047 Lotus tip gradually revealed
Lance did not relax his vigilance at all. Even though Javier raised the corresponding questions as expected, Lance knew that any mistake could lead to a loss. All previous layouts were to achieve their goals through the news media, and Lance would never take it lightly.
"So, how did you first think of making this movie?"
Hearing Javier's question, Lance's left thumb slightly tightened, but soon let go, avoiding Javier who asked, and looked at Martin, "I don't know if you have seen Paul Lins's 'City of Gods'." A sentence immediately made the expression on Martin's face frozen, and the smile on the corner of Lance's mouth slowly rippled, "I decided to shoot this movie after reading this novel."
Javier didn't understand why, he had never read "City of Gods", so he didn't know what the meaning of this book was; but Martin, an authentic Brazilian and native of Rio de Janeiro, definitely understood it very well. The former was confused and the latter was shocked, so both of them fell into silence for a moment.
Lance walked forward slowly and continued in a relaxed tone, "I have experienced such a thing. After some of my American friends knew that I had a lot of research on Asian culture, they asked me, have Chinese people never seen toothpaste, and do everyone ride bicycles?"
Before Lance's words could be finished, Javier asked back, "Isn't it?"
"Haha." Lance laughed out loud. His cheerful and relaxed look made Javier a little embarrassed. "Of course not. It is the twenty-first century now, and the Internet has gradually become popular. If your understanding of the world remains a few centuries ago, that would be too bad." Lance looked at Javier and Martin and continued, "Say that, my Chinese friend once asked me if all Americans have body odor, is it that all Americans have very open and erosive sexual life?"
"Of course not!" Javier directly returned, obviously disagreeing with these words. "Those Catholics..." The defense words began, and Javier stopped, looking disgraced. Although he was unwilling to accept it, he could not refute it. He finally understood the meaning of Lance's words.
"You are journalists, and most ordinary residents understand the facts through your reports. Even you don't know them. How could the whole society know?" Lance's words were very gentle, without criticism or ridicule, as if they were just stating a fact, which made Javier and Martin fall into thinking, "That's why I decided to shoot this movie."
Javier thought for a while, and his eyes were reluctant to leave Lance, staring at every detail in the expression of the man in front of him, "Do you want to say good things about this slum?"
"Definitely not." Martin denied it directly, because he had read "City of Gods". He knew how real and cruel this novel was, and showed a world he had never known. However, judging from the remarks that Lance defended Mann/Nu/L and others just now, Martin was a little uncertain. He looked at Lance, "Is that right?"
Lance shook his head, "No." This made Martin feel relieved, while Javier frowned, "I just want to present a real city of God. I hope to present the true appearance here to everyone, different people can see different things, maybe sociologists will see hidden dangers here, maybe educators will think about the meaning of lack of education, maybe economists will see the opportunity to rectify here, maybe businessmen will see business opportunities that others do not understand... I am willing to hand over the power of thinking to the audience. Just like China, the United States, or Brazil, if there is such an opportunity, they will show their true appearance to others, and then the audience will judge what the truth is there."
Martin and Javier were silent again, this time not because of the word exhaustion, but because of understanding.
"People have too many unknowns and too many prejudices about this slum. Those who come out of the slum must spend twice, three times, or even ten times harder to break out of their own sky. The same is true for the same situation, but also in many cities in the United States. Detroit still cannot get rid of its bad image." Lance's words made Javier lightly point his chin, "I don't have that much ability to change these prejudices, and I'm not sure whether the status quo of the slum can be changed, but at least, I can provide a window for everyone to see another world."
Speaking of this, Lance stopped. In just ten minutes just now, Lance exhausted all his energy and guided Javier and Martin little by little to the track he prepared. Now it was just right, leaving the remaining space for them to think about it themselves.
In fact, Lance can continue to lobby - "exploring the truth" has always been the job of journalists, and they are the people who should not report with prejudice at the least; but society is so cruel. Anyone has its own gender, class, education and other aspects of life, and even the uncrowned king is no exception.
But if Lance did this, it would seem to be extravagant and would backfire. He could not let the two reporters think that these ideas were instilled and guided by him, and should be thought out by themselves.
The thoughts in Javier's mind were surging. He could vaguely detect something was wrong, but he couldn't tell what was going on. He raised his head and looked at Lance in front of him. Lance raised his eyebrows and looked over with a puzzled look. His deep eyes were childish and sincere, like the broken golden sunshine in the dense forest, which was fascinating.
Javier couldn't help but smile at Lance, and his surprise quietly disappeared, "So, what's the name of this movie?"
"'City of God'." Lance lowered his eyes and withdrew his gaze. Ninety percent of the success.
Martin, who was standing aside, finally realized that the content of their report was not wrong, but the direction of the report was wrong. Perhaps, they could not dig out the terrorists of the City of God, but they could present this forgotten area to everyone bit by bit.
"Mr. Strello," Martin said solemnly, "I agree with you, but I also keep my opinion. I always think that the group of people who are stealing Chicken Mann/Nu/R have antisocial tendencies, and no one knows what they will do next." After all, each of them carries heavy weapons, and the consequences are unimaginable in the event of an accident. Lance did not refute. "So I think, I don't know if you can keep me stationed in the crew and follow you to shoot, not only to observe the lifestyle of the nearby slums, but also to observe the working status of your crew and show the real world to the residents of Rio."
This was something Lance did not expect. He had to look at Martin with admiration. After missing a news point, he immediately seized the next news point. This news intuition was extremely precious.
Javier also noticed this and gave Martin a wink. Martin had to quickly add, "And Javier."
Javier, who was standing next to him, immediately added, "I am an expatriate reporter for the New York Times. I can open a column in the New York Times to report on the filming of the movie and the specific situation of the Rio slums." This is an extremely heavy bargaining chip.
The New York Times is the most well-deserved newspaper in the United States. You can count the newspapers that can compete with it with one hand.
But Lance was not so excited that he could not help himself, but chuckled, as if he didn't believe it, which made Javier a little embarrassed, thinking whether he should take out his business card. "Javier, do you really think the New York Times will ask you to open a column to follow up on a film crew, or Rio slums?"
Lance's words stunned Javier. Lance did not doubt his identity, but questioned his proposal. Javier wanted to argue, but found that he was speechless. Because he knew better than Lance that the "New York Times" could not agree with this idea, and even a special report was very difficult.
However, Lance did not be aggressive, but nodded, "If you are interested, of course there is no problem. You both can come here. But I have a condition that you are not allowed to take photos on the set, and I must obtain my consent."
Martin immediately became excited. The Brazilian Globe opened a column to follow up the follow-up of this incident. He could already foresee the sensation that the entire society would cause. But relatively speaking, Javier was a little depressed when he stood beside him. To outsiders, he was very glorious at the New York Times, but only when he was in it, he knew how deep the water was.
Lance looked at the crew that had arrived at his destination, "Sorry, I need to get back into work. You can stay if you want." Lance walked two steps forward, but stopped quickly and turned around, "Mr. Ulier, I don't know how much you know about the Internet, but if you're really interested in this topic and the movies I've filmed, I suggest you can update it regularly on your own blog."
"Blog?" Javier was stunned. He had heard of this thing, but he didn't know what was going on. Looking up at the friendly smile on Lance's face, Javier subconsciously said, "Thank you for your opinion."
Lance waved his hand indifferently, "We are just an independent movie with a small cost investment, no one cares about it. Now your appearance will surely make our crew members a hundred times more motivated. So I think I should thank you." After that, Lance smiled self-deprecatingly, then turned around and took a step.
Chapter completed!