The Best Director

Of course, filming a sitcom isn’t complex, the key lies in the script; and with a relaxed schedule of filming three episodes per month, even though Wang Yang was not always on set, he could still fulfill his responsibilities and create this innovative sitcom through phone calls and the internet.

And Wang Yang’s focus was clearly on the sci-fi blockbuster “Firefly” that was about to start filming. After a month of intensive Kung Fu training and continuous preparation by the crew, everything was “ready except for Action.” The interior set of the spaceship Serenity was built, the costumes were designed and created, the prop firearms were already waiting, and the actors had become quite skilled in their moves; Ellen Page had also arrived in Vancouver… The launch of Serenity was counting down.

“Sweetheart!” The night blanketed Vancouver, and just after Wang Yang alighted from the plane and returned to his apartment, he walked in and immediately smiled, opening his arms for a passionate embrace and kiss with Jessica, who had come to greet him, dispelling the longing from days apart, heedless of Danny, who was excitedly running around them. Eventually, they pulled apart with a soft sound, and Wang Yang, feeling rather tired, pushed his lightweight suitcase aside and took off his black coat: “Sometimes flying back and forth is really exhausting, especially when you have no idea if there’s a damn terrorist on the plane.”

Jessica took his coat and hung it neatly on the rack before bouncing over and following him, kneading his shoulders with both hands: “Dear, I’m proud of you, let me give you a massage, try out my newly learned technique…”

Wang Yang found it strange that he had blurted out that last remark; when had he become so fearful of death? Then another thought flashed in his mind, and he understood a lot more, especially the feelings of the former crew members who exited “District 9,” who were unwilling to go to South Africa no matter what, recalling the sigh of the unit manager Geoff: “Yang, I’m sorry, but my wife, my children, for them, I can’t take any risks.”

Turning back to look at his beautiful wife, whose fingers were providing a delightful massage on his shoulders, Wang Yang couldn’t help wondering, if he had a child who called him “Daddy, Daddy,” would he still run toward danger in South Africa as fearlessly? Would he still mess around in the courtroom?

His own voice had once said, “I’ve thought about this for a long time, about the kind of person I am.”, and Mark Strong’s voice came back to him: “You don’t have the answers because you’re still too young, there’s so much you haven’t experienced. You’re not married, you don’t have children; when you become a parent, many questions will have answers. My daughter, watching her cry, watching her laugh, it’s an indescribable feeling…”

Now that he was married, he had experienced the feelings of a husband and the sense of responsibility that came with it, and gained a deeper understanding of “family” and “home.” The wedding ceremony and the rings constantly reminded him of these things, no wonder changes in relationships all require ceremonies, like marriage, sworn brotherhood, religion, oaths…

“If it came to that, I could play the hero again,” joked Wang Yang. He thought he would still go to South Africa, but he wouldn’t be as fearless and carefree; he would become like Waleed Faist, with worries and longings. Turning fearful after marriage, was this an inevitable path, do others feel the same? But a person is indeed constantly growing, changing…

Wang Yang then thought of why the most fearful person aboard the Serenity was the pilot because he was the first mate’s husband; while the seemingly fearful Captain Mal was the least afraid, as he had no attachments. Wang Yang pondered over the emotion of fear, should it be considered good or evil, positive or negative? Was it cowardice? Weakness? This led him back to the intentions he had written in the scripts, becoming increasingly clear that good and evil, right and wrong, positive and negative weren’t so clearly defined.

Complete goodness and complete evil are the same, devoid of humanity. Humanity is like a Tai Chi diagram, with evil in kindness and kindness in evil. The union of yin and yang is human nature.

However, moral concepts, religion, and laws are all suppressing the evil side, but the essence of the world will not change. It has always been this way from ancient times to the present. This world is an evolutionary society of natural selection and survival of the fittest, with dreams, desires, motivations, competition, and thought being necessary for development, “I want to become…”, “I want to get…”, “I should do this… to live better,” “This is my pursuit…”, “I have to defeat…” Yet, the process of societal propulsion and operation is bloody, with many moths dying and only a few butterflies dancing.

Is this an imperfect world with flaws? What should the beautiful New World look like? Remove all the “evil,” with no desires, no competition, where everyone lives and works in peace and contentment, satisfied with their own state. No more “greed” in a static society, a plumber always a plumber, a doctor always a doctor. The plumber won’t aspire to be a doctor because he lacks “envy” and “arrogance” and sees no difference between a plumber and a doctor.

