In the following days, many media outlets sympathetic to the Catholic Church attacked Murphy and "Diego Rose." Entertainment media also jumped into the fray, though many of them had connections with Murphy and CAA, making it impossible for them to fully side with the Church. Thus, a contentious scenario emerged where some media attacked Murphy while others defended him.
This situation was likely very pleasing to Archbishop Marcos Costello.
Murphy's Christmas passed amidst this turmoil. Despite the chaotic noise outside Wave Manor, the interior remained serene, as if nothing had changed. Murphy and Gal Gadot went about their lives as usual.
Having been in Hollywood for so many years, both Murphy and even Gal Gadot were accustomed to media criticism.
The media debate over the fan-Catholic clash continued, with some claiming "Murphy orchestrated this incident" and others saying "Murphy had nothing to do with it." There were also voices saying "Religion shouldn't interfere in secular matters."
In essence, the controversy was ongoing.
Online, Murphy's fans clashed with staunch Catholics, both sides engaging in heated arguments. Influenced by Daisy and others, Murphy's fans seemed determined to confront the Catholics who attacked Murphy relentlessly.
Yet, all this was kept outside the high walls of Wave Manor. After hosting Gal Gadot's family, who had come to North America for the holidays, Murphy continued to monitor the situation, particularly Archbishop Marcos Costello's actions, while not neglecting his regular work.
The day after Christmas, Murphy officially signed a purchase agreement with Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation for a G650 business jet at a total cost of $65 million, with a delivery time of one year.
This meant the plane wouldn't be available until New Year's 2013.
However, Gulfstream provided leasing services, and Murphy temporarily leased a G550 business jet for the coming year.
Over the next two days, after Gal Gadot concluded negotiations with Netflix, Murphy, representing Stanton Studio, and Reed Hastings, representing Netflix, formally signed a cooperation agreement. Both parties would invest $40 million each to produce a political drama based on Michael Dobbs's novel, tentatively titled "House of Cards."
A brand-new crew was being assembled, with Murphy and Gal Gadot serving as producers, Paul Wilson as director, and Kevin Spacey as the likely candidate for the lead role, Francis Underwood.
As for the female lead, as Murphy had anticipated, Charlize Theron declined the offer, citing scheduling conflicts due to her role in George Miller's "Mad Max 4." Murphy wasn't surprised, knowing that big directors and stars have the luxury of turning down projects.
This wasn't a problem. Murphy had already discussed with Paul Wilson that once the crew was formed, they would hold extensive auditions for the female lead. Finding a suitable actress with some fame in Hollywood wouldn't be difficult.
Aside from that, Murphy focused primarily on scriptwriting and subsequent production.
Scriptwriting, in particular, was crucial. He meticulously reviewed the content of each episode's script, ensuring Stanton Studio's significant investment wouldn't be squandered.
Like Hollywood movies, American TV shows have their own assembly line model, with many unwritten yet well-established industry rules and lessons learned from years of experience.
These lessons help avoid numerous pitfalls, and Murphy was well aware of the censorship taboos.
American TV shows' numerous censorship taboos fundamentally stem from the market. Ignoring these taboos and rules would lead audiences to "vote with their feet" and stop watching. If there's an invisible hand controlling American TV shows, it belongs to the audience.
Good shows may vary in their excellence, but bad shows are alike—terrible stories.
If the story is bad, the audience will criticize everyone from the writers to the actors and directors. If those involved respond defensively, it often results in a ridiculous spectacle.
For instance, if an audience member complains, "What a lousy show! Could the plot be any dumber? Did the writers forget their brains?" and the writer responds, "If you think you can do better, try it! This can't be written, and that can't be written. What can I do?"
Such exchanges typically end with the audience cursing the writers and the writers blaming strict censorship.
For a long time, "limited creative freedom, too many taboos" was the writers' primary excuse. Although every film and TV show had to pass departmental review before release, it was unreasonable for writers to blame the entire plot's idiocy on censorship.
