Generation Z Artists

Chapter 390

Chapter 392

Times have changed, and the popularity of Fang Xinghe's engraved speech exploded on the same day.

The main contributor was neither the television station nor the print media, but StarNet, which was about to go public.

YouTube was founded in February 2005 and was acquired by Google for $16.5 billion this year. The widespread adoption of Adobe Flash has enabled standard definition videos to play smoothly in most browsers, so StarNet Weibo naturally has the function of reposting and playing videos.

CCTV documentary director Wang Bin has long been employed by Xinghe Entertainment, and his only job is to film Fang Xinghe.

When Brother Fang was filming movies and TV series, he would bring his team to shoot behind-the-scenes footage; when Brother Fang went out to do events, he would also go with the media to take pictures; when Brother Fang was resting at home, he would still occasionally turn on the camera, like filming a reality show, to record real and fake lives.

Fang Xinghe could not possibly relinquish the power to interpret his own words entirely to the media, let alone American media.

Therefore, Wang Bin recorded the entire event today, then quickly edited it into a short video that perfectly suited his taste, uploaded it to Fang Xinghe's official YouTube account, and finally posted it on his personal Weibo account.

Then it started to be wildly reposted by various celebrities and influential figures.

The current internet ecosystem is like this: there are often new things, but not many truly new things.

It will be six years before "Gangnam Style" becomes a viral hit, four years before Justin Bieber's "Baby" goes viral, and two years before Attorney Obama's "Yes We Can" internet campaign.

So far, only one event has become a hot topic on the American internet this year.

The "Leave Britney Alone" video went viral.

The incident began when Britney Spears' fans posted an emotional video defending her, in which they tearfully pleaded with the media and the public to leave their idol alone, leading to its viral spread.

Within 48 hours, it garnered over 1000 million views on YouTube, sparking global imitations and parodies, giving rise to the cultural meme of "overly emotional fans," and laying the foundation for the nascent form of internet celebrity culture.

However, how many views has such a significant internet event, ranking first in the year, accumulated to date?
A mere 3450 million.

The videos of the "hyperthyroidism guy" traveling to China on Douyin (TikTok) have at least 30 million views, with the Shaolin Temple episode reaching 150 million. A single episode clip has garnered over 2 billion views across the entire internet.

However, this event wouldn't even rank in the top 50 trending topics of 2025.

The limitations of the era made reaching 10 million views in 48 hours the "phenomenal" standard in 2006.

Fang Xinghe's interview video was released, and it broke the 10 million mark about six hours later, before 6 p.m. that night.

In comparison, the daily circulation of the Los Angeles Times has fallen to 78 copies, the Washington Post to 66, The Hollywood Reporter to 5, and Entertainment Today to 10...

All the print media that reported on Fang Xinghe's engraved speech combined still had a dissemination efficiency less than one-fifth that of the internet.

Of course, the target audiences of the two are very different. Reporting on both at the same time helps to reach a wider audience and spread influence faster, which is definitely a good thing for Brother Fang.

Fang Xinghe couldn't control the print media and television stations; their reporting angles were quirky and unconventional, and they didn't do him any good. But the online propaganda finally showcased the skills of Fang's top-notch online trolls.

He edited the video to be extremely, extremely, extremely art film style.

The first part shows a view from a high vantage point, overlooking the dense crowd, before Brother Fang cuts through the flow of people and makes his entrance amidst cheers.

The main focus is on highlighting Fang Xinghe's superstar aura and creating a sense of realism through the enthusiastic atmosphere at the scene.

The immersive realism will allow the audience to be more immersed in the starry sky and feel admiration and respect for the galaxy.

The second part is extremely concise, presenting the process of installing stars in a fragmented, montage-like manner.

The key shot is Fang Xinghe's serious profile.

With the surroundings out of focus and a black and white filter applied, only the god-like Fang Ge remains in the picture, bending over and striking a pose.

This shot lasted for less than a second, enough for netizens to take screenshots and save it, but it didn't look deliberate at all when played back, truly a top-notch face-dazzling moment.

After installing the stars, the video jumps faster, transitioning directly to the stage speech in just a few frames.

This is the key part: the camera locks onto Fang Ge for 80% of the time, with close-ups of his face and medium shots of his full body split 30/70, and the remaining 20% ​​is used to cut to his reactions on the spot.

Among the audience, there were those laughing excessively, those weeping uncontrollably, those looking thoughtful, and those with confused expressions... a variety of unique reactions that cleverly filled the space, adding even more appeal to the already entertaining speech.

