Remote Control Command

September 2001 was a challenging month for Hollywood as a whole. After 9/11, as a cultural industry that always likes to make fun of foreigners, Hollywood has also been greatly affected.

After this attack, the most significant impact is that people are worried about becoming the next target of terrorists. In Hollywood, because many people have made fun of foreigners, many production companies claim to have received warnings that their companies are the next attack target.

This kind of warning seems just empty words, but which company dares to bet that nothing will happen? Because of 9/11, movie screenings were postponed, films were re-edited, and projects were canceled. 

For a time, the film industry was in turmoil.

And if there is any most significant impact... After 9/11, disaster movies suddenly lost the market. People are already living in disaster, and they don't want to watch it in movies as well. 

Many movie works were forced to start over. Because of the unprecedented blow, Hollywood no longer dared to tease people's sensitive nerves. 

This trend swept through Hollywood so that for a while, film critics all believed that future Hollywood movies would be benevolent and gentle entertainment — If you want to watch something disturbing, just turn on the TV and watch the news.

"I have to admire you now. You went to shoot a romantic movie. It may not make much money, but there was no risk. Nowadays, Hollywood movie theaters only dare to show mild romantic movies when they choose movies for fear of being bombed. If it explodes, maybe your movie will be a big hit by then."

After the incident, Levi still kept in touch with Alexander. As the two big bosses of the Enigma Company, in this storm, they also need to control the direction of their film company and not let it be affected by external factors.

"This situation can't last long." Regarding Alexander's statement, Levi still insisted on his own opinion, "Americans just feel panic now. It's not really scary. Small-scale panic will not cause cultural changes. After this period passes, I'm afraid the new movie model will become even more outrageous."

Levi doesn't think that just because the World Trade Center was bombed, Americans will become good children from now on. During the phone call with Alexander, he also reiterated his views.

"The Vietnam War led to anti-war movies. After the anti-war movies, people's rebellious psychology caused trouble, and action movies became popular. 

 And the same reason is applicable now. After 9/11, people may not dare to shoot disaster movies for a short period of time because of fear, but as long as the United States starts to fight back, then war movies will immediately become the mainstream of the times."

Movies are a cultural industry, and any cultural industry needs to rely on reality. Different eras give birth to different movies. This is the objective law of movies. And Levi believed it. 

Hollywood in the future will not become peaceful and docile because of things like this - if peaceful and docile movies don't make money, who will they show them to?

What Levi expected happened. Sure enough, everything changed when the time came in October after the United States sent troops.

When the United States announced it was sending troops to Afghanistan, the film industry announced the progress of several movies, such as Black Hawk Down, in succession. War movies such as We Were Soldiers and The Sum of All Fears started to become popular around this time.

For Americans, after being hit, what they want to do is not reflection but revenge. After the period when they were worried about being hit, their next thought was naturally how to retaliate.

The same goes for the film industry. In reality, when the US military goes to fight in Afghanistan, Hollywood will cater to public opinion and wave the flag on the screen.

"So, should we shoot some war movies?"

Looking at other people's preparations, Alexander also raised new questions. War movies seemed to be quite popular at this time, and Alexander was a little jealous when he saw others doing them.

"Forget it... now the people are angry. After this time, things will be different. Don't forget, after all, Hollywood is a place where leftists gather, and anti-war is the mainstream thought here." Levi told him, "We don't need to talk about anti-war now because others will definitely revile that.

 However, there is no need for us to promote war. The investment in such a movie is quite large, and the competition is fierce, so there is no need to worry about it." 

For Levi's words, Alexander agreed, but he was a little unwilling to see others hyping up the matter.

"Does it mean that we will do nothing?"

Levi gave his own answer to this, "If you really want to do something... then make a sequel to X-Men. Of course, this time, the place where the story takes place is New York; let Magneto destroy New York." 

Levi's answer stunned Alexander momentarily, and then he suddenly shouted OK.

His reaction was not at all what Levi expected.

The most significant impact of 9/11 on the film industry is that after 9/11, the development of the film industry began to undergo a substantial change. There was an increase in American superhero movies.

