Chapter 117: Chapter 105: Anger Due to Immatunty_l
Translator: 549690339 |
The next morning, Harrison Clark and Carrie Thomas each got up and had a meal at the hotel’s rooftop restaurant.
Carrie Thomas absentmindedly stirred her oat flakes, her eyes fixed curiously on Harrison Clark, “I heard Katie is a goddess in the hearts of many fans here, don’t you know her?”
“Of course I do.”
“Then today you’re going to see her in person, why don’t you seem excited at
all?”
-Why should I be excited? We were invited by the other side to collaborate, and we are equals. Moreover, I am sure that the person in front of me is more outstanding than Katie and will have even higher achievements in the future. I can see you every day, so why should I look forward to someone who is not as good as you?”
Carrie Thomas was speechless for a while.
-I don’t know if I should call you arrogant or if you think too highly of me, or maybe you’ve become more smooth-tongued and good at sweet talk.
Harrison Clark pointed to his face, “Do I look like I’m smooth-tongued?”
“No.”
“Exactly, I’m just telling it like it is.”
Carrie Thomas: “It seems like you’ve become pretty arrogant since we arrived
here.”
Harrison Clark put down his spoon, “This western food is awful.
He chuckled, “Environment shapes people. People here like to say hello to madmen. In their eyes, capable people aren’t arrogant; they’re just cool. We’re both cool. So there’s no need for us to hold back.”
Carrie Thomas had no idea that this was only the beginning.
By the time she experienced Neil Blomkamp’s face-riding boastful promotion of “Chaos Space” after the afternoon tasting, she realized Harrison’s arrogance had no limit.
Director Neil is also an arrogant man, very conceited. While boasting about himself, he did not forget to express his contempt for Chinese science fiction.
In Neil’s view, Chinese filmmakers lack both imagination and rigorous scientific literacy. Apart from a few decent films, most Chinese science fiction films are unbearable and should be destroyed in garbage trucks.
Also, Neil thought that by inviting Harrison Clark to collaborate this time, he had provided an excellent opportunity. China could never make a sci-fi film worthy of having the theme songs of “The Fire” and “Self-Combustion.
Neil believed Harrison should be grateful to him because he had brought them
a real stage to display their talents.
Although Carrie Thomas felt that the other party was speaking the truth, it was indeed unpleasant to hear. Harrison was even more straightforward, with an impatient look on his face, showing signs of being on the verge of an explosion.
At that time, Katie Swift was also expressing her opinions, seemingly wanting full control of the song lyrics adaptation, making Carrie Thomas and Harrison
Clark her assistants.
Not only that, but Katie also wanted to completely change the original meaning of the lyrics and put her own understanding of space, and future technology in it.
It was her creative principle, and she wanted to give the soul to the song she was going to sing herself.
Then, Harrison exploded.
He dropped a fierce comment on the spot, insisting that China must lead the adaptation of lyrics; otherwise, even if they granted the adaptation rights, he would not recognize any relationship between this song and them after he returned home.
Of course, he would not sue them, as they were legally using the song, but he would absolutely not recognize any collaboration between the English version and them.
Put simply, he was ashamed to be associated with them, making the English version of “Self-Combustion” illegitimate.
After saying this, Harrison Clark left with Carrie Thomas, leaving Neil and the others looking at each other in dismay.,
They didn’t know what they had done wrong.
But clearly, the situation couldn’t continue to deteriorate like this, as the box office performance of the film in mainland China might be negatively affected.
Later, an actor of Pacifican descent in the production team figured out the essence of the problem.
He said,
“This is probably a cultural difference; our confidence might be seen as arrogance by Mr. Clark.”
This summary is spot-on.
Walking away, Carrie Thomas, who usually has a quick temper, tried to reason
with Harrison.
She couldn’t understand why he was so angry either.
-Don’t be like this. You don’t want to turn away from the money. We’re both newcomers here; try to restrain yourself a bit.”
Harrison Clark took a deep breath, “It’s hard for me to control myself.”
Only he knew the reason.
He had experienced several wars firsthand and even felt the sensation of his body being torn into countless pieces on the front lines.
Watching others tell stories of future wars with such childish narratives, full of meaningless individual heroism and portraying future world leaders as wise children, with a pale and rigid worldview that violated logic and a lack of self-awareness while spouting nonsense and expressing their superior concepts, he was on the verge of losing it.
“Too shallow, too ignorant, too short-sighted, too absurd. How can he mock us
for being childish?”
Carrie Thomas said, “He might not have meant it.
“Isn’t that even more annoying? It means that’s how he sees us deep down.”
Harrison Clark panted, trying to calm himself down.
Carrie Thomas looked at him for a long time and only spoke after he had gradually calmed down: “You weren’t easily agitated before, what’s going on with you?”
“Yes.”
Harrison Clark leaned against the wall, the plot of “Chaos Space” coming to
mind.
Although the title of this new film is in line with “Elysium,” the stories of the two films have no connection.
“Chaos Space” tells the story of a war between humans and aliens set 300-400 years in the future.
Well, by then, humans had mastered wormhole technology and controlled dozens of star systems nearby the Solar System.
Ridiculous.
Also, the total human population had exceeded 500 billion.
Continuing with this absurdity.
But humans were all under the control of an alien representative, as a dependent civilization.This alien looked exactly like a human, except its ears were slightly pointier, its hair was made of tentacles, and its limbs were a bit longer.
The wormhole technology that humans had mastered was given to them for free by the aliens.
How ridiculous.