The last part of the video features on-site interviews.

Fang Xinghe dodged the issue of shoe education, warned reporters not to cause trouble, touted himself as a peace fighter, and expressed regret that the United States had lost its original aspirations—all four major points were presented from the most straightforward third-party perspective.

At this point, the art was complete.

When marketing techniques are used skillfully to the extreme, they become an art.

The first generation of internet users in Europe and America were ecstatic.

The first major point of discussion: the fear of the Son of God.

"WOW~WOW~WOW~ Look what I found! It turns out even Star River has things it's afraid of!"

"Hahaha! The way he turned his head away from the reporter and changed the subject made me realize that this guy is actually made of flesh and blood after all..."

So cute!

"Very clever, and so natural, isn't it?"

"It really looked natural, but my girlfriend and I both burst out laughing!"

"How does this guy manage to be so serious yet so cool and funny?"

"Hey, American friend, what exactly is the Star God Cult? I can't believe that SR has something to fear."

"Let me correct you—it's not fear. No normal person would like to touch poop with their hands. And the Star God Cult is precisely that pile of poop."

Then the first major point of discussion quickly branched into a strange subplot: SR's divinity and divine status.

"Hey buddy upstairs, the Star God Cult is a very sinister new cult."

"It seems that they believe SR to be the Saint of the Stars, the only savior, and they atone for their sins to SR through asceticism and donations, hoping to receive his redemption."

"Atone to SR himself?!"

"Yes, he is the only star god in that group of madmen's doctrine who has compassion for humanity and descended to earth in his true form."

"Bullshit! This is ridiculous!"

"Foolish and ignorant lamb, what do you know? Throughout human history, Newton and Einstein were merely the limits of human intelligence, and Leonardo da Vinci at most surpassed ordinary people in the realm of art. Have you ever seen any other human being who could display superhuman talent in so many different fields?"

"what?!"

"Literature, film, music, painting, performance, sports, martial arts, public speaking, critical thinking, philosophy, business... This isn't about just getting by in any field; it's about effortlessly reaching the pinnacle. The great AS is the only example in human history of truly transcending the limits of the mortal realm!"

"hiss……"

"He cannot be human; divine blood flows in his veins, and divine fire burns in his brain! Mysterious Chinese people also believe that he is a deity descended to earth, called the Central Heaven Purple Star Lord, one of the great gods who govern the starry sky!"

“Foolish mortals, you laugh at our madness now, but when the Great Purge comes, I will watch you be burned to ashes in God’s Kingdom!”

"Hey buddy, how do I join the Star God Cult?"

……

The second major point of discussion: SR, dog training.

"He seems to be the father of these media outlets!"

"Yes, of course he is." "These gossips are as meek as dogs in front of him!"

"You'll get used to it. Jordan was the same way back then, and Madonna went through a similar phase."

"In the United States, isn't the way celebrities interact with the media just like training dogs?"

"But no matter how strict you are, you can't avoid being attacked. Look at those print media, they're spreading rumors about him again!"

This discussion mostly focused on the internal workings of Mantianxing, and to some extent, it fueled distrust of mainstream media among the younger generation of internet users.

Its current influence is not significant, but its impact on the future is subtle yet profound.

……

The third major point of discussion: peace fighters, laughing and crying.

"Hahaha! This is the most original joke I've heard all year!"

"This fighter crushed my buddy's basketball dream with one punch back in the day. You know who I'm talking about? He was the only hope for our entire community. I'm not saying this to complain, I mean... fuck your peace fighter!"

"Come on, what's wrong with protecting yourself on the basketball court? Besides that, can you find any other violent behavior by SR in real life?"

“I’m not sure about that, but I often feel that his language is also a form of violence.”

"Pfft! Dude, I burst out laughing!"

"That's right, the reason you don't see SR using force is mainly because he usually doesn't need to use force; he can deal with most of the people on this planet just by talking."

"But I still hope to see him use force. Hey, don't attack me, aren't you guys curious?"

"To be honest, I'd like to see it too."

"Oh my god, I've finally found a partner! How could I not be curious? I'm extremely curious, I really want to know who is more powerful, him or Bruce Lee!"

"It should be SR. There are no videos of Bruce Lee fighting with the goal of knocking someone down, but SR took down four NBA-level black strongmen in one go!"

"I'm not sure, I just hope that one day I can see him step into the MMA ring and demonstrate his violent philosophy against strong opponents."

Wow, great idea!

"That's probably difficult; his face is too valuable."

"Then at least make a few more visceral action movies, right? What was that movie 'Less You'? It made me sleepy!"