Although American movies are relatively free and open, they are far from being free to follow one's will. Some things that deviate too far from political orientation will also be banned. 

In Levi's memory, critics accused Spielberg of "using 9/11 for fun" because he used 9/11 as a template for urban disasters in 2005's War of the Worlds and had to apologize for it. 

Paul Greengrass's movie United 93 was boycotted when it was shown in Manhattan because it depicts the hijacking of a plane into the White House. 

World Trade Center, produced by Oliver Stone and starring Nicolas Cage, suffered a huge failure. Not only did it not do well at the box office, it also failed to receive a single Oscar nomination.

Facing the grief is really too much to bear.

Levi knew very well that these films that directly promoted war would not achieve very good results when they were actually released. People long for revenge but don't want to be reminded of sad memories.

Therefore, instead of using reality to awaken grief, it is better to construct grief in illusion.

Many Americans have a constant fear for their safety. Therefore, there is definitely a market for movies that evoke 9/11-style fear, but this kind of danger cannot be too close to reality. 

In Levi's memory, Cloverfield can be said to be the forerunner in this regard. Later, the Transformers and Avengers repeatedly performed the game of destroying New York, making good use of people's psychology.

And these are also things Levi wants to use.

"Let's shoot X-Men 2. A blockbuster like this, placed in New York, can awaken people's memories without making people afraid of grief. This is the best way to deal with it. You go to the director and actors to prepare. When I get back, we will observe and start shooting together."

Levi warned Alexander again on the phone, and Alexander breathed a sigh of relief after listening to Levi's words, "Then let's do it... Having said that, Nick, now that there is no more trouble, shouldn't it be time for you to come back?"

Alexander was a little too tired to support the overall situation by himself during this period. Listening to Levi's analysis of the situation, he also looked forward to Levi's return.

In terms of business, he has always been very confident, but when it comes to his understanding of movies, he is still far behind Levi. He has been listening to Levi's remote control command and hopes that Levi can come back to help him.

"Just a little while longer... The filming of the movie is almost done, but I still have some things to deal with," Levi reassured Alexander with a few more words and then hung up the phone.

At this time, behind him, a gentle voice had already sounded, "Do you mean me when you said you have something to deal with?" 

Levi smiled, turned around, and looked at Naomi, who hugged him from behind. He asked her to turn around and took Naomi into his arms, "Of course, apart from being with you, what else is worth doing for me to ignore the other side of things?"

Naomi rolled her eyes at Levi. She did not believe his words, but her eyes were full of sweetness.

When Naomi suddenly heard the news that day, it could be said that she was frightened: she had been in the United States for ten years, and almost all her friends were in the United States. 

Suddenly, she heard that the United States had been attacked, and Hollywood production companies had been warned; she was also frightened and panicked.

At that time, the first thing she thought of was Levi, and on that day, she no longer concealed her thoughts and fully showed her affection for Levi. Dependence also completely expresses one's helplessness.

In order to appease her, Levi let her stay in his house... After that, the relationship between the two became closer.

They had a long-standing friendship, and now their relationship is even more intimate. Now, the filming of the movie has been completed, and there are a lot of affairs in Hollywood. But at this time, Levi still stayed in Europe to vacation with her, which made Naomi feel a little happy.

Letting a man leave important things behind to accompany her is a kind of happiness.

"Why do I think that when you said you were going to start filming X-Men 2, you deliberately wanted to get rid of Scarlett?" Naomi also smiled after listening to his words, but after the smile, there was a trace of speculation, "Do you think she is an eyesore to you now that you are with me? Then, one day, will I become an eyesore to you?" 

"How could it be? You only know how to be eye-catching; how could you be an eyesore?" Levi turned back and kissed her gently, "Let her go back because I want to enjoy some alone time with you... During these days, I hope it will be a happy time for you."

*****

Thanks and kudos for my patreons 

Scott DePaepe

MMMCMXCIX, or 3,999

Britanna

Marcelo Maia

Danny York

Mandy G

DragonEz

You can read advanced chapters on my Patreon account: https://www.patreon.com/Sayonara816.