我们上次来好莱坞环球影城，儿子才两三岁，除了看热闹玩水爬上爬下，没有办法让他明白其中的奥妙。现在孩子八岁了，除了亲身经历各种景点的好玩和刺激以外，我觉得最后坐游览车参观电影拍摄场景给了他很大的震动。这个年纪的孩子，对真假是非处在半明半白的阶段，看到电影里熟悉的动漫人物向他走来，已经知道不是真人，可等这些人物开口说话问好，他又有那种受宠若惊的欣喜和快乐。虽然我们有免排票，我是特意把坐游览车一项留到最后的，希望儿子可更好地明白电影场景和现实的关系及不同。
一场游览车走下来，四十多分钟的时间里我们经历了瓢泼大雨，淹屋洪水，当百年罕见的大地震发生的时候，我们被卡在了纽约的地铁中, 几乎被塌陷的地面和起火的巴士撞毁！好不容易冲出险阻，又遇上两伙恐龙夹击，血肉横飞，是无畏善良的大猩猩金刚把我们救了出来，当我们看见刚刚错过的班机失事撞毁的连环惨相，我们真是觉得老天保佑！绝处逢生之后我们终于来到一个宁静美丽的小镇，这时的儿子已经通过车内电影片段的插播，导游的解说，现实场景的体验，进入了“入迷”的状态，不停地问我他长大后能不能做电影工作人员（不是演员），我说当然可以，洛杉矶是世界电影之都所在，要是真想学拍电影，你有天时地利，妈妈当然全力支持你！孩子听了欣喜若狂，好象第二天理想就可以实现似的！
话又说回来，很多好莱坞的成功演员和剧作人员却又来自美国中西部的一些小城镇，也许那里没有大都市的繁华诱惑，家庭观念和价值观纯正，孩子很小就过着俭朴努力的生活，这样的孩子长大，怀着作演员作编剧成名的梦想，或者抱着一卷辛苦写成的剧本，就这样赤手空拳来洛杉矶闯荡。闯出来的没闯出来的，心里手里脑海里都有一本厚厚的沉沉的奋斗史。这也就是咱们中国人说的“好男儿志在四方吧”！（这句话在以下的英文版里凑合着翻了，希望我读英文的朋友明白是什么意思。再说，中国人还说“物离乡贵，人离乡贱”，“人挪活，树挪死”......等等等等，只有咱们中国人才知道在什么情况下用哪句话劝人！）。
儿子，等你长大了，有志就行了，做一个有用快乐的人就行了，至于是不是走四方，是不是拍电影，我们再看吧！
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!!
