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Chapter 93: Momus
🕑 Added 2024-10-23 04:36:07 +0000 UTCGilbert's victory in the televised debate helped many Hollywood production teams, including The Shawshank Redemption.
The filming had been going smoothly, but the production team encountered a problem when an animal protection organization heard rumors about a scene involving a bird eating a bug. They immediately protested, claiming the production was harming the insect.
Due to the long-standing influence of the organization, the Shawshank Redemption crew had to go to great lengths to protect the bug. They not only had to ensure it wasn't eaten by the bird, but they also assigned it a doctor and set up a special rest area just for the bug.
Morgan Freeman, one of the film's lead actors, sarcastically commented, "This bug is living better than people."
This comment reached the ears of the animal protection group, which led to another protest. Freeman had to apologize and donate $100,000 to the organization before they would leave him alone.
However, soon after the donation, Gilbert had a televised argument with the organization and won the debate. Freeman, who watched the whole thing, celebrated by opening a bottle of wine.
The next day, the organization sent people back to supervise the crew, ensuring the bug wasn't harmed. But this time, the producer and director of The Shawshank Redemption kicked them off the set.
The organization, shocked by this new defiant attitude, threatened to protest if the crew didn't comply. But the director stood firm, saying, "Gilbert has already torn off your hypocritical mask. We won't accept this kind of blackmail."
The producer added, "We'll be consulting our lawyers about pursuing charges of extortion."
Caught off guard by the sudden strong stance, the animal protection representatives had no choice but to retreat.
Later, Freeman, still angry, decided to deal with the "precious" bug. After it had finished filming its scenes, he threw it on the ground and crushed it under his shoe, making sure to grind it into a pulp.
When the director later asked where the bug had gone, Freeman calmly replied, "I accidentally stepped on it."
The director glanced at Freeman and instantly understood. He too had been tempted to destroy the bug out of frustration.
This shift in attitude wasn't limited to the Shawshank Redemption set; it happened across other productions involving animals. The organization realized that after losing the debate on TV, Hollywood had changed overnight. The crews that once feared their protests were now standing up to them.
The most direct impact of this defiance was a significant decrease in donations to the organization, severely hurting its financial interests. All of this was due to Gilbert, and the group now held a grudge against him.
Before Gilbert, the organization had been thriving, using animal protection as a banner to extort Hollywood and other industries with ease. But Gilbert had exposed their true, bloody nature to the public, pulling them off their moral high ground, making it impossible for them to criticize others freely.
Some of the organization's higher-ups even considered hiring someone to kill Gilbert, perhaps making it look like a suspicious "suicide" with eight bullets in his back. But unfortunately for them, while Gilbert was just a director, he was one of the most talked-about directors in America and part of the powerful entertainment industry, whose influence the organization had already experienced.
Moreover, the group's major backers were also in the industry. Trying anything against Gilbert would certainly lead to retaliation. With no option for a physical attack and unable to outargue him, the organization was stuck.
But they couldn't just let it go, or they would lose their reputation.
At this point, a debate expert, Jack Wells, made a suggestion to the organization: since they couldn't get back at Gilbert, they could target Michael Ovitz instead.
The organization thought this made sense. After all, it was Ovitz who had orchestrated this, and they had suffered because of him. So, they shifted their protests to Ovitz, holding demonstrations outside the CAA office building, targeting both him and Martin Bob.
This sudden move caught Ovitz off guard, embarrassing him greatly. But Ovitz wasn't one to back down. He followed Gilbert's lead and started publicly arguing with the organization.
In their frustration, the animal protection group retaliated by revealing that Ovitz had planned an earlier protest about the mistreatment of bulls. They also exposed several other shady dealings between Ovitz and the organization.
At this point, the organization felt they had nothing left to lose, so they decided to take Ovitz down with them. They portrayed him in the media as equally corrupt, turning the situation into a scandal where both sides were painted as greedy villains.
The American public watched this unfold for months, with the media, especially outlets owned by Disney and Warner, feeding the story. Eventually, Ovitz couldn't take it anymore, apologized publicly, and resigned as president of CAA.
His successor, Martin Bob, didn't have a firm grip on the position either, as there were internal factions unhappy with both him and Ovitz over their roles in the scandal.
Pat Kingsley and Enno Martin, two power players within CAA, were planning to oust Bob. Kingsley had Tom Cruise in her corner, while Martin had recently gained favor with Tom Hanks after Sleepless in Seattle. Both were ambitious and had no fear of Bob, the new president.
An internally divided CAA was definitely in Gilbert's interest, as it meant they couldn't cause him any more trouble. Still, he was curious whether, after all of this, Michael Eisner would still want to hire Ovitz as Disney's president.
Gilbert couldn't help but wonder what Ovitz would think about working closely with him in the future, given that Gilbert was, in a sense, responsible for Ovitz's downfall.
But Gilbert didn't dwell on this for long. After winning the debate, he returned to his movie set and focused on filming. The crew treated him with much more respect than before. Clearly, his verbal prowess had scared them.
Even Bruce Willis, who used to negotiate with Gilbert over how to play certain scenes, now followed every direction without question, afraid of getting verbally demolished by Gilbert.
Gilbert noticed this change in behavior and found it amusing. He wasn't a Chihuahua, barking at everyone he met. As long as no one provoked him, he had a good temper.
Unfortunately, no one believed him when he said that. By now, the media had started spreading stories about his behavior on set, and he earned a new nickname: "Momus," after the Greek god of mockery, criticism, and satire, who was also the patron of writers and poets known for his biting sarcasm.
The comparison was fitting for the reputation Gilbert now had.