Even more absurd was the fact that this alien was a hedonistic and wanton tyrant.
Harrison Clark felt that his eyes were being assaulted by the sight of this
character.
The alien’s management method was very crude and simple: no management, just collecting taxes.
As a result, the structure of human civilization was a mess, with gangs and corporations dominating in a manner reminiscent of the feudal lord era in medieval Europe.
Then, the protagonist rose up from among the common people, speaking with his childhood sweetheart about granting freedom to all in the future, “I promise.”
In Hollywood movies, there’s a trope that if the male lead makes a promise at the beginning, he will definitely fulfill it.
The protagonist was really overpowered, easily convincing high-level officials to betray and fight with nothing more than a supposedly energy weapon that was actually just a Gatling gun.
The final boss, the alien, wielded a longsword against the protagonist in the base, engaging him in some sort of bizarre close-quarters duel!
And the protagonist even managed to win the fight!
The alien civilization backing the villain was apparently so terrified of the protagonist’s incredible fighting abilities that they conceded and acknowledged the rightful place of the humans as equals.
Harrison Clark couldn’t suppress his laughter at the absurdity of the plot.
If combating an invasion was truly as easy as portrayed in the movies, then what did humanity’s struggle over the next thousand years amount to?
What was the point of all those sacrifices?
Also, the so-called aliens with enough power to dominate the Milky Way Galaxy were so ridiculously incompetent!
What kind of bizarre setting was this hedonism and depravity!
What was the difference between an alien having sex with a human and a person having sex with a sheep?
This was the source of his anger.
Harrison Clark took a deep breath and spoke quietly.
His voice sounded distant and somber.
“Before humans can spread their wings in thought and truly leave Earth to venture into space, if they encounter a civilization-spanning, star system-wide conflict, it won’t be a war that can be resolved through individual heroics.”
“Just as when humans choose to destroy an ant colony, would they squat down and use their fingers to kill each individual ant one by one?”
“No, they would simply start a large fire, burning the entire area where the colony is located for days on end. Not only would this not destroy the soil, the ashes left behind would actually make it more fertile.”
“Or they could simply use a hose and drench the whole area.”
“For the ants, every action taken by humans spells their doom, yet from the human perspective, it barely requires any effort.’
“So, whether it’s the past District 9 or Independence Day, or Edge of Tomorrow, Pacific Rim, Starship Troopers, and so on and so forth… they’re all very childish.”
“Alright, I don’t mind being criticized, but I think Star Wars is especially childish.”
“Lightsabers go BiuBiuBiu, my force explodes BiuBiuBiu,” Harrison Clark pretended to swing a sword, shrugged, and continued, “They don’t understand anything.”
■’This is a completely unequal conflict that would be over for Earthlings in an instant, without even knowing who the enemy is. It’s not even a war.” “Try to think about it from the other perspective. Can ants comprehend how humans trigger the ‘apocalyptic flood’? Can they understand what a water pipe or self-priming drainage pump is, or how to disconnect the power to it?” “This movie is so absurd and ridiculous; I cannot accept it emotionally. If Director Neil had been more humble, I might be able to tolerate his ignorance, but he’s so arrogant, and that’s why I lost my temper.
After listening to his explanation, Carrie Thomas still didn’t quite understand his anger, but she chose to accept it.
She began to put herself in Harrison Clark’s shoes and asked, “But all movies are filmed this way nowadays. If the protagonists aren’t attractive, the audience won’t be able to project themselves onto the characters, and there will be no box office.”
“That’s why I initially agreed to the collaboration and didn’t plan to nitpick, but Neil touched a nerve, and my emotions got a little out of control. I’ll go back and talk to them later.”
Carrie felt somewhat reassured and went on to inquire, “What if humans could venture into space, explore the Milky Way Galaxy, and engage in wars at that level?”
Harrison Clark shuddered, and his mind involuntarily began to imagine that scenario.
He also recalled the long and arduous battles that humanity had fought against nature, animals, disasters, and diseases from ancient times until now.
He remembered the last words of Daniel Thompson before his death and couldn’t help but smile at the corner of his mouth.
“That would undoubtedly be an era full of magnificent epics, with countless heroes forging their race’s legends with their own flesh and blood. It’s a shame that humanity won’t live to see it.”
Carrie shook her head, “It’s just us who can’t see it. You’re being too absolute.”
“Alright. Let’s go.”
Carrie: “Hold on, I just thought of something. Going back to your analogy about the ants, what if there’s a mutant ant in the colony that has extremely strong venom, capable of killing an adult human with a single bite? Even if it can’t save the entire ant species, at least it has a chance to fight to the bitter end, right? If it bites fast enough, it might even save some of its kind to preserve their civilization’s legacy?”
Harrison Clark was stunned.
“You’re right!”
“So individual heroism can be quite useful sometimes?”
“Whose side are you on, anyway!”
They didn’t chat for too long on the sidelines.
In fact, Neil and Katie took the initiative to apologize to Harrison Clark and Carrie Thomas with their team, reflecting on their attitudes and assuring that they respected the cultural concepts of the two parties. They even emphasized that their previous statements were not malicious.
Since the other party had offered an olive branch, Harrison Clark graciously accepted it.
As the collaboration began, they each returned to work on their respective tasks.
The Chinese side would provide a draft of the English lyrics within two days, after which they would meet to discuss and polish the lyrics based on the
Chinese input.
Returning to their hotel, Carrie began munching on a pen while translating the general meaning of the lyrics, while Harrison Clark distractedly searched for other science fiction movies to watch and pass the time..