Chapter 123: Facing Criticism
by 远上天山Chapter 123: Facing Criticism
After all, Zhong Wei was once a badminton player, and he could deeply relate to Yin Pei's struggles.
The plot of *Feather of Youth* is not complicated at all; the story flows smoothly, yet it is not the kind of dull movie that puts you to sleep.
There is no gut-wrenching drama or bloodshed in the film, only the warmth that constantly surrounds the protagonist, like a quietly flowing stream.
Compared to the movies released during the National Day holiday, *Feather of Youth* is simple and straightforward.
But—whether it’s Yin Pei choosing badminton again or the scenes of him standing up and swinging his racket to fight once more, it’s all so thrilling.
Yin Pei is also a fighter!
"I absolutely love *Feather of Youth*! Does anyone else think Yin Pei's character resembles a puppy?"
"His smile is just like a golden retriever’s—adorable!"
"Yin Pei is the most youthful role Lu Xu has taken on. For over an hour, I couldn’t take my eyes off Lu Xu's face! He should take on more sunny and cheerful roles—they suit him so well!"
"Totally agree! +1+1+1."
It's rare for Lu Xu to play a youthful college student, so fans naturally bought tickets to support him. As Lu Xu's second leading role in a movie, *Feather of Youth* has a completely different tone from *The Path of Bones*, to the point where fans occasionally wondered if Yin Pei would suddenly turn into a villain in the last half hour before the movie ended.
During the time *The Year I Was 18* aired, fans who had repeatedly watched *The Path of Bones* and *Voices of the Dead* couldn't help but think this way.
Fortunately, *The Year I Was 18* is heartwarming, and so is *Feather of Youth*.
The entire film is full of youthful energy. After Yin Pei no longer gives up on badminton, his eyes shine with brilliance, which is the touching point of the movie.
"It's like watching a shonen manga."
"'Welcome back' is so touching. It reminds me of my favorite athlete who was forced to retire due to injury. Everyone thought he wouldn't return to the court, but he still came back."
"Competitive sports are brutal. Athletes' conditions fluctuate, and one mistake can affect their entire career. That's why I've always felt that wasting opportunities is a crime. I truly hope all athletes can have fulfilling careers."
"It’s tough..."
...
Before *Feather of Youth* was released, several platforms predicted the movie's box office performance. In these predictions, the film's opening day box office was estimated to be around 80 million.
"This estimate is already high. Pure youth films don’t rake in big bucks these days, and *Feather of Youth* is a niche sports genre. I’d say 60 million on opening day is more realistic."
On the film's opening day, renowned film critic and screenwriter Meng Xun made this prediction in his column.
Objectively speaking, his prediction wasn't wrong. Considering the genre, *Feather of Youth* isn't exactly blockbuster material, at least not the kind of movie that can make a huge profit.
Youth films once had a glorious era. In previous years, a decent youth film could easily pull in over a billion. More importantly, youth films had low production costs, allowing them to both make money and boost actors' careers.
But now, youth films’ box office performance has declined significantly.
Small profits are still possible, but big profits are difficult.
*Feather of Youth* doesn't even have the romantic elements found in most youth films. The main theme of the film is friendship, and there are relatively many gameplay scenes.
In other words, among the unprofitable youth films, *Feather of Youth* is particularly hard to profit from.
But here’s the kicker—when the opening day box office numbers came out, *Feather of Youth* raked in 137.62 million, surpassing Meng Xun’s prediction by more than 70 million.
In the genre of youth films, such achievements have been rare in recent years.
Initially, this issue would have faded away, as it's normal for film critics to make incorrect predictions. The team behind 'Feather of Youth,' including the main cast, didn't aim to shame anyone, nor did fans flock to Meng Xun's Weibo to mock him with lines like "Don't underestimate the young and poor."
But for some reason, Meng Xun inexplicably targeted 'Feather of Youth.'
The next day, he discussed 'Feather of Youth' on Weibo.
"I checked out 'Feather of Youth' out of curiosity. I originally thought that with a first-day box office of 130 million, it should be a dazzling film with a blend of various elements. However, the finished product left me quite disappointed. Does such a straightforward story really deserve a movie adaptation? It's better to watch those inspirational documentaries, which are much more motivating than 'Feather of Youth.'"
"Later, a friend enlightened me about how popular an idol-turned-actor is, and I realized how ignorant I was, having never heard of this person before. So, it's normal for 'Feather of Youth' to break 100 million at the box office, as fans are willing to pay. A few years back, a poorly received film was driven by fans to gross 800 million at the box office."
He kept ranting to himself, posting one Weibo after another. Although he didn't harshly criticize 'Feather of Youth,' his strange comments made people even more uncomfortable.
Zhang Zhizhen even replied to him: "Well said, Brother Zhang."
Meng Xun posted a [handshake] emoji: "Brother Zhang, wise words."
In fact, even on its second day, 'Feather of Youth' did well at the box office. Although it didn't reach 130 million, it still broke 100 million, bringing the total box office to 250 million, and the film's costs had already been recovered.
Lu Xu received a salary for 'Feather of Youth,' but the cinemas and the crew had discussed plans to promote the film overseas—no one could ignore the overseas box office success of 'Deception.'
After all, Lu Xu is one of the lead actors in 'Deception,' and he's a familiar face to overseas audiences. The story of 'Feather of Youth' has a universal appeal, making it more accessible to overseas viewers.
For example, the long-standing sports comics in Country R have been adapted into stage plays and movies.
