By doudou6 
Many viewers are likely to empathize more with the character Chen Miao, played by Zhou Dongyu, but the real focal point of the movie “Hot Search” lies with the character Yue Peng, played by Yuan Hong.
Don’t forget, Chen Miao initially pursued the topic of campus bullying under the encouragement of Yue Peng. Then you will realize that every significant plot twist is closely tied to Yue Peng; this character is actually the main driving force of the film’s narrative.
In “Hot Search,” we see that no matter how the plot twists and turns, people always simply choose between two extremes when it comes to the opinions, ideas, and beliefs presented to them: either they fully accept or completely reject them, making them perfect tools for trending searches.
Yue Peng, played by Yuan Hong, has a line: “I want to put her on hot search and publicly shame her.” This line should be pondered more carefully because it’s not just the person involved who ends up on hot search; every individual participating in the hot search is also put on display. Thus, it’s not just the person involved who is publicly shamed; everyone participating in online violence is essentially being publicly shamed as well.
In the end, Yue Peng also puts himself on hot search under his own “direction,” completing a closed loop.
Therefore, the most chilling and spine-tingling aspect of the movie is not the omnipotent Hengshi Group, nor the bloodthirsty marketing accounts revealed during the production process, but rather the rabble whose emotions are easily manipulated behind the surface story of the movie. Regardless of who becomes the target of trending topics, this mob will rush forward, contributing to every share, like, and comment that pushes the trend further.
Perhaps this is the true underlying theme of the movie, aligning with what one would expect from Xin Yukun (忻钰坤), who previously directed “The Coffin in the Mountain” and “Wrath of Silence.”
01
The Three Levels of Eating Blood-soaked Steamed Buns
At the beginning of the film, a self-media company’s topic selection meeting quickly reveals how various hot social topics are chosen and amplified in our era where traffic is king. Guided by the central idea that “it’s unforgivable not to ride on hot topics,” combined with the fragmented reading habits of netizens as a rabble, they use a methodology of “grabbing the most extreme segments and indulging in base emotions” to provide “points to criticize,” thus obtaining as many 100k+ views as possible in the most intense manner.
Thus, a “bloodless lingchi” was easily completed. Such lingchi actually happens every day in various corners of the world, but most people are indifferent and unaware.
However, this is just the first level of “eating human blood buns.” After all, riding the wave and going with the flow are basic skills for most self-media. The second level is how to create a reversal, to go against the trend, and still manage to change fate when public opinion has already formed.
Perhaps many viewers, seeing Chen Miao give up releasing the second victim interview video at the end, watching her character collapse, and choosing to stand in front of the camera to expose the truth through a live broadcast to fight against power, will think that Chen Miao finally found her conscience, repented for her past mistakes, and correctly used her influence and skills in manipulating traffic.
Why analyze it this way? Pay attention to two details in the film.
First, the key to Chen Miao’s successful blow against Hengshi Group was the clear evidence of Wang Shiming’s illegal activities provided by another victim, Yu Tian. But how did she obtain this evidence? She lured back to Yue Peng with her body and secretly copied it.
In the movie, although Chen Miao outwardly tries to dissuade Yu Tian, she ultimately allows Yu Tian to sacrifice herself to achieve this reversal. Moreover, even her father, Chen Xuewen, accepting media interviews was arranged by her. Think about it: even her own family became part of her play.
This is the real character collapse.
What is even more terrifying is He Yan, played by Song Yang.
This is the third level of profiting from others’ misfortune. This character seems to stand on the side of justice in the end and completes his character arc. But think carefully: who benefited from the three major traffic surges in Zhang Xiaosui’s incident? It was him!
The first time he let Chen Miao accuse Zhang Xiaosui of being a campus bully, enjoying the traffic as a co-founder. The second time he sided with Yue Peng against Chen Miao, enjoying substantial resources and funding from the parent company without taking the lead. The third time he stood back with Chen Miao as a figure of justice, easily retreating unscathed from public opinion storms.
This repeated maneuvering was played too skillfully. Not only did he gain shares in Chen Miao’s company, but he also fully controlled this self-media company with enormous public opinion manipulation potential while standing on an untainted moral high ground. So He Yan appears to be a pawn but is actually a player.
