From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

“Gloria… Gloria!”

A call reached my ears, pulling Gloria’s center of gravity back to the ground, her paste-like brain finally clearing and regaining its reason.

Turning her head, Gloria saw Elaine’s face, filled with excitement and exhilaration, her cheeks flushed with red, her forehead dotted with a few beads of sweat.

The focus of her vision re-established, the corners of Gloria’s mouth turned up, the first reaction that surfaced in her mind was, “Wow.”

A sigh of admiration.

Even though she hadn’t said anything, Elaine miraculously understood, nodding repeatedly.

“Yes. Wow!”

Around them, a group of people had quietly gathered.

Including Elaine, one by one, they were nodding vigorously, with the expressions of finding a kindred spirit, their eyes filled with the same emotion and elation.

Although movies of the same type as “The Princess Diaries” have always had a market, and although Garry Marshall has proven himself through “Pretty Woman” and “Runaway Bride,” objectively speaking, such movies are often clichéd, with similar patterns and similar plots constantly repeated, ultimately lacking novelty.

Of course, “The Princess Diaries” is no exception. Such a coming-of-age story for teenagers is far from innovative, let alone a classic. From Mia’s transformation from an ugly duckling to Michael’s grand appearance, the core remains the same, just with a brand new package.

It’s good, but ultimately feels familiar.

But!

No one expected such a scene to appear in the movie, cleverly using a small prop to change the scene, delicately and complexly presenting more intricate, deeper, and more subtle emotions.

It inevitably reminded people of the scene in the 1996 version of “Romeo and Juliet” where Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes locked eyes across the fish tank, quiet and dazzling, the moment of stunning beauty forever freezing the film reel at that moment.

“The Princess Diaries” is also like this, the mask covering the expression, but making the eyes shine, instantly raising the brilliance of the entire movie to a higher level.

It is a pity that Michael’s later action of “forgiving” Mia was still too simple and too rough, which also led to the character arc not being able to be fuller.

However, they really couldn’t ask for more. After all, Garry Marshall has never been a director of whimsical ideas, and this scene alone is amazing enough.

It is precisely this short scene that allows “The Princess Diaries” to go a step further on the basis of ordinary genre films, with more possibilities.

Obviously, Gloria was not the only audience member to notice this scene.

This made Gloria fall into a burst of ecstasy, the happiness in her chest instantly swelling and overflowing, “Ah, I want to watch it again right now.”

Looking around, you could see a group of groundhogs nodding frantically in agreement, their eyes filled with barely suppressed excitement and exhilaration—

Gloria has always been fickle and always had a three-minute enthusiasm. She doesn’t mind and has never denied it. She believes that this is not called fickleness, but should be called universal love. She can like many people, and she is sincere and passionate when she likes each person.

This is not a contradiction.

Anson is no exception.

However, today is different.

Gloria also did not expect that even after the movie ended, the masked scene was still deeply imprinted in her mind, and she could not forget it.

Everything is different, a tremor from the depths of her soul reverberating for a long time.

Gloria had a feeling that some things seemed to have quietly changed.

Then.

Gloria noticed Elaine’s eyes, clear and bright, with a hint of innocence, as if stepping into a brand new world she had never touched:

It was indeed the first time for them.

For the first time, they believed that their princess dreams could become reality; for the first time, they saw a truly perfect prince on the big screen.

At the same time, it was also the first time that they completely blurred the line between fantasy and reality, and even after the movie ended, they were still dreamily immersed in the dream.

Involuntarily, uncontrollably, Gloria also became excited.

In the past, when the movie ended, it ended. The happiness of being a fangirl was left in the theater; but today, the surging emotions in her mind and the burning elation in her chest could not be suppressed at all. Language was not enough to describe one ten-thousandth of her happiness, and it eventually evolved into an impulse.

The urge to scream.

“Ah!”

With a scream and a smile creeping onto the corner of her mouth, Gloria laughed heartily, looked at Elaine, the two exchanged a glance and then screamed together.

“Ahhh!”

Compared to language, this method was simpler, more direct, and more crazy, the passion and enthusiasm boiling in their blood gushing out.

The surroundings were surging, and spreading along Hollywood Boulevard.

The night was getting deeper, but the carnival party at the entrance of the Chinese Theatre had just begun.

… …

In fact, not only at the Chinese Theatre, but when Anson returned home, he was also greeted with a night of revelry.

A premiere belonging to them, a party belonging to them, officially kicked off.

“Ugh.”

Sobering up from a hangover, his head was throbbing, the whole world was roaring, Anson sat blankly on the bed, his focus scattered, every muscle in his body protesting, feeling hopeless.

For a moment, he was somewhat dazed—

The applause and cheers from last night seemed to still be echoing in his ears, the bustling crowd and the media surrounding them in layers.

At that moment, it was as if he was standing in the center of the world.

With a turn, all the cheers, all the surges, all the crowds disappeared, like a dream, although very real, it never happened.

The embarrassment and soreness in front of him pulled him back to reality, everything was silent, empty and void, nothing had happened, nothing had changed.

So, what is real and what is fake?

So, this is the truth of Vanity Fair—

Besides the headache and dry mouth, there was only a buzzing echo surging and rippling on the eardrums, but nothing could be grasped, nothing could be felt, just falling into endless nothingness.

Bang!

A cracking sound came from the air, his heartbeat skipped a beat, for a moment he couldn’t tell whether it was his eardrum bursting or a hole in the sky.

Maybe, neither?