Nobody

"Little People" is a crime action film released in 2021, directed by Ilya Naishuller and starring Bob Odenkirk, Connie Nielsen, Alexi Serebryakov and others. The film tells the story of the protagonist Hutch (Hutch Mansell), a retired agent killer who longs for a peaceful life, but in order to protect his family and children, he has to get involved in gang disputes again. I was deeply impressed by this movie, especially its portrayal and understanding of "little people". People who struggle at the bottom of society are often overlooked, and this movie is a loving tribute to them. The character of Hutch made me see the helplessness and tenacity of an ordinary person in the face of life pressure and danger. Although he was a top agent, after retiring, he just wanted to live an ordinary life. However, for the safety of his family, he had to wield his weapons and become the "nobody" again. The action scenes of the film are very exciting and exciting, which makes people sweat. The acting is also excellent, especially Bob Odenkirk, who successfully portrays a character with both wisdom and courage. In addition, the film's music and photography are also very good, creating a depressing and tense atmosphere for the film.

"Little People". 8 points. Very good. Directed by Ilya Naishuller, this guy is also a treasure boy. Ever since Keanu Reeves created the "John Wick" series, the world has been crazy about violent revenge creations. It is really awesome. On any bored night, such personal heroism of violently silencing all dark forces is worth a few beers and a few skewers. If I open a barbecue restaurant in the future, I will hang a screen in each private room to play B-level movies. Hutch is a master that all troublemakers, especially the military and police, fear the most, but his life after retirement is as cowardly as that of ordinary people, until two petty thieves broke into his house. Then he began his long-forgotten violent career. Although some of the plots in the film have loopholes, it looks so cool. Don't worry about it.

It is another Hollywood personal hero that is in line with the norm, or a Hollywood-style "passive hero". It is nothing more than a more sophisticated editing, a more brutal fighting scene, a more clever blood spilling, a more colorful action design, and a stronger contrast between characters, so it can be said to be the pinnacle. But it is still "a story of a man returning home".

The attitude towards the “meta-society” is crucial

Here, Professor Guo Songmin divides the heroes in the movies into two categories: "passive heroes" and "active heroes" based on their attitudes toward the "meta-society" they live in. "Meta-society" - in American westerns, it is usually a small town in the West; in the "Kung Fu Panda" series, it is the "Peace Valley" where the panda Po lives; in the Chinese movie "Let the Bullets Fly", it is the Goose City ruled by Huang Silang; in "The Red Detachment of Women", it is the Coconut Grove Village ruled by Nan Batian...; and of course - in "Little People", it is the community where the protagonist lives and the "home".

A careful study of the individual heroes in Hollywood movies reveals that they have one common feature, that is, they basically agree with the order of the "meta-society". At the beginning of the film, they are often in a marginalized state of existence in the "meta-society", and usually have unusual backgrounds. For example, in Schwarzenegger or Stallone's movies, they are often former marines, former special forces, former police officers, former astronauts, etc., who have now retired from the world and are content with their peaceful, though somewhat downtrodden, lives. Then, some evil forces - aliens, Frankenstein, gangsters, terrorists, Nazis... In this movie, thieves, various hooligans, and the Russians, who are always the big bad guys in the minds of Americans, begin to threaten the existing order of the "meta-society". The heroes are involved in it by some chance, and finally exert their great potential under the stimulation of anger, and finally destroy the evil forces and restore the peace of the "meta-society".

The reason why these Hollywood heroes are called "negative heroes" is that they do not want to change the existing order of the "meta-society" at all, but are only willing to eliminate the evil forces that threaten the existing order of the "meta-society". Once these evil forces are eliminated, they will either disappear on the horizon or return home to reunite with their wives and children. Hollywood stories are always the same, and are often simply summarized as "the story of a man returning home."

Watching "Little People" in this way, we will find that the protagonist is such a passive hero. In the film, the protagonist Hutch's suburban home was broken into by two thieves. In order to avoid violent conflict, Hutch did not fight back for himself or his family. His son Blake was very disappointed in him, and his wife Becca seemed to be more alienated from him because of this. This incident triggered Hutch's long-suppressed emotions and instincts. Then he fought and killed all the way...

Comparing "The Return of the Great Sage" and the "Kung Fu Panda" series, we will find that their story logic is actually very similar. The panda Po was originally idle and lived a somewhat marginalized life in his own Eden "Peace Valley". In "Kung Fu Panda", it was the "evil dragon" who threatened the order of "Peace Valley", and in "Kung Fu Panda 2", it was the big villain peacock "Lord Shen" who came to make trouble, and in the end it was Po who eliminated "Dragon" and "Lord Shen" and restored the peace of "Peace Valley".

Why do heroes have to be negative?

