The Wolf of Los Angeles.

The successful premiere means that "Philip" has officially sounded the horn for its Oscar bid.

Whether a film can win Best Picture is often closely related to the social environment and political situation.

Hawke recalls far too many films that won Oscars due to political circumstances.

Politics has never left Hollywood.

That evening, Twitter broadcast a video of Tom Emmer's interview.

This politician, who is virtually certain to secure the Elephant Party nomination, appeared deeply distressed in front of the camera, exclaiming: "The Philip incident is an indelible scar on the history of American civilization. Two years have passed, and a good person who has dedicated everything to his family and society cannot receive fairness and justice. What has happened to our country? What has happened to our society?"

After asking his question loudly, he directly turned the tide on his opponents: "The Democratic government in San Francisco has been avoiding Philip's questions and has lost even the most basic sense of social responsibility. I ask you, is a government composed of such people qualified? Can they lead San Francisco and America? The eyes of the entire nation are on them, and they still disregard the law!"

This video also kicked off the war of words between the two sides.

The two sides attacked each other and exposed each other's shortcomings, causing a great deal of trouble around Christmas.

This also made "Philip" even more popular.

With the New Year approaching, this film is highly anticipated.

Social environment and public opinion have always been able to influence the Hollywood industry chain. As for the film "Philip," due to its special subject matter and content, it has received almost unanimous praise.

Hawke wasn't surprised at all, because Hollywood and the entertainment media have always been so "snobbish".

For about seven or eight years in my previous life, any film involving this kind of subject matter received praise from both the industry and the media.

Those who dare to criticize are practically facing social death.

"The film's surging emotions are like the waves of a high tide. This deeply moving story has nothing to do with skin color or sexual orientation; it's about a man's growth and his responsibilities to his family."

"Everything Philip faced is the same dilemma that we ordinary Americans face."

"If we ordinary people don't help Philip, who will?"

"The San Francisco authorities don't treat people like human beings, the Democrats don't treat people like human beings, but we consider Philip a hero!"

Philip, the LGBTQ Black man who was killed by a white police officer kneeling on his neck, has become a spiritual symbol for many ordinary Americans.

With the support of social movements and the broader environment, "Philip" is a film that the media dared not criticize.

Several media outlets that published the film "Yin Yang" were besieged by LGBTQ people, who hurled all sorts of discriminatory accusations at them, making it impossible for them to manage their work and daily lives.

For example, when the famous Cthulhu Rowling subtly criticized Eric Philip's novel "Philip" for treating unspeakable groups as enemies on Twitter, several cross-dressers came to her door and blocked her door at her Edinburgh mansion.

Perhaps influenced by public opinion, or perhaps the legal process has reached the point where a result is due.

A little over two years after Philippe was killed by kneeling on his neck, and after numerous out-of-court settlements and court proceedings, Philippe faced his final lawsuit in the San Francisco District Court.

The court ruled in favor of Philip's family.

San Francisco City Hall and the San Francisco Police Department have agreed to pay Philip's family up to $2354 million in various economic and emotional damages, with the payment due within the next two months.

The large legal team representing Philip's family erupted in cheers, employing the usual American-style free legal services.

No upfront fees are charged, but a large portion of the compensation will be deducted.

Saint Steve gave an interview outside the courthouse, his face beaming with excitement as he spoke into the microphone: "This is a great victory for freedom, democracy, and equality!"

Philip, who generously faced death, is becoming an even more symbolic figure.

This has become a key juncture in American social change.

After years of hard work, Hawke finally led America onto a bright and promising future.

The Founding Fathers of America would be laughing all the way to the bank.

…………

In his office at the Coast Building, Hawke obtained a series of data about "Philip".

Paramount Pictures forwarded the data from the weekend preview screenings here immediately.

Thanks to the spread of this series of events, "Philip" achieved astonishingly high attendance rates after its preview screenings in cities such as Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago.

Among the 366 cinemas, the average occupancy rate was 92%, and the box office per cinema reached $2.64.

In terms of word-of-mouth, it can only be described as explosive.

