Closing those windows, Roger Ebert returned to the homepage of Instant Share. Among the top ten most clicked shares today, five were related to Return of the King, all with positive reviews. If this were the case, he could accept it, but what terrified him were the view numbers behind those positive reviews. Those numbers were simply too horrifying.
For example, the post he just viewed, published only a few hours ago, had over 20,000 views, and the number of likes was approaching 15,000!
The other positive reviews had similar view and like counts.
Roger Ebert then switched to his own online column, which had been heavily recommended by Chicago Sun-Times and his television station. Despite his column being updated earlier and, logically, his name being more well-known, it couldn't even compare in terms of view count to the comments made by regular moviegoers on Instant Share.
Since he updated his review of Return of the King, less than 2,000 people had viewed it!
Roger Ebert kept switching between refreshing his online column and the Instant Share homepage, watching as the numbers of the two increasingly diverged. He couldn't understand why this was happening.
Why could a group of unknown individuals on the internet have such an overwhelming advantage over him, a renowned film critic?
What on earth was happening in this world? Were critics now inferior to ordinary movie fans?
Closing his column, Roger Ebert stared at the Instant Share website, lost in thought. After some time, he started to piece things together. However, understanding these things only made him more disheartened.
This Instant Share site catered to regular internet users. Every user could immediately post their thoughts on something, such as their reviews of Return of the King. Users could also follow one another, and if you had enough followers, or if your opinion was unique or novel, you could be seen by many people.
In this space, film critics had almost no advantage. They were just one among many internet users.
Why did film critics have such influence in the 70s, 80s, and even the early 90s?
Roger Ebert knew the answer well. It wasn't because critics had such a unique taste in movies or were capable of guiding the development of the film industry. Most critics simply nitpicked and criticized, and no matter how brilliant a film was, there would always be something to criticize.
Most critics lacked talent and had only a superficial understanding of the film industry. The reason they were in the positions they were in back then had more to do with media choosing them. They were able to voice their opinions through the media, while ordinary viewers had no such platform. This was the biggest difference between critics and regular moviegoers.
But now, the rise of new online media was changing the game.
The freedom of the internet far exceeded that of any media outlet. Especially with Instant Share's rapid rise since the second half of last year, which attracted millions of users...
Roger Ebert helplessly realized that as Instant Share continued to grow, the opinions voiced by ordinary moviegoers would become louder. If fans could quickly exchange views on a large scale, critics would undoubtedly become more marginalized.
Would the future be one where everyone could comment on movies and freely share their thoughts over the internet?
What would the role of professional film critics be then?
Looking at the vibrant Instant Share site before him, Roger Ebert couldn't help but think about the company and shareholders behind it. He suddenly felt a sense of conspiracy, a conspiracy against professional critics.
But ordinary fans couldn't care less about Roger Ebert's thoughts. Since last year, with Duke, Steve Jobs, and Pixar making Instant Share their base to announce their updates, the site's traffic and user numbers had skyrocketed. People found this site much more convenient and simple compared to blogs, and gradually began to enjoy sharing their opinions there. Duke's devoted fans, in particular, became very active on the site.
Due to a business trip overseas, Norman Shiller couldn't get tickets for a movie near his home and had to go to a distant town to watch Return of the King. By the time he got home, it was already late. Instead of resting, he turned on his computer and logged into his Instant Share account.
He had only become a user of the site in January this year. After using it, he abandoned his blog and recommended the site to his friends and colleagues, who were now active users.
Though he only had a few thousand followers on the site, Norman Shiller thoroughly enjoyed the experience of sharing his views, and as a seasoned movie fan, his opinions were naturally what he wanted to share the most.
Without hesitation, he typed out a long post about his thoughts after watching the film.
"After watching Return of the King, I can't help but marvel at how the Lord of the Rings trilogy is truly one of the greatest achievements in movie history. Its greatness doesn't just lie in the stunning visuals but in the quality of all three films. The entire series, when viewed together, can be considered a flawless masterpiece. This isn't to say that the Lord of the Rings trilogy has no flaws, but in terms of overall quality, it reaches the pinnacle of cinematic entertainment."
"Few films manage to be so universally appealing, and even more rare is the fact that all three films maintain such a high level of quality, completely satisfying and surpassing the expectations of fans. Just Return of the King alone, with its dreamlike qualities, has the power to earn an Oscar for Best Picture next year! I wonder if the Academy, which often touts itself as mainstream but is actually quite niche, will choose Duke's masterpiece!"
"Finally, I'll say this: Duke didn't disappoint. The conclusion of the trilogy was even more spectacular than we could have hoped for!"
After posting, Norman Shiller still wasn't tired. His mind was still buzzing with excitement from the cavalry charge, so he decided to browse through some of the users he was following, many of whom were also movie enthusiasts. A lot of them had already seen the advance screening of Return of the King, and their reviews were mostly full of praise.
Some even shared interesting experiences from the advance screening.
"This year, I fell in love with the captain of the school's cheerleading team. After secretly admiring her for a long time, I finally confessed today and invited her to watch a movie – Return of the King. She agreed."
"It was an ordinary Thursday night, and I walked hand in hand with the girl I had a crush on into the theater. Three hours later, my mind was blown by the film!"
"However, halfway through the film, the cheerleading captain started getting restless, repeatedly asking to go home because her father would be mad at her."
"She asked me again and again to take her home while I sat there, eyes wide, watching the ghost army charge toward the White City, humming, completely unwilling to move."
"A while later, she coldly said, 'Maybe I should just leave.'"
"I stared at Sauron's giant eye and said, 'Okay, you go ahead.'"
"My first love ended in a single day, but I don't regret it, because I found something even more exciting!"
Norman Shiller couldn't help but laugh. What a painful experience for a Lord of the Rings fan to leave Return of the King halfway through!
Turning off his computer, Norman Shiller was ready to rest, but for many fans, it was destined to be a sleepless night.
Brian, a top-tier surveyor at CinemaScore, was responsible for the Seattle region. Despite it being the early morning, his work had only just begun.
He entered an office, exchanged a few words with the cinema manager he had business with, and confirmed the cinema's occupancy rate. Although Return of the King saw a slight drop compared to its advance screenings, with over 90% of seats filled, the film was still on track to break some terrifying numbers with just the midnight and advance screenings.
As the midnight screening neared its end, Brian left the office and instructed a few assistants to wait at the cinema exit to directly gather audience reactions and data.
With his recorder ready, he approached a moviegoer in his thirties as soon as they walked out. After explaining his purpose, the moviegoer readily shared his thoughts.
The fan had slightly red eyes, still emotional from the film.
"At the end of Return of the King, I never expected to cry. From The Fellowship of the Ring in 2001 until now, it feels like a century has passed, but all I've done is watch them, watch them fight, watch them destroy the One Ring. How I wish it could go on for centuries, I think I would accompany them all the way."
"Only a director like Duke Rosenberg could have created the great Lord of the Rings trilogy because of his love and passion for film."
"How would you rate it out of ten?" Brian asked.
The fan thought for a moment. "Giving it a ten would be a bit too much, but 9.5 is absolutely deserved!"
After talking to a few more audience members, Brian decided to step aside and more objectively listen to his assistants' interviews.
"This isn't just a movie; it's another world, an absolute classic!"
"The perfect ending, the best battle, fearless hearts, and brave steps forward. The emotional moments in this film are the most in the entire trilogy. Whether it's the almost attained hope or the solemnity after the battle, or Aragorn's humility when giving the crown, or the Hobbits being treated as royalty by the entire kingdom, and the bittersweet farewell at the end..."
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