Chapter 615 Hollywood Actress
In essence, xenophobia in the United States is not a new thing. What is even less new is that xenophobia can exclude any ethnic group as long as there is a popular support. It is not necessarily aimed at black people or Asians.
The most despicable time in the history of the United States was actually a period in the 20th century when social Darwinism was rampant. During this period, some states in the United States, influenced by social Darwin, ordered the sterilization of certain white groups because these white groups were not good enough. The theoretical basis was that these white groups were catching the problems of black people and were undergoing racial degeneration.
Sheffield knew that this beacon of humanity was actually divided into different levels. The majority of the population were descendants of British and German immigrants. Spanish and Italian immigrants were not very popular and were also excluded. However, this was not so blatant in the 20th century.
Even if they are descendants of British and German immigrants, they still have to distinguish who is the primary and who is the secondary. During World War I and World War II, the descendants of German immigrants were generally suppressed, but not as obviously as the descendants of Japanese.
The public opinion base actually exists. As long as Sheffield takes it a little more seriously, collects certain problems of Italian immigrants, and edits a set of Italian jokes based on the template of black jokes, he can set off a wave of xenophobia. Even if it cannot spread across the United States, it will be enough to make Italian immigrants in certain places live a life worse than death.
If the Kingdom of Italy really insisted on the slave owners, he would really try to direct the wave of xenophobia towards Italian immigrants.
This time, the fact that they helped the Ottoman Empire complete the transportation of troops in North Africa and intervened in the war was revealed. If it ends here, everyone can still get along on the surface, but if they really want to tear each other apart. Sheffield can't do anything about Italy, but he still has a lot of ways to deal with the Italian community in the United States.
With this confidence, an apology is impossible. Sheffield threatened a country that claims to be imperialist. Threatening blindly is certainly not a good idea. On the other hand, Sheffield also bribed Italian newspapers to describe the armed forces in North Africa as a dangerous trouble that would not affect the great Italy in achieving its goals.
A group of mercenaries fighting for money normally do not have much combat effectiveness.
Sheffield took Edith Rockefeller and Louisa Morgan and took a train to Los Angeles, the center of American film, which is still firmly controlled by slave owners. Just as he once dreamed, I am the only one who can feed the shit.
In fact, overnight fame had already begun in the early 20th century. As the influence of movies has grown, in recent years there have been people who want to unite and resist Edison's film patent hegemony as they did in history.
But there are some slight differences. First, Sheffield only indirectly controls Hollywood, and at the same time establishes a theater system to check and balance, so that these Hollywood film companies understand that if they mess with themselves, they will mess with money. Second, slave owners really kill people, and the scope of those who usually follow rules is limited to the group of monopoly capitalists.
This time he came to Hollywood because The Birth of a Nation broke the United States box office record during its release period and earned $15 million. On such a memorable day, as the de facto king of Hollywood, Sheffield came to celebrate with David Griffith.
This achievement is certainly worth celebrating, as it has grossed $4 million more than the same period in history, The Birth of a Nation, a film also directed by David Griffith and based on the Civil War.
Sheffield believes that this achievement is mainly due to himself. Without his hard work in establishing a theater system across the United States, giving more citizens the opportunity to watch movies, there would not be such outstanding results.
In David Griffith's manor, the current Hollywood stars flocked to it as if they were making a pilgrimage. In fact, with a box office of 15 million US dollars, countless handsome men and beautiful women saw David Griffith as an opportunity to become famous overnight.
It felt like walking on the red carpet in later generations. Sheffield, who had just been surrounded by reporters in the Washington Capitol, finally had the opportunity to watch others under the flash lights. However, Sheffield himself did not like this kind of occasion, while the handsome men and beautiful women who appeared under the flash lights enjoyed this opportunity very much.
Ah... Sheffield vomited a long smoke ring and retched impolitely, causing the women from the two wealthy families to roll their eyes. Louisa Morgan said sarcastically, "It seems a bit inappropriate for the boss of the entire Hollywood to be in such an occasion."
"I think it's even more inappropriate for a pregnant woman to run around." Sheffield's eyes fell on Louisa Morgan's belly. Judging from the size, anyone who is not blind can see that this is a pregnant woman who is about to give birth. But she followed him around. It's only right that she did it voluntarily.
