Reborn Action Star: Starting in Hollywood

Chapter 525 begins, Buta's explosive opening remarks
The large platform in the middle of the water is where the movie will be shown tonight. It covers an area of ​​more than 8000 square meters, about the size of a football field.

Although Barkawi is a slum on the water, there is also a demand for markets, ceremonial celebrations, etc., so this shared large water platform was born.

There are two such large water platforms in the entire Barkawi slum, and there are even more smaller ones, enough to meet the collective activity needs of the residents.

At this time, the large platform was surrounded by countless canoes, and Lin Yuan's small boat could not get close to the large platform at all.

The boatman stopped the boat helplessly and said, "We can't go through. We can only walk the rest of the way by ourselves."

"Walk over?" Director Eastwood asked in confusion.

"There are so many boats. If you step on them, you will reach the big platform." The boatman said, "Follow me, don't get lost. We need to go directly to the backstage. There are too many people in the movie viewing area. If you get lost, it will be difficult to find them."

The boatman's duty was to take them to the backstage, and now he was fulfilling the function of leading the way.

"Be careful, it's not easy to walk here. Director, let me help you walk." said the boatman.

If he were somewhere else, Director Eastwood would mind being treated like an old man.

But looking at these canoes swaying with the waves, the old director still couldn't maintain his stubbornness.

So the boatman supported director Eastwood and walked in front, while Lin Yuan held GAKKI's hand and walked behind. Every step forward was quite difficult.

The canoes docked here are all small and their carrying capacity is quite limited.

When Lin Yuan and his companions stepped from one boat to another, the small boat immediately began to shake violently on the water.

This shaking is accompanied by up and down swings and left and right swings, making it easy for people to lose their balance.

If you stumble and fall into the waterway under the boat, it would be really dangerous.

There was no need to worry about Lin Yuan's balance. No matter how shaky he was, he could steady himself immediately. But GAKKI-chan next to him almost fell down several times. Fortunately, Lin Yuan was quick to support her.

The same thing happened to director Eastwood before, which really made Lin Yuan sweat.

Looking at the endless canoes, Lin Yuan couldn't help but ask, "How many people are here tonight?"

"I don't know either. Judging from the number of boats, there are probably at least 5000 people," the boatman replied.

"5000 people? Why so many?" Director Eastwood asked in surprise.

The boatman replied, “If the area of ​​the platform was not limited and the number of people present was restricted, I’m afraid everyone in the entire Barkawi slum would have flocked here.

When the announcement started a few days ago that a film projection team would be coming to show movies for free, the whole slum was in an uproar.

The final spots for tonight were confirmed by drawing lots, but I don't know exactly how many people showed up. You can ask Buta later."

“No wonder all the equipment used tonight was specially customized. The size of the movie screen alone reached an astonishing 600 inches, and the other supporting projectors, audio equipment, etc. were equally exaggerated.

At first I thought it was an exaggeration, but now it seems it should be better." Director Eastwood sighed.

Lin Yuan nodded, the equipment tonight was indeed top-notch.

Normally, the screen size of open-air cinemas is generally 150 inches with a 4:3 ratio.

This is already quite good, considering that in the 80s, most open-air movies in rural areas could only afford 60-inch or at most 100-inch playback equipment.

Even in 2024, outdoor movies generally use a 200-inch screen with a 16:9 ratio.

If there is no special customization, 350 inches is already the top size on the market.

Tonight's 600-inch screen is so luxurious that it doesn't even seem like it's in Africa.

But since it was Lin Yuan who took action, he must have produced sufficiently impressive equipment to show more people exquisite visual effects.

However, this set of playback equipment is not cheap, with the custom price as high as 120 million US dollars.

Not all of the ten projection teams responsible for showing movies in Congo this time are equipped with such equipment.

Only the top two A-level playback groups have such 2-inch playback equipment.

Not all projection teams need such high-end equipment. After all, if you are just going to a small village of a few hundred people, using such equipment will not only be a waste, but will also make travel difficult due to the inconvenience of carrying.

In that case, it would be sufficient to send a C-level projection team.

"Let's go quickly. I can't wait to attend this event," said director Eastwood.

"Haha, it's just a movie screening. Don't you have much experience in this kind of occasion as a director?" Lin Yuan said.

"No, this kind of fanatical love for movies, the atmosphere of treating watching a movie as a festival, has disappeared for many years.

Lin Yuan, you are a young person, you don’t know how excited everyone was when watching movies when I was young.

It was my childhood passion for movies that led me to this path.

Thinking back to that time now, I realize it was nearly seventy years ago." Director Eastwood's eyes were filled with nostalgia.

"Director, I understand." Lin Yuan said.

"Can you really understand? I believe you." Director Eastwood laughed, "But if you can understand this kind of sentiment, your heart is not like that of a young person. Hahahaha, interesting, interesting!"

