters and small gifts.
Various words of praise further confirmed the good deed.
Several Republican lawmakers praised this, and Democratic lawmakers also praised the humanitarian spirit of MGM and DoubleStar Entertainment.
Within a few days, public opinion took a dramatic turn, the police began to increase patrols around the cinema, and the few extremists who continued to clamor were unable to cause much trouble.
The improvement in public opinion was most directly reflected in the box office.
When the weekly box office results of "Blue Is the Warmest Color" were released, many people said they couldn't understand it.
Even though many people were not interested in art films, they still went to the cinema under the influence of public opinion. Watching it seemed to have become a trend, and many people began to call on local cinemas to quickly release the film.
500 cinemas took in nearly $21 million in box office revenue in a week, with a single theater taking in more than $40,000, ranking second on this week's box office rankings.
The first place is naturally "The Lord of the Rings 3". The Middle-earth Knight took in 108 million US dollars in the first week. Although it unfortunately did not break the records of "Transformers" and "Spider-Man", it still ranked third in the history of North American films, and its stamina is even longer.
The third place is naturally "Transformers", which achieved a good box office of 16.6 million US dollars and overseas box office of 41 million US dollars. The global total box office exceeded 850 million US dollars, only half a body behind "Finding Nemo".
Just when everything was looking good, the Massachusetts Supreme Court made a ruling.
Seven judges ruled 4 to 3 that the state government did not have sufficient reasons to ban same-sex marriage, that the current marriage law violated the freedom and equality provisions in the state constitution, and the Supreme Court gave the state legislature 180 days to amend the bill.
That is to say, half a year later, Massachusetts will not only allow same-sex cohabitation, but also recognize their marriage at the legal level. This is also the first state in the United States to allow same-sex marriage.
The verdict was like a bolt from the blue, immediately sparking discussions throughout the United States.
However, due to the vicious incident that just happened, the voices of opposition this time have obviously weakened a lot. The Massachusetts Supreme Court definitely chose the right time to decide to do this.
The Olsen sisters also expressed their congratulations on Facebook and in media interviews. It has nothing to do with gender, it’s just because of love, this is great love.
The gay community and the gay-supporting community celebrated together, and voices of support and laughter could be heard everywhere.
Someone launched an event, calling on everyone to watch "Blue Is the Warmest Color" to celebrate this happy event.
Anyone with a discerning eye can see that, although the series of influences brought about by the film were not the decisive factor, they did objectively promote the passage of the verdict.
The Olsen sisters' Facebook account saw a surge in followers, more than doubling to 1.8 million in one day.
Many people have declared themselves to be big fans of Ashley and Mary, with calls for them to win the Golden Globe and Oscar awards.
(End of this chapter)