Louisa Morgan had a very convincing argument for this, saying that it was her first pregnancy and she didn't know what to pay attention to.
Such unreasonable words had a devastating effect on Sheffield, and she could only remain silent. What others said was so good, that many things could be forgiven for being a pregnant woman for the first time.
Sheffield focused on the boring part again, and he knew that this was unavoidable. You can't ask a famous star to live like a blue-collar worker, and the process of exposure and monetization must be followed.
No matter what happens to Hollywood in the future, the Cannes Film Festival, which seems to be more literary than Hollywood, is ultimately a commercial film festival and not as sacred as some people imagine.
Through this grand event, millions of tourists from all over the world flock to this French coastal town every year. This is the fundamental reason why the Cannes Film Festival can continue. As for the award results, they are actually not that important to the organizers. In fact, the more controversial the selection results are, the more they can increase the popularity of the Cannes Film Festival in a certain sense.
This is also the film festival of the second most powerful film country in the world, and this is even more true for Hollywood, which is undoubtedly the most powerful film country. This film power is not based on the number of films made. As the base camp of art films, France deserves to be the second.
If calculated by quantity, it would not be the Republic's turn. The largest country is India, and the second largest film base is actually Nigeria. This is just little-known knowledge, just like Turkey and Mexico are the world's TV drama hegemons.
Sheffield only paid a little attention to it, and then talked about his own affairs with the two ladies. "Even if you two look down on these well-known stars in your heart, don't show it. They may not be as powerful as us in terms of money, but they have influence that is not inferior to ours in other aspects. Controlling this influence and using it is the biggest purpose of investing in movies. To put it in a broader sense, it is also useful during elections."
If it weren't for this function, how could the slave owners have kept their hold on this small industry? Although Hollywood's hegemony is not as stable as the United States' truly invincible agricultural hegemony, it also has a crushing advantage.
The slave owner recalled the glorious record of a special zone that was once known as the second best film base in the world, but was ruined by Jurassic Park and Titanic.
"Boss, I have found two exceptional talents who can dominate the screen for the next ten years." David Griffith came to Sheffield's seat and sat down with full pride.
"Hmm? Really?" Sheffield smiled, but didn't take it seriously. To be honest, he was a little face-blind to movie stars of this era. It wasn't for any special reason, but in the black-and-white silent film era, the faces of the stars were very similar.
Sheffield thinks this may be due to technical reasons, or because Hollywood has been closely related to cashing in since its inception, so once a certain face becomes known to the public, similar actors will continue to appear.
Many female stars are similar in the eyes of slave owners, and even their makeup in movies is similar. If it is attributed to technical reasons, there may be a few reasons. First of all, the photography technology is not up to standard, so the real person must always be more beautiful than the one on the screen to be accepted by the public, otherwise it is mediocre.
The faces that can best break through the magic mirror must have something in common, which leads to the current situation. In early Hollywood, even if you want to be a comedian, you must be handsome. Or you must be ugly but distinctive. If you don’t believe it, you can look at Charlie Chaplin, who was very handsome.
"Boss, don't worry, it will definitely be an eye-opener." David Griffith had already heard Sheffield's perfunctory response, but he still left with full confidence, and after a while he brought over two young girls.
Sheffield took a look and found that they were indeed very similar, but his eyes immediately fixed on the two girls. The similarity was just a matter of makeup. The essence of the two girls was definitely one in a million.
"Lillian Gish and Mary Pickford, boss, these two girls have great potential." David Griffith said proudly, "I think they will be the dream lovers of male citizens in the whole country in the next ten years."
"Well, not as beautiful as my wife." Sheffield was keenly aware of the two gazes shining on him. He coughed lightly and answered sanctimoniously.
David Griffith thought about it and nodded, "Yes, in a sense, there is a gap compared to Miss Natalia."
If you don't speak, no one will think you're dumb! Sheffield looked straight at David Griffith, and responded with a few hums and ahs, "You can't say that, it's just that some people don't look photogenic and are not suitable to appear on the big screen."
(End of this chapter)
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