American TV writers rarely face such pressures, but even the most provocative shows have some untouchable taboos, and Murphy was no exception.
Murphy paid close attention to certain aspects, whether for movie or TV scripts.
For instance, issues concerning minorities. He genuinely didn't favor having Black actors in major roles, but every film had significant roles for Latinx and Asian characters. Despite media claims of his alleged discrimination against Black people, no one accused him of discriminating against minorities.
Although "House of Cards" featured primarily villainous main characters, such issues still needed to be avoided.
Apart from minorities, the LGBT community also demanded attention.
LGBT stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender. These groups were once subjects of ridicule in American TV shows and comedies, but in the new millennium, casual jokes about them could cause significant trouble.
Typically, mainstream American TV shows feature one or two main characters who aren't white, and similarly, one or two same-sex couples. Some shows even include transgender or bisexual characters.
This isn't a coincidence!
In fact, incorporating minorities and LGBT characters in every long-running American TV show has become a mandatory task for writers. Lacking these elements is seen as severe political incorrectness.
In "House of Cards," the protagonist Francis Underwood's sexual orientation becomes intriguingly ambiguous in later seasons.
Murphy's plan aligns with Hollywood's characteristics. Hollywood is situated in California, a stronghold of the Democratic Party, where industry professionals widely champion freedom and liberation. This has created a politically correct culture in the American film industry—unconditional support for LGBT and unity among all races.
Thus, we see various shows featuring a mix of ethnicities and standard gay couples. The trend of including gay characters as a standard began around 2006-2008. Some shows that didn't initially feature gay characters had to find a way to incorporate them.
As the saying goes, "If there aren't any gay characters, create them."
This principle applies not only to mainstream shows but also to those aired on cable networks.
"House of Cards," primarily for online streaming and DVD sales, had broader content guidelines than mainstream shows but wouldn't be as explicit as "Game of Thrones."
Therefore, scenes like those in "Game of Thrones" depicting the deaths of children would be inappropriate for "House of Cards." Even scenes showing children being harmed wouldn't be directly depicted.
Typically, children are strictly protected in Hollywood productions.
Given that "House of Cards" is aimed at a mainstream audience, Murphy wouldn't allow the script to include graphic scenes of children being severely injured or killed. In some other regions' productions, writers and directors often use children's deaths to create dramatic effects, sometimes with extreme scenes, without considering that these might be viewed by minors.
If "House of Cards" writers wanted to emphasize Francis Underwood's villainy, they had to find other ways to do so. If they insisted on killing a child to achieve this, Murphy would immediately fire them.
Strictly speaking, "House of Cards" is a web series, but Murphy set standards not much looser than those for mainstream network shows.
During the review process, he noticed a line that could be construed as homophobic and immediately called the writer responsible, demanding it be revised within ten hours!
Based on recent years' experience, while Black characters are important, protecting against LGBT discrimination is even more crucial. Anyone discriminating against LGBT would face "no mercy."
A few years ago, Hollywood had a notable case in this regard.
In the first season of "Grey's Anatomy," the lead roles were white, with the main couple being white as well. The secondary male lead was Black, and the secondary female lead was Korean, forming a politically correct racial balance. However, the actor playing the Black secondary lead made some homophobic comments in an interview, causing a media uproar.
Both the media and the audience demanded an apology and his removal from the show.
The result? The production team complied, first having the Black actor issue a sincere apology, then terminating his contract and writing him out of the show. Since he was a significant character, they gave him an abrupt ending: at his wedding, he suddenly changed his mind, saying, "I don't want to get married. You're free. Bye," then walked out of the church, disappearing from the show, leaving the Korean bride bewildered.
Was it reasonable? From a plot perspective, no. But was it necessary? Absolutely, because the audience demanded it.
This is a prime example of audience-driven plot changes, and almost all censorship in American TV comes from the audience, along with the taboos they don't want to see.
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