Kathryn Bigelow's Thelma & Louise clearly carried a rawer edge.
Raw did not mean crude; it simply felt sharper, colder, harder.
The vast desert sands, the life on the run, and the increasingly bold, unrestrained freedom that grew with the story made it hard for audiences to believe this was the work of a female director.
Yet the director was, after all, a woman.
So the new version of Thelma & Louise also highlighted its feminist themes far more sharply.
Fortunately, under Simon's constant influence, Kathryn had abandoned the heavy-handed preaching she once favored in her early films, choosing instead to let the story quietly convey her ideas.
During early discussions, Kathryn had once hoped the two heroines would successfully escape into Mexico.
In the final cut, however, Thelma and Louise still drove off the cliff, sacrificing themselves to complete a perfect story.
After the test screening ended and they had gone over the final two months of marketing plans, Simon took Kathryn back to the Dume Point estate. By then it was already past six.
Since he had given advance notice that Kathryn would be coming, Janet had already ordered dinner preparations.
Upon arriving home, Janet greeted Kathryn warmly, then brought up another matter.
The lawsuit involving Matthew Broderick and his group had officially concluded today.
For the past several months, the investigation and litigation over the original assault had remained a media focus, yet Simon himself had not spent much energy on the trivial affair.
After months of investigation, the Santa Monica Police Department had formally announced its findings to the media the previous week.
In truth, the facts had been obvious from the start.
Today the Los Angeles Superior Court issued its final ruling based on the investigation results and both parties' complaints.
Matthew Broderick and Mark Stein's six plaintiffs saw their lawsuit completely dismissed.
On Simon's countersuit, the six men were each ordered to pay damages ranging from $1 million to $5 million, plus a total of 600 hours of community service, and were permanently barred from publicly discussing any matters related to Simon.
Additionally, because the two sides had privately signed a settlement agreement earlier, Simon had not pursued charges for intentional assault, so the original incident was disregarded by the court.
Had she not been pregnant, Janet would never have let the matter end so easily.
Now, with a small life growing inside her, the woman no longer had the heart to pursue it relentlessly.
Besides, the multi-million-dollar compensation would essentially wipe out the men's entire savings. Three of the six could not even afford to pay and would carry the civil debt for years. Unless they cleared it, they would never recover in their lifetimes.
By the time dinner began, this insignificant little episode, at least by Simon's current standards, had been completely put to rest.
After dinner, Janet kept Kathryn chatting until past nine. Kathryn firmly declined Janet's invitation to stay the night and left.
Janet was already three months pregnant; certain things were technically possible again.
But for safety's sake, she had no intention of letting Simon touch her, and Simon had no desire to bother a pregnant woman. During this period he simply took his female assistant when he went into Los Angeles, or indulged in a small hunt like last Saturday.
He never deprived himself in these matters, yet Simon was actually quite restrained.
Over the weekend he spent most of his time with Janet discussing the establishment of a private medical center in Malibu.
The idea had arisen mainly because of the pregnancy.
In recent days the woman had already purchased a plot of land in the hills north of the Dume Point estate and registered the name: Westeros Medical Center.
Of course, building a top-tier private medical facility was not something that could be completed overnight. Even when the little one was born it would not yet be ready, so this was primarily a plan for the future.
Essentially, it was an investment that would generate little return, roughly like the medical center funded by the Johnston family in Melbourne.
After discussion, Simon decided the center would primarily serve the entire Westeros system's management tier and would be supported by the Simon & Janet Westeros Foundation, with specialized research institutions to be established later.
Many charitable projects funded by Western tycoons always included "medical care," largely to serve themselves.
David Rockefeller of the third generation of the Rockefeller family lived to 101 and received six heart transplants in his lifetime.
Those "six hearts" were precisely the result of the Rockefeller family's deep accumulation in medical philanthropy. Even a newly rich tycoon with far greater wealth than the old Rockefeller family would find it almost impossible to assemble six perfectly matched hearts for himself.
