溪邊椰樓: 好萊塢環球影城(二) [中英文雙語習作]

     
      

我們上次來好萊塢環球影城，兒子才兩三歲，除了看熱鬧玩水爬上爬下，沒有辦法讓他明白其中的奧妙。現在孩子八歲了，除了親身經曆各種景點的好玩和刺激以外，我覺得最後坐遊覽車參觀電影拍攝場景給了他很大的震動。這個年紀的孩子，對真假是非處在半明半白的階段，看到電影裏熟悉的動漫人物向他走來，已經知道不是真人，可等這些人物開口說話問好，他又有那種受寵若驚的欣喜和快樂。雖然我們有免排票，我是特意把坐遊覽車一項留到最後的，希望兒子可更好地明白電影場景和現實的關係及不同。
 

一場遊覽車走下來，四十多分鍾的時間裏我們經曆了瓢潑大雨，淹屋洪水，當百年罕見的大地震發生的時候，我們被卡在了紐約的地鐵中, 幾乎被塌陷的地麵和起火的巴士撞毀！好不容易衝出險阻，又遇上兩夥恐龍夾擊，血肉橫飛，是無畏善良的大猩猩金剛把我們救了出來，當我們看見剛剛錯過的班機失事撞毀的連環慘相，我們真是覺得老天保佑！絕處逢生之後我們終於來到一個寧靜美麗的小鎮，這時的兒子已經通過車內電影片段的插播，導遊的解說，現實場景的體驗，進入了“入迷”的狀態，不停地問我他長大後能不能做電影工作人員（不是演員），我說當然可以，洛杉磯是世界電影之都所在，要是真想學拍電影，你有天時地利，媽媽當然全力支持你！孩子聽了欣喜若狂，好象第二天理想就可以實現似的！

 

 

話又說回來，很多好萊塢的成功演員和劇作人員卻又來自美國中西部的一些小城鎮，也許那裏沒有大都市的繁華誘惑，家庭觀念和價值觀純正，孩子很小就過著儉樸努力的生活，這樣的孩子長大，懷著作演員作編劇成名的夢想，或者抱著一卷辛苦寫成的劇本，就這樣赤手空拳來洛杉磯闖蕩。闖出來的沒闖出來的，心裏手裏腦海裏都有一本厚厚的沉沉的奮鬥史。這也就是咱們中國人說的“好男兒誌在四方吧”！（這句話在以下的英文版裏湊合著翻了，希望我讀英文的朋友明白是什麽意思。再說，中國人還說“物離鄉貴，人離鄉賤”，“人挪活，樹挪死”......等等等等，隻有咱們中國人才知道在什麽情況下用哪句話勸人！）。

 

兒子，等你長大了，有誌就行了，做一個有用快樂的人就行了，至於是不是走四方，是不是拍電影，我們再看吧！

 

 

The last time we came here Ethan was only a little over 2 years old.  Other than walking around, playing at the water fountain and climbing the rocks, there were not much for him to explore and enjoy.  Now at the age of 8, I feel not only he enjoys all the exciting rides and shows, he also is deeply inspired by learning the movie-making industry through the Studio Bus Tour.  Children at this age are still going through the process of recognizing and differentiating the reality and the fiction.  When some of the larger-than-life movie characters walk towards Ethan, he's mature enough to know they are not real, but then when these characters start talking to him, he still seems thrilled and flattered by getting such special attention.  Because of this and although we have the "Front Of Line" pass, I purposely leave the studio tour towards the end of the day hoping that Ethan can relate better between the upcoming movie sets and all the rides.

 

And what a tour it has been!  During the 40+ minutes we've experienced the pouring rain that almost flooded our foothill stone house, and when the disastrous earthquake hit we were trapped inside the New York subway train by the collapsing ground and a school bus that was engulfed in the fire.  When we finally got out, we were caught in the middle of a blood-shedding fight between two spices of dinosaurs, it was the powerful and kind King Kong who saved us and landed our bus in a safe place.  It was then that we realized the 747 airplane we had just missed had crashed midair and all passengers had died!  We thank God for his blessings and for saving our lives! 

 

While driving through a peaceful and beautiful movie town, listening to the tour guide's simultaneous explanation of the movie-clips shown on the screen, Ethan was completely fascinated!  He kept asking me if he could make movies when he grew up (not being an actor).  I said of course, Los Angeles is where the movie-making capital is located, if you really want to learn making movies, you have the great advantage and access, I will always support you.  He was SO happy to hear this, it was like his dream would come true the next day!

 

On the other hand, our conversation made me think.  Many Hollywood A-list actors, actresses, writers and musicians are actually from mid-western small towns where there are not much material temptation but strong family and personal values.  Kids raised in that type environment seem solid, hardworking yet dream big.  Many of them end up coming to LA, either with a vision in their head or a self-written script in their hand, to pursue their dream in the entertainment industry.  Some of them make it big, some never - both have a long story to share.... Maybe that's why Chinese people use to encourage their sons by telling them - "If you want to hit it big, you have to hit the road!"

 

Son, when you grow up, I hope you have the determination and inspiration of "hitting it big" and become an asset of the society and be a happy person, whether you have to hit the road to make this happen, or make this happen by making movies, we shall see!!
 

[閑人Filiz]

真有心！佩服！