It has a 98% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a 9.3 rating on IMDb, and a 90 rating from various media outlets.

"Philip" is proving to the world that a classic film can be expressed in many different ways.

Skin color and sexual orientation are important components of this.

The criteria for judging good films at the Oscars form a complete system.

Political correctness comes first.

Edward then said, "Eric sent an invitation to a film review session in Burbank tonight, asking if you have time to attend."

Hawke asked, "Did you invite Steve?"

“I’ve been notified.” Edward specifically asked, “Steve, as well as Sora and Rosa from the Mattesin Society, will be attending, and Tom Cruise will also be there.”

Hawke nodded: "They are enough; they represent the equal rights movement."

Although the film aligns with the current social context and further promotes the LGBTQ movement, making it incredibly politically correct, the production company and distributor did not neglect any of the public relations efforts expected during awards season.

Steve, and even Tom Emmer, were more eager than Hawke for Philippe to win the Oscar for Best Picture.

Hawke asked Edward, "Have we messed up the Oscars?"

“No,” Edward said seriously. “Boss, don’t you think we’ve elevated the prestige of the Oscars, allowing the influence of the Oscar for Best Picture to truly penetrate into society, instead of just a small group of people indulging in self-celebration and self-indulgence?”

Hawke glanced at him and said, "Your theoretical knowledge has improved. You can go to the USC School of Cinematic Arts for further studies."

Edward chuckled and said frankly, "These are all Frank's claims. One day, the Oscars will be great because of us."

Hawke strongly suspected that the old man was fooling Edward, but he didn't point it out.

There was a knock on the office door, and Caroline walked in from outside, wearing red high heels and a Chanel dress.

She glanced at Edward, placed a stack of documents in front of Hawke, and said, "We have completed the full integration of LinkedIn's technology and database. The core algorithms and cloud computing have been optimized, and operational efficiency has been significantly improved."

Hawke carefully reviewed the report, which contained various data parameters that matched those submitted by the technical department.

He asked, "How is the federal network communications software project progressing?"

Caroline sat down and explained in detail: "The project team has been officially established. As you said, Jonathan is in full charge. The technical personnel from both sides are in place and are studying the system currently used by the Federation in order to make a targeted design."

She emphasized, "This project requires an initial investment of tens of millions of dollars. If we can't secure government contracts, it will ultimately end in losses. Other countries won't use systems designed by American companies because companies like Microsoft have already blocked the way; they've left too many backdoors and can freely access all kinds of data." Hawke thought for a moment, "If something unexpected happens, we can consider India as a potential customer."

Caroline smoothed her golden bangs and said, "Are Indians really that useful?"

Hawke reminded Edward and Caroline: "For all our business dealings with Indian companies, if the Indians require a deposit, the deposit amount will be the full amount."

Caroline, who didn't have much direct contact with Indians, asked, "Would Indians dare to commit commercial fraud against Americans?"

Hawke said, "Don't underestimate the Indians."

Caroline replied, "I understand."

Edward's phone rang. He answered it, listened for a few minutes, and then said to Hawke, "Betty's here. It's urgent."

Caroline stood up and said, "I'll go back first. Let me know if anything comes up."

Hawke waved his hand.

Caroline was almost there when Betty quickly entered the office.

Hawke asked, "What happened?"

“Fiona’s run into some trouble.” Betty had managed to speak with Fiona in person for a few days when she found a safe enough opportunity. “Sirius has donated a large sum to the parade again, and a man named Sullivan came from Washington and met with Fiona in San Francisco, asking her to provide them with some assistance.”

She recounted the story of Fiona and Sullivan in detail.

Edward said, "They've got Fiona using the power of the parade to provide assistance if necessary, and they've even created a code word. Are they planning something in Los Angeles? Targeting us?"

This wasn't hard to judge. Hawke asked, "Aren't there any others?"

Betty said, "No, Fiona also guessed that. Sillaly may want to take targeted action in Los Angeles, but she is also wary of our strength in Los Angeles. She may be using Fiona as a backup safe house or an escape route."

She paused slightly, then added, "We don't need a backup plan, but we should prepare several."