It is very interesting that, contrary to the heroic paradigm of Hollywood movies, Chinese film and television works during the revolutionary period or the pre-socialist period are all "positive heroes" - the objects they want to resist and destroy are, first of all, the existing order in the "meta-society", because they are the oppressed in the "meta-society". For example, in "The Red Detachment of Women", for Wu Qionghua, the order of Coconut Grove Village under the rule of Nan Batian is intolerable and must be overthrown. Of course, Wu Qionghua did not see it very clearly at the beginning, and simply thought that as long as she killed Nan Batian, she could be liberated. It was only under the inspiration of Hong Changqing that she understood the truth that "the proletariat can only liberate itself in the end by liberating all mankind", which means that it is not only necessary to overthrow the order of Coconut Grove Village, but also to overthrow the order of the world (meta-society).

So, if Hollywood movies tell the story of a man returning home, then Chinese red movies tell the story of a hero leaving his hometown to liberate the world. Red movies usually end with the hero bidding farewell to his hometown family and then turning around to go to the front line.

In addition, they are all heroes who have organizations and teams to rely on, such as Dong Cunrui, who was born in the Eighth Route Army, and Wu Qionghua who grew up in the Red Army.

In contrast, Hollywood movies rarely feature heroes born from organizations or the masses. However, individuals are fragile and cannot face organized and resourceful villains. Therefore, Hollywood heroes either have superpowers, such as Superman, Iron Man, or the mutant Spider-Man, or are former agents or veterans. All their skills in resisting oppression are given to them by the "meta-society". In short, they are single-handed and invincible!

Since the end of the Cold War, due to the strong cultural output of Hollywood, the audience has become completely accustomed to "passive heroes", just like we are accustomed to the taste of McDonald's and KFC. So when Jiang Wen's "Let the Bullets Fly" came out in 2010, almost everyone was shocked, and the intellectual community also intervened in the debate. This is mainly because the protagonist of "Let the Bullets Fly" Zhang Mazi is a "positive hero". He took the initiative to challenge the order of Goose City. Even when Huang Silang gave him several carriages of silver, he still refused to leave. He must turn the order of Goose City (meta-society) upside down, and he actually did it. Of course, constrained by the post-Cold War context, Zhang Mazi could not establish a new order in Goose City that was different from Huang Silang after overthrowing Huang Silang. Obviously, he could not establish a Soviet regime. So when Huang Silang was overthrown, it was also the day when Zhang Mazi failed - his brothers took money and women to Pudong, and he could only return to the mountains alone.

Why do the “negative heroes” in Hollywood movies often live marginalized or even miserable lives at the beginning?

Why are they often reluctant to come out of retirement, and always wait for a situation that forces them to "have to" before they risk their lives to fight the "bad guys"? If you think about it carefully, this is indeed the cleverness of Hollywood - precisely because the hero is not the biggest beneficiary of the existing order of the "meta-society", so when he comes out to maintain the existing order of the "meta-society", he can more effectively prove the rationality of the "meta-society", showing that he does not take risks out of pure personal interests, but shows heroic behavior out of maintaining certain values. This value is "personal freedom", which has an important position in Western culture. In this film, it is a wife, children and a big house!

From the perspective of the United States/the West, they are very worried that a "positive hero" will undermine their freedom. If Sun Wukong really replaced the Jade Emperor and established his rule in heaven, if Zhang Mazi really replaced Huang Silang and established his rule in Goose City, would it be more conducive to protecting the freedom of others? I think their answer must be no. Therefore, the best hero is a negative hero, who defeats the evil forces and goes home, rather than using the momentum of victory to create a new order.

So, let's just watch this movie for fun.

However, after so many years, this Hollywood approach is still popular, and this is something that is really worth thinking about!

The theme of this movie: Never, ever, ever mess with a villain who is worse than you. Don't let the villain out, he will make you live a life worse than death. The motivating event of the story is Mao Lian. The protagonist has actually been forbearing for many years. It was just an accidental encounter when he met him on the bus, but that's life. Even if he is a gangster, don't mess with him. This is the interesting part of the movie. He has been holding back for a long time, just waiting to be released. Think about it, the movie is really good, it allows you to completely relax for two hours, and your brain will savor it, unlike cigarettes and liquor, which make people cheap for a lifetime.

Hutch Mansell: All right, guys, it's over. I know your boss sent you here, but you need to learn when to say no. A long time ago, there was a guy named Allen... Aaron, no, Allen. Allen swindled $3 million from the U.S. Army base in Rivolto, Italy. His reward was me showing up behind him with a Walter PPK, no, wait, a .45 H&K USP with a silencer pointed at the back of his head. He started begging for mercy, like everyone else. Usually I would shoot before they pissed themselves, but this time I really listened. I heard a man who truly regretted his choices and whose only wish was to throw away the wolf skin, turn over a new leaf, and start a new life. I quietly let Allen go, and a year later, I went to check on him. I thought he would definitely go back to his old ways. Allen lived in Boise, Idaho. He was married, had two children, was pregnant with another, had a dog, and found a 9-to-5 job. There was no money to be made. And he was still smiling like a Buddha, the son of a bitch! I'm not a jealous person, but at that moment, I wanted Alan's life. So I told my bosses that I quit, and they were not happy. They didn't believe I could quit. I gave up everything I had, really gave up, and it turned out better than I thought. I may have overcorrected a little... Deep down, I always knew that this good life was just an illusion, but it lasted much longer than I expected.