Lin Yuan understood what director Eastwood said. In an era of extreme spiritual and cultural scarcity, people can look forward to and get excited for days just to watch a movie, read a book, or listen to a song.

But as the times progress, there are more and more cultural products available for consumption, and people are becoming more and more impetuous.

Especially after entering the Internet era, various cultural works have become extremely abundant, and countless works are placed in front of the audience, waiting for their consumption.

At this time, everyone should be very happy facing a huge amount of cultural works, but the result is that they become at a loss.

The days of the past have become slower, cars, horses, and mail have all become slower, and a lifetime is only enough to love one person.

Lin Yuan knows that many people will miss that time, but no one really wants to live like that again.

But living in this era of information explosion, it is nice to experience the past occasionally.

In this slum in Kisangani, both director Eastwood and Lin Yuan felt a long-lost sense of nostalgia.

As they moved forward, they gradually got used to the shaking, and the four of them moved forward a little faster.

After ten minutes of trekking, they finally arrived at the backstage of the big platform.

I saw the staff of the film projection team carefully preparing for the projection.

In the crowd, Lin Yuan spotted Buta wearing a bright yellow Loro Piana cashmere suit.

I have to say that Buta has a very good figure. One of the racial talents of black people is long legs.

Buta wore a designer suit that really lived up to the expensive look.

It would be really embarrassing if you spent a lot of money and ended up looking like a domestic crosstalk master.

Buta also noticed Lin Yuan and the others. He came forward with a smile and said, "Lin Yuan, you're finally here. I was worried that with so many people, you wouldn't be able to find a place or squeeze in."

"With such a dedicated guide, it's impossible not to find it." Lin Yuanxian smiled and praised the boatman, then took out a hundred-dollar bill and handed it to him.

Although Lin Yuan doesn't like the tipping culture, the boatman's performance tonight is definitely worth a bonus.

After the boatman thanked him and left, Lin Yuan continued to say to Buta, "But there are really too many people tonight. I see many people squeezed to the edge of the big platform, with half of their bodies hanging outside.

Buta, tell me, how many people came tonight?"

Buta said helplessly: "Originally, we calculated the venue, deducting the space occupied by the screen and audio equipment for the movie, as well as the areas that are too close or too far away to be suitable for watching movies. If the seats are a little more crowded, there will still be no problem for 6000 people to watch a movie at the same time.

So we have 6000 places available.”

"6000 places? How are they allocated?" Lin Yuan asked.

"Going to the registration point to draw lots is the only feasible way. But there is a problem with this method," Buta said helplessly.

"What's the problem?" Director Eastwood interrupted and asked.

"There was no list for the Barkawi slum, which led some people to redraw lots in other locations. After all 6000 places were drawn, some people started shouting that it was unfair and that they had not been prevented from cheating, which resulted in them not getting a place.

So they were forced to add 1000 more spots, and the final number of viewers should be around 7000. To be honest, I'm worried whether the big platform can accommodate them.

Now it seems that the result has really reached the limit." Buta replied.

Lin Yuan said helplessly, "Is it really necessary to rush to see this one movie? There are only 8 people in the entire Barkawi slum. The projection team won't leave anytime soon. If they show it ten times in a row, won't everyone who wants to see it be able to see it?"

"No, Lin Yuan, you don't understand how popular your film will be. I bet that after your film is shown tonight, your name will be known to everyone in the Barkawi slums tomorrow.

Whether they have seen your movie or not, everyone will talk about you and the movie crazily.

Anyone who has seen the movie would be eager to watch it again, or even ten times without getting tired of it.

Those who haven’t seen the film will definitely be more eager to get a spot,” said Buta.

"I understand. Under such circumstances, let alone showing ten more movies, even if we show twenty more, it will still be difficult to get a spot." Lin Yuan replied.

Lin Yuan underestimated how fanatical the Barkawi people, who lack spiritual and cultural life, are. What's more, his films represent the highest level of commercial films today, and even Europeans and Americans who have no shortage of movies to watch are crazy about them.

This is equivalent to feeding a starving person the most delicious food made by the best chef.

How is this not crazy?
"Lin Yuan, it's almost time, it's my turn to go on stage." Buta clapped his hands, obviously very excited.

As today's opening guest, his responsibility is to give some background introduction to the movie and warm up the opening.

Many movies can be shown without any problems in Europe, America, Asia and other regions, but Africa is too backward. Many things that people in other regions think are common sense have invisible barriers for the mostly illiterate Bakawi people.

Therefore, an opening segment will be added to the movie playback process this time.

In other regions, movies would start playing directly without the need for an opening guest to come on and talk a bunch of nonsense.

Lin Yuan looked at Buta and smiled, "Where's your opening speech?"

"Do I need a script for my opening speech? Can't I just speak it out loud?" Buta was full of confidence.