In a static society, do people in all professions receive the same social treatment? First, it requires the characteristic of “allocation of growth based on talent,” determining whether a newborn baby becomes a plumber or a doctor through genetic identification. However, this method of allocation based on talent, isn’t it already curtailing many people’s lives? There wouldn’t be a perception of suppression without evil because it fits and the social status of the strong and the weak is the same. On the other hand, plumbers focus on plumber thoughts and doctors on doctor thoughts. Society may still make progress, perhaps even faster.

This is the aspiration of Blue Glove, his beautiful world, where everyone is equal and loves one another, where the strong don’t bully the weak, and aren’t arrogant or haughty; where the weak neither idolize the strong nor feel inferior or cowardly in the New World.

In fact, this is an anarchist’s ideas, for the strong have always represented power and government; the government is the strong and is power. How can true anarchy be achieved? If everyone is a fighter of the same rank, there will still be fights and arguments. If only goodness prevails, essentially eliminating the concepts of strong and weak, high and low, without a government, without laws, yet everyone can live in harmony and joy, that would be the true freedom eternally.

But Blue Glove, the anarchist, works for the government. The Star Alliance represents the current world, one with government, laws, and a hierarchy of strength and weakness, seeking balance by weakening and restraining the power of the strong while supporting and helping the weak in an unequal world. The interpretation of freedom in this world, as Jean Jacques Rousseau states in “The Social Contract,” is, “True liberty is not to do whatever one desires, but to not have to do what one does not wish to.”

To be more specific, as John Mill says in “On Liberty,” “Liberty is the freedom to pursue one’s good in one’s own way, so long as it does not attempt to deprive others of theirs. The actions of members of society need only not harm the interests and rights of others, and must undertake responsibility only to defend society or its members from harm and obstruction, without being compelled by society. Individual actions, as long as they do not involve the interests of others, need not be responsible to society, and others may not interfere; if individual actions harm the interests of others, the individual must be accountable to society and suffer legal or societal punishment.”

Is this a beautiful world? And the predator’s viewpoint is, “Superman does whatever he desires, and the weak bear all that the strong bring upon them. That is the true freedom, the wonderful world.”

Over-Man and Super-Man, superheroes, are all anarchists, the only difference being Spider-Man emphasizes, “With great power comes great responsibility.” They are above the law and popular government, and to do good and fight the bad guys, to save humanity, they still follow the moral concepts of government-supporting idealists, yet they are different, they are the government themselves; predators have no moral concepts, do as they please, and take pleasure in killing and arson, they are the government.

Essentially, Over-Man and Super-Man are “Super-Governmentalists,” if one puts it nicely, individual heroism. If they want to and think it necessary, they can step out of the rules at any time to act without needing to explain to the other weaklings within the rules.

As for Captain Mal and other independent factions, most of them are egoistic anarchists who seek minimal government, merely drafting contracts with each other that prohibit acts of violence such as theft, fraud, and murder, and ensure personal interests are protected while also monitoring their enforcement. However, if anyone were to mention “patriotism” or “collective,” they would scoff at it—anything that infringes upon individual rights is deemed illegitimate, as no state or government should have any coercive power to force individuals to aid others, or to restrict people’s actions for the government’s own benefit or protective services.

Yet, when the larger government of the Star Alliance wanted to incorporate and manage them, these space cowboys, who didn’t want too much regulation or to have to “pay taxes” to the government and then be subject to government distribution, came together to wage war.

The freedom of the independents is “primacy of self-interest—if you like to help others, you do; if you don’t, you don’t, and the government has no right to interfere” This naturally also involves the concept of strong vs. weak—down to a single Serenity-class spaceship, there is a captain with subordinates. The hard-nosed but soft-hearted Captain Mal is a contradiction; on the surface, he is passionately dedicated to egoism, viewing personal interest as a life attitude and behavior guideline above all else; yet, even he doesn’t know what deep inside he truly seeks.

What makes for a perfect world? What constitutes freedom? How should mankind and human nature behave?

The Purification Project & Blue Hand Glove advocate for an “anarchy that’s all good, no evil, no strong, no weak”; Independent factions believe in “primacy of self-interest, preventing violence from strong against weak, and naturally developing anarchy”; Marauders follow “might makes right, anarchy allowing the strong to do as they please”; the Star Alliance represents “cutting down the strong to support the weak, current world rule by a government of the people”?

These three questions are what “Firefly” aims to explore, what Wang Yang wants to provoke within the audience’s thoughts, as Natalie said, “a big question.” But as long as the film can stir some emotions and invoke insights, he has succeeded. However, due to the director’s intent, the film itself will definitely carry a direction, even provide an answer—he couldn’t possibly choose the Marauders’ camp, because no audience would like that; of course, he also doesn’t agree that “might makes right” makes a perfect world.