02
Playing with Traffic but Being Played by Traffic
The most impressive character in this movie “Hot Search” must be Yue Peng, played by Yuan Hong.
This character itself also deserves deeper analysis. Don’t just simply see him as a so-called villain; we must also see the human issues carried by this role.
After all, Xin Yukun never writes simple stereotyped characters.
Yue Peng may seem far removed from ordinary people, dressed in suits and controlling a large business group that seems unrelated to us.
But he has a very clear symbol: representing many people online who want to play with traffic but end up being played by it.
When he tells Chen Miao “You are not as strong as you think,” his subtext is that he thinks he is very strong and can easily manipulate public opinion because he controls traffic.
Think about our real-world internet: aren’t there many big companies and organizations that believe they can easily guide people because of their wealth, power, and connections?
So in his eyes, everyone is just a tool for him.
Yue Peng essentially personifies a company without any moral sense; everything is calculated based on profit and loss. But traffic has always been a double-edged sword; those who play with traffic will eventually be played by it.
So when Yue Peng met Chen Miao, he hit an iron plate; his usual tricks failed because when Chen Miao threw herself into the traffic fray, Yue Peng faced not just an individual but traffic itself.
Thus his downfall was inevitable sooner or later.
From Yue Peng’s experience, we can see various big shots and influencers who have crashed in the online world before. They once enjoyed playing with traffic but suffered greatly when they were played by it later on.
This backlash doesn’t only happen to those with power and influence; in today’s era of mass self-media, even ordinary people can inadvertently fall into the vortex of traffic. We might think we have mastered the secrets of traffic but could one day face overwhelming internet storms ourselves.
Therefore, Yue Peng’s character deserves more thought from us.
Yuan Hong indeed fully portrayed such a superficially decent but internally beastly character this time.
The feedback from many viewers in the comment section shows how deeply Yue Peng’s character resonated with them.
Indeed it’s a character that makes people gnash their teeth in hatred. For villain performances this year: watch Wang Chuanjun in the first half and Yuan Hong in the second half.
Actually playing this role was somewhat challenging for Yuan Hong since it’s his first time playing such a character type.
After all, his previous role as Thirteenth Prince in “Scarlet Heart” was deeply emotional and beloved by audiences; this time represents some kind of subversion.
03
The Basic Principles of Public Opinion Guidance
Many viewers might identify themselves with characters like Wen Ni or Gong Wen after watching “Hot Search,” standing on the side of justice for once against power abuse.
But don’t forget one line from the movie: “Not only do we need to create personas for perpetrators and victims but also for readers to increase immersion.”
So how should we immerse ourselves? How should we view these issues raised by this film?
First of all, we must strive to escape from “the spiral of silence,” which is a theory in mass communication studies.
The theory describes how people express their ideas and opinions: if they see their supported views widely accepted they’ll actively participate making these views more boldly expressed & spread; conversely if they find certain views ignored or attacked they’ll stay silent despite agreeing internally creating an ever-strengthening dominant voice while silencing opposing ones forming an ongoing spiral process.
In movies like “Hot Search,” Yue Peng repeatedly uses large-scale online violence reinforcing silent spirals’ effects such as intimidating former victim nurse Zhen Xi symbolizing externalized silent spiral effects while Chen Miao understands this well too.
This tells us that public opinion formation isn’t necessarily rational discussion results but may result from conformity towards strong opinions within crowds emphasizing that strong opinions aren’t always correct & minority opinions differing from majority ones might outwardly conform due pressure while internally holding firm beliefs.
To break free from silent spirals respecting minorities & listening dissenting voices are essential ways out.
Secondly paying attention avoiding blindly accepting media disseminated content like targets under “Magic Bullet Theory” also known as “Hypodermic Needle Theory” suggesting media wields irresistible power injecting information causing direct immediate reactions influencing attitudes opinions even actions directly showing through both sides’ massive media matrix outputs easily guiding netizens rapidly reflecting public sentiment changes.
Thus everyone needs heightened vigilance preventing becoming easily manipulated traffic atoms avoiding casually engaging media-set agendas.
As Yuan Hong mentioned after watching movies reflecting real-life events or hot topics might offer different perspectives feelings possibly being what truly should immerse next time encountering hot searches avoiding knee-jerk reactions treating every interaction cautiously rationally justly commenting sharing evaluating each instance responsibly.