Lin Yuan complained unhappily, "I'm not asking you to read from a script, but if the opening is good, this script can be provided to other projection teams. We can't prepare an opening speech for every movie, right?"

"Ah? I am worth this kind of value?" Buta asked in surprise.

"Forget it, I'll have someone take notes on the spot, you just talk." Lin Yuan replied.

Buta waved, picked up a microphone and walked towards the front desk.

Looking at Buta's figure, Lin Yuan knew that the screening was finally about to begin.

Lin Yuan had no doubt about Buta's eloquence.

His inherent social skills make him very good at stirring up other people's emotions.

Giving an opening speech in front of over 7000 people tonight might be a bit nerve-wracking for most people, but for someone like Buta, the more people there, the more excited he gets, and the better his performance.

Lin Yuan was already looking forward to what Buta would say tonight.

I suddenly remembered that this is Kano territory and it would be a problem if Buta made some discordant and inflammatory remarks.

After all, this guy doesn't even have a manuscript, so Lin Yuan can't review it in advance. Fortunately, it seems that this possibility is not very high at the moment.

Buta came to the projection screen, his body half sideways, his left leg straight, his right leg bent, and his arms in a "Bolt-like" archery gesture of victory.

Seeing this showy action, Lin Yuan immediately felt embarrassed and wanted to dig his toes into the ground.

Whether in Europe, America or China, the host's words and actions are generally required to be decent and steady. Such a socially dead-end and weird opening action can only be seen in Africa.

When the audience saw Buta's coquettish entrance posture, they immediately stopped whispering and turned their eyes to him.

"Dear friends here, I am Buta, the opening host for tonight."

There was a burst of cheers.

Unlike other regions where people like to express affirmation through clapping, people in African regions such as Congo prefer to express the same emotion through cheering and even singing and dancing.

But the cheers before him were obviously just politeness.

Buta knew that if he wanted to truly deal with these guys, he would need more powerful tools, so he said, "Did you notice? I'm dressed quite gorgeously, don't I? Do I look like a prince walking out of the Royal Palace in Kinshasa?"

No matter where you are in the world, you will generally be criticized for saying such things.

Obviously, Congo was no exception, so boos immediately broke out in the stadium.

"Prince? I didn't notice! I only saw his appearance!"

"Wake up! Where did the prince come from in Congo?"

"I admit your clothes look high-end, but it all depends on the clothes. If you take them off and put them on me, I guarantee you'll look even more stylish than you."

The most difficult part of any group activity is that the audience is not proactive in communicating.

Although black guys are usually very active, they will instinctively feel nervous when they are in a crowded place. It is human nature to not like speaking in public.

It is not easy to get everyone to speak and interact actively, but setting yourself up as a target and luring the audience to hit you is a very clever technique.

Obviously Buta achieved his goal, and now the atmosphere on the field became lively.

Seeing everyone eagerly complaining about him, Buta continued to add fuel to the fire: "What's wrong? Let me tell you, the clothes on ordinary princes may not even be as good as mine."

Buta unbuttoned his suit and pulled open the lapels with both hands to show the finely crafted lining.

The yellow suit is very flashy in color, but the lining shows low-key luxury in another way. This contrast greatly highlights the texture of the clothes.

Many luxury brands like to put a lot of effort into the places that are invisible and intangible to outsiders and can only be seen by the wearer.

This approach will make the wearer feel a tacit understanding with the brand: you have made these thoughtful designs, and I can feel it.

Not only did you do things for others to see and for me to show off, you also pleased me in places where others couldn't see.

At this moment, Buta is showing this side of herself.

The pockets lined in his suit were made of the finest embroidered silk.

The inner buckle used to tighten the waist is made of polished sapphire.

Such luxurious workmanship stunned the audience in the front row who could see the details.

"This is a high-end cashmere suit from the famous Italian brand Loro Piana, which costs $13. How about it? Do you agree that it's no worse than what the prince wears?" Buta asked with a smile.

There were gasps of surprise from the crowd:

"How much? $13? This outfit would last my whole family several lifetimes!"

"Mr. Kano doesn't even wear such expensive clothes, right?"

"Where did this host come from? How come he is so rich?"

"I'm so envious! I really want to be like him. It's so enviable."

Looking at the feedback from the audience, Lin Yuan and director Eastwood in the backstage were at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

This kind of feedback is both unexpected and expected.

Buta’s opening was to show off his wealth in the most eye-catching but also the most hateful way.

As a Chinese who grew up in the United States, Lin Yuan is well aware that there are huge differences in the ways different ethnic groups show off their wealth.

Lin Yuan used to have many black friends. Their way of showing off their wealth was very simple and crude. They would just pull out a big gold chain from their neck and say:
"Hi, man, look at this necklace I just bought, it's $8000!"