He thinks what a director must do is to not directly provide answers but to let all sides collide and conclude the film with a heart-piercing cinematic shot, leaving room for thought.

The light drizzle continued, making the Vancouver sky even darker; gusts of cold wind made the streets illuminated by the dim glow of streetlights quite chilly, yet inside the elegant bedroom, it was as warm as spring, and two people slept under the covers on the comfortable big bed.

“Jessica, what do you think makes a perfect world?” Wang Yang whispered, feeling extremely cozy. After a few days back in Los Angeles, he hadn’t slept so soundly and thought he had even lost a pound. Feeling her tenderness, he slowly kissed her.

“I don’t know…” Jessica murmured softly, her smile growing as she looked at the wedding ring, then added, “With you, our family, our good friends, our baby… it’s perfect.” Wang Yang chuckled, squeezing her hand, “Yes, of course. Who could disagree? That’s a perfect world, you little woman.” Jessica giggled, “Hmm, I’m a little woman. I don’t mind…”

The two were affectionate for a while until Wang Yang remembered something that seemed to kill the mood, but he thought it needed to be reported to avoid paparazzi fabricating stories from any photos, “The other day at ShoWest in Las Vegas, Natalie and I went for a coffee at the restaurant, chatted for a bit.” Jessica replied casually with a hum, “Is she doing well?” Wang Yang propped himself up to look at her, replying, “Not bad. Sweetheart, aren’t you jealous?”

Wang Yang knew he shouldn’t ask such a question, but he had always found it a bit strange. Ever since they’d started dating, she’d never got upset about the rumors about him or his slightly too intimate moments with Rachel and Natalie. Instead, she got jealous of Helen, his ex-girlfriends. This was her first love, after all! Apart from thinking, “this girl is too good,” he really had no other thoughts. But now that they were married, he figured there was nothing he couldn’t ask.

“Do you want me to be jealous?” Jessica turned around to look at him, her face playful and smiling, as she tapped his nose and spoke her truth, “Of course I don’t like you being too close to other women, but you’re familiar with everyone, and I know you don’t like to be jealous, so I’m not either. I don’t want to make you angry. More importantly! I trust that you won’t betray me, Natalie is just your good friend, right, talking about ‘what kind of world is a good world’?”

Wang Yang couldn’t help but laugh. This woman meant to say, “That’s work, not life.” Looking at her proud expression, she was clearly saying, “Only I am your partner in life.” He chuckled and said, “Sweetheart, why are you so good to me? Why do you trust me so much?” Jessica felt a warm sweetness in her heart and was tempted to throw the question back at him. She smiled and raised her eyebrows proudly, “Because I love you.” Wang Yang feigned confusion with a smile and asked, “Why do you know so well how to make a man like you?”

“I don’t know,” Jessica laughed, giving him a wink, and playfully blowing him a kiss, she said, “Just doing what those magazines teach, how to keep your man happy.” Wang Yang burst into laughter, giving a thumbs up close to her cheek, “Good magazines!” Jessica’s face beamed with pride as she whispered in a raspy, mysterious voice, “Baby, let me tell you a secret, even though I didn’t go to college or Harvard, I understand psychology that’s even more profound! Impressive, right?”

“Of course, you are!” Wang Yang stroked her brown hair with one hand and held her tight with the other, feeling somewhat completely conquered by her. Theirs was the purest form of love, unfettered and innocent like childhood sweethearts. People always grow up, but she always brought him back to the beginning. Before her, including Helen, he had several girlfriends, none of whom knew how to follow the advice from magazines; but she and Natalie, one a hot angel, the other a cool devil, he knew he had made the most wonderful choice.

The spaceship had landed on the most beautiful planet! He kissed her forehead tenderly, gazing into her eyes with an intense look, Wang Yang asked with a smile, “Do those magazines tell you what love is?”

Jessica shook her head slightly but understood his real meaning, her breath growing heavier, “No, but you’ve told me, and you’ve also shown me…” Her cheeks turned red, and she smiled, “Why do you have so many questions tonight? Why aren’t you kissing me?”

“Because we start shooting ‘Firefly’ tomorrow, let’s go to sleep, goodnight,” Wang Yang suddenly released her and turned away, his shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter. Jessica opened her mouth in surprise, then furrowed her brows in dissatisfaction as the nice atmosphere was disrupted, kicking out at his butt, “Hey! Yang!”

Wang Yang quickly turned back around to face her, laughing heartily, “OK, OK! ‘YOUCA’ scene who-knows-what, Action!” Jessica called out, “CUT! Today it’s ‘CAYOU’!”

“Oh, is it now, hello, Jessifer!”