"Nice! Feel the same!"

"There should be a chance for this. Hollywood has wanted him to make action movies for a long time, but they haven't offered enough conditions yet. I believe they could reach an agreement at any time."

"Indeed, if the DVD of 'The Return of the Condor Heroes' sells for $2 million, Hollywood will be begging him on their knees!"

"Dude, how much are they selling for now?"

"It hasn't finished airing yet, it should go on sale next year."

"So how about we get more relatives and friends to buy the DVDs, and then have thousands of people leave comments on his account, begging him to make an action movie soon? What do you think of that idea?"

"Do it!"

This topic has a weak foundation, but it has a very strong extension potential, and it quickly shifts to the effect that Fang Xinghe wants most - his expectations for action movies.

The fourth point of discussion: Is the United States truly a peace envoy? Did it ever have noble intentions in the first place?

Most intelligent people would say no to this.

"It's ridiculous. Apart from having a vision of peace in its propaganda, when has the United States ever done even one thing that could truly promote peace?"

"Original aspiration? hahaha!"

“I like the word, but SR has imagined us in too beautiful a way.”

These words are clear-headed, objective, and sharp, but unfortunately, such people have never been the mainstream in the United States.

The upper classes and elites see the truth, but they won't say it online.

Meanwhile, the lower and middle classes, who make up at least 90% of the population, have been nurtured by a culture of happiness and brainwashed by the media for years, and are simply unable to recognize the truth.

They would only feel proud of Fang Xinghe's praise, heartbroken by his regret, and then blame certain bad people who "abandoned their original intentions".

Therefore, the discussion sparked by this topic did not focus on "whether it is" or "whether it is", but quickly evolved into a large-scale mutual attack between several factions.

Libertarians, democratic and legalists, fundamentalist conservatism, modern openness... all clashed.

Just then, StarNet Weibo launched its long-awaited trending topics feature.

Once the rankings were released, the top ten were all topics related to Fang Xinghe.

This would be impossible under normal circumstances, but today is precisely the day when Brother Fang dominates the charts all by himself.

It's hard to put into words the shock that Americans felt.

This level of popularity is completely different from the small-scale offline discussions of the print media era. It is an instantaneous, large-scale interaction that has overturned all traditional media perceptions.

The ranking list made the popularity more intuitive, which not only made Fang Ge a legend, but also added fuel to the fire.

By about 48 hours, the video had been viewed over 5000 million times, and the number of discussions on Weibo alone exceeded 5.5 million, with countless posts across the entire internet.

A large number of derivative, parody, and critical videos were uploaded, creating a phenomenal craze.

Among them, parody videos themed around "offense" received the highest level of favor from ordinary users because they are the simplest to shoot, have sufficient life experience, and are also sufficient to vent emotions.

Among them, Siggas, an early American Black internet celebrity whose creative theme is "Angry Black People," filmed a parody video that can be described as the ultimate in contemporary spoofing.

He painted his face white, rested his chin on his hand, and roared angrily at his Black friend: "Hey, you bastard, you've offended me!"

Then suddenly he pulled out a whip from behind and whipped the guy who was acting alongside him until he was rolling and crawling.

The acting style is very exaggerated, like the "Tom and Jerry" cartoon.

The reason for the offense was even more absurd—because the Black laborer wasn't angry enough when he was frying McDonald's fries for him.

"Since your fries aren't angry enough, then let me show you my anger! Ata!"

The video garnered over 500 million views in 24 hours, prompting a large number of pioneering Black parody influencers, such as Hot Damn I Rock and Rucka Rucka Ali, to follow suit.

As a Chinese person, Fang Xinghe simply couldn't understand the core of this meme—no, actually he couldn't understand the core of most "offensive" memes.

But the fact is, offensive videos are becoming the hottest trend on the American internet, dominating the creative landscape.

New internet celebrities are springing up like mushrooms after rain, attracting huge attention and gaining widespread fame.

The rise of the first generation of internet celebrities, the explosion of high-quality content, public attention, and the support of mainstream media have established YouTube's dominant position as a video website and allowed Weibo to establish a precipitous lead among all social media platforms.

By this point, no one was worried about StarNet's stock price falling below its IPO price on its first day of trading. Financial institutions across the United States began to firmly believe that StarNet's opening price was not set too high, but rather too low.

The Wall Street Journal asserted unequivocally: "The day StarNet goes public will be the day SR officially enters the top 10 of the richest people in America!"

The first day of trading arrived quickly.

(End of this chapter)