Monday, July 31.

Meredith-Morris sat in the passenger seat of the car, boredly flipping through the "Los Angeles Times" in his hand, looking out the window from time to time, the sunset outside the window had already filled the sky, and the heat wave that had lasted for a day was finally beginning to fade. The crowd of people coming and going in the parking lot seemed to be much more energetic, everyone was talking about something, and the expressions on their faces were fluttering, and it could be seen that they were very excited.

Meredith, now a sociology student at the University of California, Los Angeles, spent her summer vacation helping with archiving at a research institute, and after work today, she accompanied her mother, Katherine Morris, to the supermarket to buy groceries, but she was tired from the day and didn't want to move, so she stayed in the car.

"What are they excited about...... Meredith muttered, as she had seen at least eight people with a newspaper in their hands, and then excitedly said these things to their companions. She tried to open the window of her car to take a look, but nothing came but the heat that was blowing in her face.

Meredith looked down at the Los Angeles Times, flipping through it, and didn't see any excitement.

This past weekend, the official release of "Future Water World" should have been sensational news, after all, the $175 million film has sparked a lot of discussion in the past few months, but the movie has attracted a crusade after its release, the reputation among the major media outlets is miserable, and the box office results are not much worth mentioning.

Although "Future Water World" won the North American weekend box office championship in the last week of July, the winning result was only 20 million, compared with the high investment in the movie, almost everyone believes that the film will lose all its money, especially when the movie's reputation is also failing, and it is no longer reliable to hope for the long-term success of the movie. Now the only thing Universal can count on is that the movie will rely on blockbuster titles in overseas markets to grab some box office.

The unimaginable fiasco of the highest-budget film of all time has made almost all professional filmmakers say in unison, "Look, I said it a long time ago!" ”

Indeed, these statements have been seen countless times before, and professionals have always disapproved of the rising cost of film production. This also makes today's "Los Angeles Times" seem a little boring, and it doesn't seem to have a blast at all.

"Look, look!" The car door was suddenly opened, interrupting Meredith's thoughts, and as soon as she turned around, she saw her mother's hurried figure, her mother threw something over, Meredith subconsciously went to pick it up, but she didn't catch it, and as a result, the thing fell on her thigh, and she hurriedly held it down with both hands to prevent the thing from slipping down, "What? What is it? Meredith's mouth was still yelling at the same time.

Catherine was still carrying something bought in the supermarket, but she didn't have time to put it in the back seat, so she yelled at her daughter, "Look, look! ”

Meredith muttered and complained, but still looked down, this is a newspaper, a supermarket tabloid - "National Enquirement", Meredith looked at her mother angrily, the second half of the sentence of "Mom ......" is obviously "You know I don't like this newspaper", because of Hugo's relationship, she has never had a good impression of this newspaper, and even despises it.

In fact, the mainstream media has always disdained supermarket tabloids, on the one hand, because many of the news in supermarket tabloids are fabricated or even absurd; On the other hand, because they call themselves "big newspapers", they have enough trust in their own news channels, so they naturally do not follow these supermarket tabloids. What's more, the uncrowned kings still take care of their dignity and face, and most of the content of the supermarket tabloids is vulgar, and it is not used by the mainstream media, and even the attention is stingy.

The National Inquirer is already the most credible newspaper among the many supermarket tabloids in the United States, and its sales are also unrivaled. But even so, their status has not changed much. In particular, in the case of the witch trials, the activity of the "National Inquirer" eventually led to the disgrace of the media, and even made the major newspapers disdain them.

It can be said that the status of supermarket tabloids is very low.

Meredith will not forget the fact that the "National Enquirer" repeatedly fabricated fake news to hurt Hugo, and she can be said to have a deep hatred for this newspaper. Catherine is also a fan of Hugo, so naturally it is very clear, so why did she bring this newspaper here?

Meredith's complaint did not seem to work, however, and Catherine persistently pointed to the newspaper.

