While Roy was constantly monitoring the online trends, trying to find a way to help her, a different kind of opinion started circulating in the media.
These topics didn't appear suddenly. Initially, it was a post placed in a large discussion forum, which, after gaining considerable attention, led to extensive discussions and reposts, causing a massive outbreak.
The post's title would upset many of Laila's fans because it read: "Ten Reasons Why Laila Can't Win the Oscar for Best Director."
Young movie enthusiasts, who were primarily Laila's fans, couldn't stand such topics. So, almost as soon as they saw the post, they clicked on it without hesitation, ready to use their persuasive skills to discredit anyone arbitrarily attacking Laila.
But after accidentally reading the content of the post, they found the arguments quite reasonable, and they couldn't find any logical flaws!
The first reason, which has always been scorned, was the age issue.
Laila would only be 27 by the next Oscars. The record for the youngest Best Director in film history hasn't been broken for many years. Even if the Academy wanted to innovate, the chances of giving Laila the Best Director award were only 50%.
The second reason was that she was too outstanding.
Yes, being too outstanding could also be a potential reason for her to fail to win. Since she entered Hollywood with a horror film at eighteen, she has brought countless classic films to fans over the years. No one doubted that she would continue to produce more excellent films in the near future.
If they gave her the Best Director award now, what would happen when she made more outstanding films in the future? Would they give her the award every time?
The third reason was that the Oscar judges, considering cultivating Laila, couldn't give her the award.
Many people lose their drive after achieving their goals. If she received the highest director award at such a young age, losing the goal of further striving, what if she lost the desire to continue evolving?
If the first reason made people want to criticize it, the further they read, the more they felt the author made sense. If Laila lost her motivation and went back to being a CEO, where would they find the movies only she could make that they loved?
Whoever the author of this post was, their writing was highly persuasive. Unknowingly, the readers would follow their train of thought.
Even those who clicked on it to find fault would agree with the author's points after reading it. Although many reasons seemed absurd at first, they couldn't help but agree with the author after reading, unable to find other reasons to oppose.
The final reason, in particular, made everyone's heart skip a beat. The author provided data showing that films heavily predicted by the media to win Oscars were often replaced by other works, sometimes even losing to so-called dark horses.
Some films, which hadn't been heard of before the award results were announced, beat the hotly anticipated films, a phenomenon seen multiple times in Oscar history.
So the author concluded that Laila's chances of winning the Best Director award were only 20%. Combined with the previous nine reasons, she had about a 10% chance of winning.
10%! How was that different from not winning?
Usually, there are five Oscar nominations, giving each director a 25% chance of winning on average. But Laila's odds were reduced to 10%. How could she play under these conditions?
The post, with its unusual viewpoint, quickly gained widespread approval. Most of the approvers were Laila's fans, who felt the post made too much sense. It seemed their favorite Laila really wouldn't win that award. Previously, they had cheered at the media's speculation of her overwhelming advantage, but now all their joy was crushed by a single post.
Of course, not everyone would be convinced by one post. Some particularly clever or particularly foolish people would interpret the post differently.
Where there was controversy, there was discussion. Where there was discussion, there was a topic. With some deliberate guidance, the topic spread overnight. It triggered a series of reactions on forums, Facebook, and other places.
Of the ten reasons why she couldn't win, the last one drew the most attention.
Would the Oscar judges withhold the award from Laila just to oppose the media? People hoped this wasn't true, because after the release of *The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King*, almost all media said Laila would win Best Director, deserving the award. But now someone claimed that because everyone said so, the Oscar judges would not give it to her...
Was the Oscar evaluation so frivolous?
"Why wouldn't Laila's movie deserve a Best Director award? Why not just look at her work?"
"Stop talking about this topic. If the Oscar judges see it, she might lose the award she could have won just because too many people praised her!"
"If Laila doesn't win the award this time, I'll never watch the Oscars again."
The online uproar was loud. Roy found the original post through some links, and after reading it, he was also convinced by the content. Would she not win? How heartbroken would she be? No one knew better than him how much she wanted that award!
"Laila, have you noticed the new online trend? There's a new post saying you have ten reasons you won't win the Best Director award." He didn't have the patience to wait for Laila to come home and call her.
Laila was in her office, reviewing some materials. Hearing his words, she responded calmly, "I already know."
"You know?" Roy detected something unusual in her tone.
His heart stirred, and he guessed the possible reason.
"Did you have someone write that post?"
Laila laughed, "What do you think?"
She hadn't expected that just two sentences would reveal the truth to him. It seemed the trip to South Africa wasn't wasted; he suddenly seemed enlightened.
"There's no need to ask. It has something to do with you." Roy was now certain.
He had asked if she had noticed the trend and seen the post, and she answered "I already know." If it wasn't her, she would have directly answered no. And from her subsequent ambiguous words, it was easy to judge her meaning.