And in North America, movies about basketball and football have never been lacking.
However, after Meng Xun shared his "wise" opinions, suddenly there was a surge in online comments labeling 'Feather of Youth' as 'bland,' 'a waste of time,' and 'fantastical.'
"A tired inspirational flick, packed with the worn-out notion of man conquering fate. The director and screenwriter clearly suffer from childishness, using a modern setting to tell a mythical story."
"The director likely realized that such a film wouldn't deceive the audience, which is why Lu Xu's face dominates most of the film's runtime."
On film forums, some netizens even started betting that 'Feather of Youth' would soon flop at the box office.
...
Lu Xu was silently browsing Meng Xun's profile.
Though he's a renowned film critic and screenwriter, Lu Xu looked around and found that the other party's work resume... was all mixed.
He collaborated on a few solid projects with other writers, but his solo scripts were rather lackluster, bordering on forgettable.
Even—if he co-wrote the first part of a series with other screenwriters, and then independently wrote the sequels, the sequels would turn out very poorly.
It wasn't just a case of a dog's tail following a sable; it was more like a weed trailing a sable.
"He's petty and especially envious of young talent," Xu Wen explained. "He's just relapsing into his old habits."
While Meng Xun is always quick to critique others' work online, his own projects have genuinely bombed.
"A busy screenwriter wouldn't have the time to be posting online all day; they'd be too busy with work to care about anything else."
Lu Xu nodded: "So he's doing this of his own accord, not because he's been paid off?"
"Most likely not."
The crew initially thought that Meng Xun would take a break after venting enough, not expecting him to keep ranting about "Feather of Youth." Three days after the movie's release, he had posted nearly twenty Weibo messages, calling the film "pointless to make" and "exploiting fans for money," saying Lu Xu "shouldn't waste his talent on meaningless movies," and urging him to "strive for greater heights in his acting career."
"Honestly, I wanted to say..."
"Me too..."
"But Lu Xu hasn't posted a new Weibo in a while, does anyone know what I mean?"
"I get it, I'm waiting too..."
Fans who know Lu Xu well understood his personality. With Meng Xun going this far out of line, if Lu Xu didn't come out to respond, given his character... it was impossible, just impossible.
Many fans had been waiting all afternoon, ready to catch Lu Xu the moment he came online.
Sure enough, Lu Xu logged on.
Fans weren't sure if Lu Xu had seen Meng Xun's posts, but given Lu Xu's habit of browsing the web, and Meng Xun trending for several days, it was unlikely Lu Xu hadn't seen them.
Despite all the online criticism, they didn't hurt the box office of "Feather of Youth" much.
By the third day of its release, the movie's total box office hadn't hit a billion, but it was still holding steady at over 90 million.
In terms of drop-off, "Feather of Youth" was holding steady.
This was a slow season, with no blockbusters to draw crowds, and audiences, fresh off the busy National Day season, might not feel like going to the movies right now.
However, Meng Xun's remarks were indeed unpleasant.
"Maybe 'Feather of Youth' could have hit a billion on the third day, but his ranting left it at just over 90 million."
The fans also felt indignant for "Feather of Youth."
Who said movies must be convoluted?
What's wrong with "Feather of Youth" talking about friendship?
At least—they could draw energy from this movie, a supposedly hopeless ending that unfolded into something beautiful again, isn't that good?
Doing what you love, firmly overcoming the difficulties you face, surrounded by love and gentleness, isn't that a good movie?
At that moment in the cinema, they were moved by Yin Pei, that's why they liked this movie.
"Ah, Lu Xu posted on Weibo."
"I'm going to check it out!"
"Come quickly!"
While the fans were feeling aggrieved for Lu Xu, his latest Weibo post was already up.
"The higher peak of my acting career—within two days, successfully made Teacher Meng recognize me."
Lu Xu specifically screenshotted Meng Xun's Weibo posts from two consecutive days, where on the first day Meng Xun was sarcastically saying he didn't know him, and on the second day he was earnestly advising as a senior.
But it's unclear whether Lu Xu did it on purpose or not.
He captured a part of a chat record in his screenshot.
The content is as follows:
"Who is Meng Xun?"
"I don't know, let me look it up."
"Does anyone in our group know Meng Xun?"
"Really don't know."
"It's okay, we'll get to know him today."
#Although Meng Xun just met Lu Xu, Lu Xu also just met Meng Xun#
#Even Steven#
Author's note:
Update~
I've seen all your comments!
Since the protagonist keeps going through the cycle of filming and releasing works, it's easy to get tired--
But when I write about daily life or variety shows, I worry you'll think I'm just filling pages.
Actually, I was really at a loss yesterday because I received comments saying my pacing was too fast and others saying it was too slow, so I didn't know what to do. Lately, I've been picking up the pace a bit after readers mentioned that my pacing was too slow.
As for the movie *Feather of Youth*, perhaps because I am a fan of sports anime, I really got a lot of inspiration from sports anime, so I wrote this story. There are many athletes in sports anime and in real life who leave the field with regrets due to injuries, but my friend doesn't like this kind of theme.
There are actually many movies in this genre, such as *Dangal*, and this year there was *The Swimmers*. I remember there was also *Cool Runnings*, about Jamaica, a Caribbean country, participating in the Winter Olympics. Jamaica has a tropical climate, with no natural setting for winter sports, yet the athletes overcame all odds to compete. I personally enjoy it, but maybe I didn't bring out enough conflict in 'Feather of Youth.' The emotional highs and lows just aren't hitting the mark--
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