Because of the time difference between the East and West Coasts, Simon left Los Angeles early Sunday afternoon to avoid missing Monday morning's schedule, flying straight to New York.
A new week began, and July 1991 arrived.
All day Monday, Simon attended investment meetings at Cersei Capital.
Janet had withdrawn from managing Cersei Capital due to her pregnancy, yet the company's growth and expansion had not slowed.
Most Wall Street investment banks and funds had still not recovered from the economic slump triggered by the bond market collapse two years earlier. As a result, Cersei Capital, which was moving against the trend, had essentially become the most active investment firm on Wall Street.
In the first half of the year, taking advantage of the economic turbulence caused by the Gulf War, Cersei Fund Management had earned more than $2 billion in profits from oil and stock markets.
Apollo Management, responsible for private equity, had also established a $1 billion venture fund focused on new technology investments at the beginning of the year and continued seeking projects across other sectors.
The U.S. real estate market was currently at its lowest point in the early 1990s. In the past two years, major banks had reclaimed large quantities of real estate-related assets and bond portfolios after the bond market collapse.
Since it was clear that the U.S. real estate market would recover rapidly in the coming years, last month Apollo Management, together with Laurence Fink's BlackRock Asset Management, had purchased $1.5 billion worth of real estate-related assets and bonds auctioned by the banks in a single transaction.
Simon's stop in New York this time was mainly to discuss several recent investment projects at Apollo Management.
Among them, the most important was taking a stake in the top cosmetics company Estée Lauder.
After Ronald Perelman had used a small amount of capital to swallow Revlon, Estée Lauder's biggest competitor, Revlon had gradually been left behind by Estée Lauder over the years because Perelman was not skilled at corporate management.
Simon also knew that many years later Estée Lauder would grow into a super-giant in the cosmetics industry with a market value of $50 billion.
By then Revlon would have been completely forgotten.
In fact, Estée Lauder was also very suitable to become part of "Melisandre Company," one of the four women's companies under the Westeros system, since its positioning was likewise luxury goods. However, the founding Lauder family still firmly controlled the company, and Estée Lauder was not publicly listed. Simon could not acquire it even if he wanted to.
In this investment, Apollo Management would inject $250 million in exchange for 10% of Estée Lauder's non-voting shares.
Estée Lauder's 1990 revenue was $1.8 billion, with net profit of $81 million.
A $2.5 billion valuation seemed high, yet Simon knew it was well worth it.
Estée Lauder planned to use the funds to complete the acquisition of another cosmetics company and to increase investment in product marketing.
Simon had actually preferred to invest directly under Melisandre Company's name, but Estée Lauder was wary of the Westeros system's dominance and had therefore chosen Apollo Management as a compromise. Of course, the high $2.5 billion valuation was another major reason.
Melisandre Company needed several years to digest the newly acquired Van Cleef & Arpels, so Simon did not insist on the matter.
As planned, Estée Lauder would also conduct an IPO in the coming years. Apollo Management typically cashed out during the IPO process to complete a private-equity cycle.
A few years later, when the Westeros system's debt burden was no longer as heavy and Estée Lauder had sufficient buffer, Melisandre could take over the 10% stake from Apollo Management. Everything would then appear perfectly natural.
After finishing daytime work, dinner was an invitation from Morgan Stanley CEO Richard Fisher.
At seven o'clock, Simon arrived at a French restaurant in midtown Manhattan. Richard Fisher had already arrived early.
The two discussed various details of AOL's upcoming listing while eating.
Near the end, Richard Fisher brought up a topic again.
"Simon, based on recent market feedback, the 22.5 million AOL shares simply cannot satisfy demand. Since you refuse to increase the offering size, how about we add a greenshoe option?"
Simon smiled at Richard Fisher. "Greenshoe?"
"Yes, the greenshoe mechanism. Specifically—"
Simon raised his cutlery to stop Richard Fisher's explanation. "Charlie, I know what a greenshoe option is. But for AOL, it's no different from increasing the share issuance. I won't agree."