Edward chuckled: "They're being very cautious this time, considering retreat first."

Betty shrugged: "But they didn't expect one thing: years ago, we had already sent people into the parade."

She recalled Fiona's helplessness: "As an undercover agent, I even ended up in the position of the organization's leader."

Edward scratched his head: "Who would have thought of something so outrageous?"

The probability of such a thing happening is too low. Even if it were Hawke, he generally wouldn't consider this possibility.

Hawke asked, "What about the target? Does Fiona have any guesses about the target?"

“This matter is too sensitive. Since the other party won’t say anything, Fiona doesn’t dare to ask too much.” Betty also asked Fiona about this issue: “When the donation from Sullivan arrived, he asked Fiona to launch various campaigns in Los Angeles. She guessed that the other party’s target was us, but she didn’t know anything more specific.”

Hawke knew without a doubt that all of this was caused by the election.

California alone accounts for more than one-tenth of the electoral votes in the United States.

His objectives were only twofold: his own side and the Ferguson family's side.

Hawke thought of Wenner, whom he had brought back from England. Since Sylvia's closest assistant had lost her husband, Wenner would surely have some suspicions.

A while ago, Garcia sent a message back from England that a BBC reporter was making inquiries about these British people.

For things like this, no evidence is needed at all; Hillary's side will inevitably suspect that it was done in Los Angeles.

Hawke said, "We arrested Wenner, which may be retaliation, or it may be that the other side is worried that we will get important secrets from Wenner and wants to take countermeasures."

Betty chimed in, "In that case, their targets can only be us or the core members of the Ferguson family."

She reminded him, "Boss, you need to strengthen the security and defense forces around you."

Hawke had a plan for this, and looked at Edward: "Notify Raul to activate the highest level of security response."

Edward immediately called Raul.

In a nearby office, Raul woke up Morientes, who was resting, and notified the entire security team to stand by, splitting the three shifts into two.

Hawke knew very well that Sila was most likely not targeting him personally.

Once this kind of situation escalates to a head-to-head confrontation, it becomes a fight to the death.

Hawke was wary of Sila, but he wouldn't underestimate himself either. Through their previous encounters, Sila would also be wary of him.

Moreover, he has a girlfriend with a notorious reputation who could go crazy and kill him at any moment.

Erica's less-than-stellar reputation also serves as a deterrent.

Hawke thought for a moment, realizing that security could not be relaxed, and then said to Edward, "Notify all companies and foundations to activate the highest level of security."

It's not just the company, but also the key people: "Everyone I previously included in the inner circle has bodyguards protecting them 24 hours a day."

Edward was one of them: "They would target me? I'm just a nobody..."

Betty turned her head and glanced at the dark face that showed no awareness of being a wealthy person, and said, "You've been by Hawke's side all this time, so you know a lot of things. Some of Hawke's instructions are given through you, like just now."

Edward scratched his head. If we're talking about staying true to one's original aspirations, then apart from Hawke, he's the one who's done the best in the entire Twitter and other related companies.

Although he has witnessed too many cases of Cthulhu exploding gold coins, he has gradually distanced himself from divorced women with children in the past two years and stopped messing around with other people. But Edward is still the savior at heart.

A similar incident had occurred before, and Hawke had already instructed the Butterfly Company to establish relevant security mechanisms.

If we don't know who the specific target is, then we'll launch a full-scale operation.

The Flower Butterfly Company has enough manpower.

Hawke issued the order, and the message was quickly and covertly communicated to key personnel.

Let's not talk about Edward, Caroline, and the others.

Even that old bastard Frank, Hawke had Campos send someone over.

Edward was so busy making phone calls that he kept making calls.

Hawke hadn't forgotten him, reminding him, "Have someone follow you 24/7."

Edward chuckled: "Who would want me?"

He said this, but he didn't refuse: "Austin and the others will be with me."

Once Raul sent reinforcements, Hawke drove back to Beverly Hills, calling Brian en route.

Brian also quietly increased security on his side.

Hawke returned home, asked the housekeeper a question, and then went to the gym. (End of Chapter)