Reborn Action Star: Starting in Hollywood

Chapter 32: Three Views and Five Senses Are As Positive
Lin Yuan suddenly felt stupid. Why was he worried that Liu Yufei would cheat?

He wanted to see Liu Yufei wearing white stockings, but did she really not want to wear it for him to see?
Have you forgotten that a good hunter always appears in the form of prey?
It turns out that women are born with the ability to play both sides. Lin Yuan sighed again: No wonder many men always suffer in interactions between the sexes.

If a man starts at a low level and becomes a bootlicker, then he can only respect the fate of others.

Sure enough, love is only interesting if it is a two-way relationship.

"I will keep it well. With it, I will feel that you are always with me." Lin Yuan put the wallet into the inside pocket of his coat.

Liu Yufei also raised her left wrist and waved the bracelet, indicating that she thought the same way.

"What book are you reading recently?" Lin Yuan changed the subject.

Ever since the last night they camped in Big Bear Mountain Park, Lin Yuan found that he really enjoyed chatting with Liu Yufei.

The spiritual connection between the two during conversation is their true emotional bond.

"Maugham's The Painted Veil, do you know this book?" Liu Yufei replied.

"I know. I've seen it too." Lin Yuan nodded.

This is a love novel written by British writer William Somerset Maugham in 1920.

Compared with this book, Maugham's other two representative works are obviously more well-known: "Of Human Bondage" and "The Moon and Sixpence".

Lin Yuan knew about this book because, after a hundred years, "The Veil" suddenly became popular in China around 2020.

It has resonated widely among literary and artistic young women in China and is hailed as a must-read love book for women.

The love movie of the same name based on this book even scored a high score of 8.3 on Douban.

The most famous passage in "The Veil" that immediately touched the hearts of literary young women is what the male protagonist said to the female protagonist:
I have no illusions about you at all.

I know you're stupid, frivolous, and empty-headed, but I love you.

I know your ambitions, your desires.

You are snobbish and vulgar, but I love you.

I know you're a second-rate piece of shit, but I love you.

I didn't fall in love with the beautiful face you tried your best to present, but fell in love with your turbid heart.

Is this taste pure?
Is this smell overpowering?

The fairy smell is off the charts.

No wonder women like it. Which woman doesn’t want to be useless but still get unconditional love from a man?

Lin Yuan’s attitude towards this book is: disdain.

Although he knew that the author Maugham was critical of the vain heroine before her transformation, it still did not affect his belief that this was a work of petty-bourgeois whining.

"Do you like this book?" Lin Yuan asked. Based on his understanding of Liu Yufei, it should not be her favorite.

"I don't like it, but I only took a look at it because all the students around me were reading it."

Sure enough, the fairy didn't like this tune.

"The pretentious view of love, the whining and self-admiration. I really don't like it." Liu Yufei added.

"But I know many girls like this book." Lin Yuan wanted to hear her views on love.

"Many people believe that love should be unconditional, and they long for someone to love them unconditionally no matter how bad they are.

This is very much in line with human selfishness, but I just can’t agree with it.” Liu Yufei’s views have always been sharp.

Lin Yuan nodded and motioned for her to continue.

"If I were a second-rate person who was stupid, frivolous, empty-headed, snobbish, vulgar, and muddy in heart.

Then no matter how beautiful I am, I don't deserve love from others. Love shouldn't be a panacea that cures all ills, as if anything tagged with the name of love should be disregarded and taken for granted."

Her heart is not as weak as her appearance. On the contrary, she is an extremely confident and opinionated person.

Lin Yuan smiled and nodded: My Tianxian has positive values ​​and is a girl full of positive energy!

"There is another part of this book that makes me very uncomfortable, although it has nothing to do with love," said Liu Yufei.

"What?" Lin Yuan asked.

"The more Maugham portrayed China as an idyllic 'primitive life' in this book, the more I felt the arrogance of the white world. This made me feel uncomfortable from the bottom of my heart.

I don’t know if you can understand what I mean.” Liu Yufei said worriedly.

Of course Lin Yuan understood.

The story of "The Veil" takes place in the old Chinese society. Both the original novel and the later adapted films contain a lot of descriptions of the folk customs and style of old China.

Between the lines, the author expresses his strong love for these oriental elements and writes China as a utopia.

Many Chinese people are aware of a phenomenon: foreigners are very interested in ancient Chinese things, such as our traditional architecture, traditional clothing, folk customs...

The older and more original it is, the more they like it.

Logically speaking, this should be a good thing. Isn't it worth being happy that foreigners like our traditional culture?

But why do many Chinese people feel vaguely uncomfortable?
In fact, this involves a very fundamental question:
What exactly do European and American countries like about the classical East?
As a Chinese, Lin Yuan does not have any differences in cultural cognition between the East and the West.

So he can answer this question very accurately:
What European and American countries like is the paradise-like East that they have imagined.

It's better for you to always go out in a sedan chair instead of a car.

You'd better go to the river and wash your clothes by beating them with a stick instead of using a washing machine.

It’s better not to use air conditioners or electric fans when it’s hot in the summer. It would be much nicer to fan yourself with a traditional handmade fan.

They hope that we will always live the ancient life and carry their fantasy of paradise.

As for whether we also want to live a better life and lead a modern life, they don't care and may even be opposed to it.

The essence of all this is curiosity.

It's the same feeling we get when we see the primitive life of the primitive people in African tribes, just curious and interesting.

When you say you like this, does that mean you like your culture?
It’s not that I don’t really like you, but it’s that arrogant look down on me that makes people feel uncomfortable.

Lin Yuan also deeply experienced this when filming "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon".

The older the China you photograph and the more backward the people's lives are, the more interested foreigners will be.

If you film a modern, prosperous China, foreigners will not only not like to watch it, but will also scold us for destroying the tranquility of traditional life and losing our own cultural traditions.

I would also like to add one more sentence: It is too environmentally unfriendly!
This condescending arrogance that comes from white civilization has always been widespread.

Lin Yuan being discriminated against and excluded in Hollywood is just one manifestation of this.

In fact, Lin Yuan was very surprised that Liu Yufei could be so keenly aware of this.

After all, she is not very old, and she can really be said to have a delicate mind, and she sees everything more thoroughly than her peers.

"Of course I understand what you mean. We'll see them that way one day too."

"really?"

"Yes! Believe me, the roots of our business must be in China in the future."

As a reborn person, Lin Yuan certainly knows that when he looks at Americans again in 2024, he will feel all kinds of magic and cyberpunk.

(End of this chapter)