The greenshoe option in an IPO was essentially a price-stabilization mechanism to handle uncertainty during the listing process.
Simply put, if the new shares performed strongly after listing and the price rose, the issuer could issue an additional batch of shares, up to 15% of the original offering, to raise more capital. If the market weakened, the issuer could use previously raised funds to repurchase a certain number of shares from the market to support the price and prevent a break below the offering price.
Richard Fisher's suggestion to activate the greenshoe option clearly still hoped Simon would issue more AOL shares.
In reality, even the current 15% offering size already felt excessive to Simon.
If possible, he would have preferred to issue only 10%.
However, to avoid too few publicly traded shares affecting AOL's trading liquidity and in turn hurting the stock price, after repeated discussions Simon had finally settled on 15%.
Moreover, there was another reason for doing so.
AOL monopolized the ISP markets in several of America's most prosperous coastal states. This was actually very easy to provoke resentment.
Issuing slightly more shares to various American investors could also reduce unnecessary future antitrust or similar troubles.
Microsoft and Facebook in Simon's memory were the best examples.
Because of its monopoly, Microsoft had been tormented throughout the 1990s in the original timeline and had nearly been broken up.
In Simon's view, a major reason was that Microsoft's equity was overly concentrated. Bill Gates and Paul Allen still held more than half the company's shares until 2000. Such enormous wealth and powerful monopoly advantage in the hands of just two people naturally made other American capital forces unwilling to accept it.
Later, as Gates gradually reduced his holdings and Microsoft became a widely held public company owned by numerous investment banks, pension funds, and other institutions across the U.S., Microsoft never again faced serious antitrust trouble in North America.
Facebook, because it had become a widely held company early on, survived the world-shocking data breach scandal. Despite media claims that Facebook was about to collapse any second, Zuckerberg resigning, or trillion-dollar fines, the final result was merely a somewhat theatrical congressional hearing.
Over four full hours, instead of fierce questioning from lawmakers, all anyone heard were things like "My granddaughter is a loyal Facebook user and wants your autograph" or "Could you please explain what big data is?"
Ultimately, because large numbers of American pension funds, insurance funds, and investment banks held Facebook stock, the U.S. government could not possibly destroy the company unless it had lost its mind. It did not even dare impose overly harsh penalties.
To avoid ending up in the same situation Microsoft had faced in the 1990s, Simon would continue taking Westeros system companies public and steadily reduce his own ownership percentages. The cash realized could then be used for other investments.
Ultimately, Simon hoped to integrate the entire Westeros system into the American economic system.
By then, attacking the Westeros system would mean attacking the American economy. Simon did not believe he would still encounter the kind of trouble Gates had faced.
But that was not now.
For a cutting-edge tech company like AOL, which had the potential to become a trillion-dollar giant, selling large amounts of shares when its valuation was still only $3 billion would be extremely unwise.
Therefore Simon rejected Richard Fisher's suggestion without hesitation.
Both men harbored goodwill toward each other. Although Richard Fisher had not achieved his goal, the dinner remained pleasant.
By the time dinner ended it was already past eight in the evening on the East Coast.
Simon left the restaurant and headed straight to Kennedy International Airport.
There was a seven-hour time difference between New York and London. The flight from the East Coast to Britain took roughly eight hours.
If Simon took off now, he could sleep on the plane and arrive in London at local noon on Tuesday.
Once aboard the Boeing 767 private jet, the housekeeper Alice Ferguson, who would be accompanying Simon to Europe this time, came forward with a slightly cool expression and reminded him that Ms. Jenner had already been waiting for over half an hour.
Ever since the events of the previous Saturday, the housekeeper had adopted a distant, "I want to keep my distance from you" attitude in front of her outrageous boss.