Or he might stretch out his arm, revealing a large gold watch on his wrist: "Hey, how about this gold watch of mine? It's $30000!"

In general, he must tell you the price, for fear that you don’t know how much he spent.

This way of showing off wealth is exactly the same as Buta's performance tonight. It is indeed a typical template of black people showing off their wealth.

Lin Yuan’s white friends, however, have a completely different way of showing off their wealth.

Every time school started, his friends would come up to him, hug him, and say, "Hi, where did you go on vacation? My girlfriend and I went to Hawaii for vacation. We stayed in a three-story villa by the sea, enjoyed a black truffle and lobster set menu prepared by a French chef, and even took a cruise to go diving."

Do you think he is sharing his summer vacation experience with you?

Don't be silly, the keywords are "Hawaii vacation", "three-story villa by the sea", "French chef's lobster set meal", "cruise" and "scuba diving".

Each of these items is very expensive, and Lin Yuan’s white friends are using this to show off their wealth.

The way white people show off their wealth is completely different from that of black people. They show off their wealth by displaying a very expensive lifestyle.

Of course, in addition to blacks and whites, there are also many Chinese around Lin Yuan.

Unlike black and white people who like to show off how much money they spend, Chinese people like to compete in... saving money!
If a Chinese man stretches out his wrist and reveals a large gold watch, he will definitely not tell you how much it costs directly. Instead, he likes to ask with a smile: "Hi, how much do you think this watch costs?"

If you think it's worth $5000, it's better to ask in an uncertain tone: "Well... I guess it's... $10000?"

Anyway, guess the price is higher.

At this time, he would show a very satisfied smile: "No, I only spent $2000 to buy it."

The subtext is: Do you think I made a good deal? You think the watch is worth $10000, but I bought it for $2000.

This feeling of saving money and getting a good deal is the greatest source of spiritual satisfaction for Chinese people.

If you want to irritate them, you can do the opposite: "This... I guess it's... $1000?"

If you say this, the guy who spent $2000 will immediately look unhappy and won't want to say another word to you.

Showing off wealth can really reflect the profound differences between different nationalities and cultures.

At this time, Buta's pure black way of showing off his wealth directly stunned the black brothers present:
We are busy every day and can't even get enough to eat, but you can afford a suit that costs $13?

I envy and admire you, you are indeed a big shot!

I actually saw the big guy, it was really worth it tonight!

In this way, Buta immediately overwhelmed the audience psychologically.

This mentality would seem incredible to the Chinese:

Do you think you are superior if you wear a more expensive suit?

But this is really the case abroad, especially in countries with strict hierarchy.

For example, in China, if you see someone sitting in business class on a train, most people's reaction would be:

This guy should be able to get reimbursed, right?
He seems to be quite wealthy, but it would be nice if he could spend more and redistribute the wealth.

But you will never feel that the guy sitting in business class is superior to you.

The genuine feeling that everyone is equal is a social phenomenon unique to China, but it is definitely not the case worldwide.

In India and Africa, where the hierarchy is strict, people really think you are nobler than them based on your clothes and occupation.

This is why the Sap culture can exist in Congo. It is because as long as you really put on a set of expensive clothes, even if you are still a poor man living in the slums, you are still a superior person among the poor.

Now that Buta had said this, he had completely occupied the psychological high ground, and Lin Yuan began to wonder what he would say next.

After all, this is the opening speech of the movie screening. Talking about himself is definitely not the ultimate goal, but a prelude to the process.

Sure enough, the next moment Buta said, "You must think I'm a rich kid, right?"

Voices of agreement came from the scene.

Buta shook his head: "In fact, I am just a Sapu, a poor man who has eaten his last meal and has no idea where his next meal will come from."

Hearing Buta's words, the scene immediately became lively again.

From the beginning of Buta's performance, they were deeply shocked and subconsciously placed Buta in a very high position.

But the situation suddenly changed, and Buta told them that he was just a Sap.

Sap?

Audiences from the Barkawi slums certainly know this group of guys known as the "slum nobles".

There are at least 100 Sapus in the Barkawi slum, and they are no strangers to them.

But according to their understanding, not many of the Saps can afford a suit that costs $1. Most of them can only afford around $5000, which will require them to save money for a long time.

But the Buta in front of me actually costs $13 for a suit?
How is this done?
This thought immediately filled everyone's mind.

Guessing that everyone's curiosity had reached its peak, Buta said with a smile:

"Because I met someone who changed my destiny."

"And I believe that he not only changed my destiny, but he will also open a window before your eyes, allowing you to realize that this world is so wonderful and that it is definitely not just about the poverty we live in day after day."

"Perhaps he will plant a seed in your hearts, so that you will no longer be satisfied with a mediocre life."

"He is Lin Yuan, the star of the movie we are going to watch tonight: The King of Spy Wars."

(End of this chapter)