Meredith rolled her eyes angrily, then opened the newspaper, and her mother's voice came to her ear, "Headlines on the front page!" Headlines on the front page! ”

"Yes, yes......" Meredith's voice was full of sarcasm, but her voice quickly disappeared into her throat, and then her mouth opened wide, but she couldn't make a sound at all, her eyes stared at the news headline quickly and tremblingly, with a look of disbelief and contempt, and anger rushed directly to her head, "Mom! They are talking nonsense, and you believe it! ”

I saw that the front page of the "National Enquirer" today was white, and there were only two words written in red font in the middle, "Hugo, psycho" and then a small line at the bottom summarized the news, "It is reported that Hugo Lancaster, who is working in Baton Rouge, was admitted to a psychiatric hospital due to excessive stress, and was initially diagnosed with mental illness and needed psychological treatment." ”

This news is really too impactful, the news content avoids the movie "Death Row Prisoner Walk", and does not even mention what Hugo's work is doing in Baton Rouge, all the focus is on "mental illness", and the name "neurosis" is directly placed on Hugo's head.

Catherine is also a fan of Hugo, although she is a mother, but also a teacher, chasing stars seems to have nothing to do with her, but Hugo is a special case, she and her daughter are very fond of Hugo, support Hugo, because Hugo is not only an artist, but also represents the persistence and struggle to chase dreams, which gives Catherine a lot of inspiration and inspiration.

Catherine naturally didn't like to see such news, and when she saw the front page headlines, she reacted almost exactly like Meredith, but, "What if it's true?" Even if it is not, does that mean that Hugo is indeed in trouble? Catherine didn't bother to tidy up the things in her hand, and just took the driver's seat with it, put a large bag of things directly on her lap, and then explained.

Merediton was stunned.

Indeed, this kind of thing is so special that it is different from any previous news. Even if the National Enquirer is fake news, everyone will be concerned: Is this true? If not, then what's wrong? If yes, then......

It's like there will be some news of "so-and-so artist passed away" every once in a while, no matter whether they care about this artist or not, people will more or less take a look at the news and care a little more, and things will get big unconsciously. If it is fake news, it will also force the person concerned to come forward and clarify.

Not to mention Hugo?

"Almost all the newspapers in the supermarket were snatched up just now, and I took the second batch on the shelves." Catherine explained in a simple sentence what Meredith had just seen, no wonder everyone was so abnormal today.

Meredith herself didn't realize that her hands were already sweating, and she quickly opened the inside page of the "National Enquirer" and began to read it carefully. Catherine realized at this time that she was holding a large number of things, and hurriedly put them in the back seat, but did not rush to start the car, but leaned on the steering wheel in a daze.

The news also had a strong impact on Catherine.

According to the news, Hugo lost control of his feelings due to excessive pressure during work, and had to go to the hospital for treatment, and because the situation was too strict, he also spent a night in the hospital. After that, Hugo received counseling and treatment from a psychiatrist, and it is reported that even after receiving treatment, Hugo's condition did not improve, and his work was temporarily put on hold and he had to be admitted to a psychiatric hospital for long-term treatment. Later, he also directed all of Hugo's friends to Baton Rouge, even his father himself, and it was obvious that the situation was very serious. At present, Hugo is like a time bomb, there is no way to predict when he will completely collapse, and the specific situation of Hugo's current situation in the mental hospital is also unknown, which is worrying.

The whole report is well-founded, with nose and eyes, and describes the whole process in detail, especially some details about the hospital are directly pointed out, which seems full of confidence, and immediately increases the credibility by dozens of percentage points. No wonder those people were talking excitedly just now, no wonder Catherine was so panicked......

Although the report never mentions what Hugo's work is, it is clear that the National Enquirer has gone to great lengths to focus its attention on "neurosis" and avoid "walking on death row" as the focus; But for a big fan like Meredith, she easily relate things to her.

Because it was a "walk on death row", Meredith was even more convinced of the authenticity of the news, because she knew that Hugo was always fully engaged in his work, and he was almost injured because he was too involved in the filming of "Life and Death", and the news of deliberately drinking alcohol in order to experience the role during the filming of "Schindler's List" is still vivid.

Thinking of this, Meredith's cheeks turned extremely pale in an instant, could it be that this time the "National Enquirer" said the truth?

"No, no, certainly not...... Hugo will not have a problem......" Meredith whispered, as if to deny the facts, but more like convincing herself that although she firmly believed in Hugo, who could really say for sure about stress, depression, and mental illness? It is said that 9 out of 10 Hollywood stars suffer from depression.

The denial of the facts and the worry about Hugo came in an instant, leaving Meredith at a loss.

Catherine looked at such a daughter, and her heart couldn't help but stab, and she quickly took her daughter into her arms and whispered, "We should believe Hugo, don't we?" "It's just that this time, even they weren't sure.