Simon stopped, reached out, and gently pinched the housekeeper's delicate little face, patiently molding the corner of her mouth into an upward curve that satisfied him. Only then did he nod to himself and warn, "If you dare show me that sour face again, I'll dock your pay."
After Simon released her face, the housekeeper's eyes blinked rapidly several times.
Then.
Clearly she had no idea what to do next.
Should she quit? Slap him back? Sue him for harassment? Obviously.
None of those would work.
So she could only lower the lifted corners of her mouth again and glare at him furiously to show how unhappy she was.
Simon paid her no further attention and instructed, "Tell the crew to prepare for takeoff. Also, bring me a pot of coffee and the weekend box office report."
Alice blinked again.
Take off immediately?
Was he really taking that woman to Europe?
Seeing her boss walk deeper into the cabin, the housekeeper followed a few steps, then stopped, turned, and went about her duties.
Simon reached the mid-cabin lounge. Kris Jenner, seated on the sofa, immediately stood up and greeted him with a smile that carried a hint of flattery. "Simon, you… hello."
Kris Jenner was wearing a light-blue women's blouse and fitted white casual pants that perfectly displayed her mature, voluptuous figure. Many Western women in the eighties had not yet developed the habit of tanning themselves; the woman before him had very fair skin.
Without returning the greeting, Simon glanced at her, continued toward the forward cabin, and said, "Come with me."
Kris Jenner did not understand Simon's intention. Feeling somewhat uneasy, she picked up her handbag and followed him to the front section of the Boeing 767.
Entering the upper-level lounge in the forward cabin, Simon casually sat on the sofa and looked at the woman who had followed him in. "I hear you and I are very close?"
Without Simon's invitation, Kris Jenner did not dare sit down. Hearing his question, her guilty expression grew even more ingratiating. She subconsciously took a step forward, noticed the man's warning glance, and hurriedly stopped. She stammered, "I… Simon, I'm very sorry."
Having said that, she thought about her current situation and relaxed a little.
If this young man was unhappy that she had used his name to secure the New York Wives opportunity, he would not have needed to meet her at all.
Now the situation seemed clear.
She pointed at the seat beside Simon, her face taking on a slightly seductive charm. "Simon, may I sit?"
Simon shook his head. "Stay standing."
The woman could only remain standing and watch as the man leisurely picked up a magazine and began reading, uncertain what would happen next.
Still, thinking back to what had happened at the beginning of the year, she had to secure the New York Wives opportunity no matter what.
A few months earlier her ex-husband had suddenly canceled her credit cards and filed for a clean divorce.
Because of the prenuptial agreement, she had received almost nothing. After years as a housewife, she discovered she was qualified for nothing else.
She had quickly married another man.
But she never wanted to experience that sudden feeling of having nothing again.
So when New York Wives began casting, and she learned her chances of being selected were slim, she had taken the risk of dropping the young man's name. She had always followed the Beverly Wives series closely. The housewives who appeared on that reality show not only gained fame and status; some had even developed decent careers.
At the very least, participating in the show came with a salary.
It was said that for the upcoming new season of Beverly Wives, the main cast members' per-season pay had risen to $250,000, already a very substantial income.
Even the newest New York Wives offered $100,000 per season.
Moreover, she had full confidence that, like the Beverly Wives, she could leverage the fame from the show to do other things.
The housekeeper brought in coffee and the weekend box office report. Before leaving she glanced at the woman standing by the door, thought for a moment, and asked, "Sir, shall we take off immediately?"
Simon looked up at Kris Jenner. "Do you want to come to Europe with me?"
Kris Jenner opened her mouth.
If it had been only tonight, she had already prepared an excuse.
But Europe, she had never considered that.
However.
If she refused, would she lose the chance to appear on the show?
Simon noticed her hesitation and said, "You don't need to get off the plane. You'll be sent straight back once we reach London."
Kris Jenner calculated the time, hesitated for a moment, and finally nodded.
Seeing the woman agree, Alice said nothing more, turned, and left the forward cabin.