Lance came from a study of language, literature and philosophy, and he was well aware that, just like the vast land of China, there are huge differences in the cultures of different river basins and different regions. The same is true in the United States.

The East Coast, led by New York, and the West Coast, led by Los Angeles, are not just two very different cultures, but even two opposing cultures.

As the world's first capital, New York is home to the largest number of immigrants and the most complex ethnic groups in all of North America, leading people to assume that New York is the most successful and complex city of cultural integration. But Lance, who has lived in New York for thirteen years, knows very well that, on the contrary, New York is one of the most xenophobic cities in the United States, and unlike the small closed villages in the Midlands, New York's xenophobia does not come from the fear of the unknown, but from the rejection of the bones, and even discrimination.

San Francisco, the most successful city in the United States, is undoubtedly a city with a unique character of cultural fusion from all over the world, as if you can find a free, casual and literary atmosphere in the streets and alleys. After living in San Francisco and New York for a long time, you can notice the similarities and differences between them. Lance fits the bill perfectly, so he knows it better than many.

San Francisco and New York also have Little Tokyo, Little Italy, Chinatown, Latin American neighborhoods, hippie neighborhoods, poor neighborhoods, etc., and each area has its own characteristics and style, even the architectural style shows the imprint of national culture, as if standing in a city, you can see different scenes and different cultures around the world.

In San Francisco, you can feel the cultural differences between the streets, but they are wonderfully blended, just like the Pan American Pyramid building between the Financial District and Little Italy, but it is full of ancient Egyptian style, which seems out of place compared to the surrounding buildings, but it is connected with all the buildings in a calm and natural manner, forming a beautiful landscape.

But in New York, the style of the districts and regions is so distinct that it is as if traveling between different cities, and there is a strange sense of alienation, a small United Nations set on the palm-sized island of Manhattan. The stylistic leap has filled New York with a variety of colors, but it has never really merged, just isolated islands linked together.

To give a visual example, restaurants. In San Francisco, you can find a variety of restaurants in any area, from Chinese/Chinese restaurants in the Financial District, sushi restaurants in the Latin American Quarter, and burrito trucks in Little Tokyo; But in New York, there is always a specific area for a particular restaurant, for example, in Uptown/Downtown, almost all of which are high-end French restaurants and Italian restaurants, while truly authentic traditional Italian food can only be tasted in Little Italy.

Of course, there are bound to be exceptions, and it is not possible to generalize, but on the whole. That's the difference between New York and San Francisco. At the same time, it is also the difference between the East Coast and the West Coast of the United States.

Located on the East Coast, New York has a typical temperate continental climate, with rainy, cold, hazy and humid climate, which can not only be hit by heavy rain and heavy snow, but also often have to face the potential threat of hurricanes. All this makes New York, which seems to be open, form a kind of blockade and xenophobic posture on the psychological level.

Due to the geographical location, the East Coast has become the front of the European continent to invade North America, as the first batch of colonial trade points established by European colonists after Columbus discovered the American continent, New York's historical heritage is very good, and then formed its own unique cultural characteristics, many arts are born in New York City, development, dissemination, prosperity, from poetry to literature to painting, from Broadway to hip-hop to dance, the city has its own original art form.

It is no exaggeration to say that New York has played an important role in the history of art, and even the culture of many parts of the United States has inherited New York's heritage. One of the most direct examples is the contemporary "New York Times", which is called the No. 1 newspaper in the United States, not because it has the highest sales - the "Wall Street Journal" is the newspaper that dominates the sales list for many years, but because the newspaper's opinions play a pivotal role in the United States, and even many local newspapers will read the "New York Times" opinion before reporting it.

All of this has led to the fact that New York-born artists are often arrogant and cold, living in their own world, continuing to inherit the artistic style of New York, but refusing to open their hearts and communicate with the outside world.

Los Angeles, which is far away from New York, and San Francisco, form a special culture on the West Coast, with a typical Mediterranean climate, with sunshine, wind and sunshine all year round, and sometimes even a handful of rains throughout the year. Of course, San Francisco's Bay Area is generally not warm all year round, and Ernest-Hemingway once said, "The coldest winter I've had is the summer in San Francisco," but that still doesn't affect the golden sunshine and brilliant clouds of San Francisco.

Whether it is Los Angeles or San Francisco, the beach is a beautiful scenery of the city, and even becomes a part of people's lives, which also makes people always lazy, casual, sunny, and comfortable, and the smile on their faces has become the most representative city postcard.

Both Los Angeles and San Francisco lagged far behind the East Coast until 1781, when Spanish colonists began to develop Los Angeles, and San Francisco waited even more distant a century later. All this makes the West Coast have a distinctive characteristic: all development, all progress, all development, are inherited from the outside world, when New York has become a historical turning point and cultural gathering point after three centuries of development, the West Coast has just begun to start.

The West Coast has developed its own style of art by blending a large number of cultural differences, such as music, literature, painting, dance, drama, etc., and they have gradually developed their own unique style. But it's always been more open, freer, more mixed, more diverse, and more varied than on the East Coast. Even with the birth of Hollywood, this is true.

So, this is a phenomenon: the cultures of the East Coast and the West Coast are gradually becoming opposed.

The East Coast thinks that the West Coast is too commercial, too open, too changeable, and has lost the purity of art; But the West Coast thinks it's too conservative, too high-minded, too egotistical, and lives in its own world and refuses to keep up with the times. The East Coast considers the culture of the West Coast to be vulgar and uninteresting, and no longer possesses the elegance of art; The West Coast believes that art on the East Coast is detached from the masses and self-appreciating, and will sooner or later be eliminated from society.

For a long time, Broadway looked down on Hollywood, and it can even be said to be contemptuous and contemptuous, believing that Hollywood was a symbol of depravity, and Hollywood always mocked the old Broadway pedants for not keeping up with the pace of the times; And the hip-hop battle between the East Coast and the West Coast is even more sparkling, with a number of shootings, revenge and counter-retaliation, resulting in the deaths of many talented hip-hop artists.

Such antagonism has not disappeared because of the development of the times, but on the contrary, it has penetrated deep into the bone marrow and cannot be erased.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has a deep imprint of the West Coast in its bones, and the cultural opposition between the East Coast and the West Coast can be clearly traced in the Academy.

As the most representative figure of the East Coast film art, Woody Allen is the most popular figure at the Oscars, as of the 77th Oscars, he won 23 Oscar nominations, including 14 screenplay nominations, but interestingly, he only won three statuette trophies, two of which were from the same work, "Annie Hall", and one was "Sister Hannah" in 1986, after that, eighteen years later, Woody won numerous nominations, But it was never recognized again.

Woody didn't care, though. He never attended the Oscars, and he was a literary old man who was happy to stay in the small world of Manhattan. The only compromise was after 911 in 2001, when he attended the Oscars the following year, and he took the stage to speak out for his beloved New York, the unique New York.

Martin Scorsese is another iconic film figure on the East Coast, and all of his works can be traced to New York's Little Italy, which is the source of his creation. But unlike Woody, Martin has always had a good relationship with Hollywood, but his Oscar journey can be called tragic and heroic. The all-time "taxi driver" did not even get nominated for Best Director.

Of course, nothing is absolute. With the increasing number of members of the Academy, the number of judges from the East Coast has gradually increased, and many New York-born actors have also made their mark in Hollywood. Like Robert De Niro. But it is undeniable that the cultural opposition between the East Coast and the West Coast is an indelible part of Hollywood's blood.

"You know what? Warren Beatty is also of the East Coast School. Tom's voice pulled Lance back from his shocked thoughts, "He was born in Virginia and then had success on Broadway. He had eight years of acting experience when he succeeded in Hollywood with 'Male and Female Thieves'. ”

Lance savored Tom's short words, "So, is this a good thing or a bad thing?" Lance hid his inner surprise, his current panic did not help, and he also believed that those who thought like Tom could not have guessed that he was already a human being, and that he was only scaring himself now.

"I guess that's a good thing. As Martin said, you're from San Francisco, but your culture comes from London's West End, which is in the same vein as New York. So, that makes you earn more recognition here. Tom's words provided the answer to Lance's doubts: no wonder people took him for granted, no wonder people put him with Warren and Woody, and the West End experience became the best answer. Judging by the number of golden figurines you have so far, and from where we're tonight, I think that's a good thing, at least we're all profitable, isn't it? ”

With that, Tom laughed heartily, which made Lance smile brightly, but deep down he was deep in thought. (To be continued.) )