Film Name:银河写手/Galaxy Writer
《Galaxy Writer》 gives me a heartbreakingly realistic look at what it’s like to be a labourer, and not just for them, but for myself, in an extremely relevant and realistic presentation.
In the film, two unnamed screenwriters, as the lowest level of literal workers in an unproven film, come to Beijing with a dream to take their original work and grind it out with capital. Repeatedly asked to revise the script, it seems that anyone can give different revisions. Changed over and over again, changed to do not know the change of seasons, changed to the finger stiffness …… At this point, they are still the author of the text? They have become slaves to money. In the end, the edges are smoothed out and they become a tool man.
In the end, the two men buried the script they wrote with their own hands in the woods. Beijing is a place where many people come with their dreams and want to realise them, and it is also a place where many people bury their dreams.
Who hasn’t come to Beijing with a dream? Who doesn’t want to realise themselves here? Who does not want to gain more recognition and love?
After all, in order to survive, in order to the so-called higher requirements, the majority of requirements, the demand for maximum benefit, not many people will be like Jiang Wen, “standing to make money. All people, such as the main character, such as me, have to compromise over and over again, compromise to be able to comply with the value system of capital.
In a country as populous as China, labour has never been a scarce resource. We are asked to keep learning, to go deeper in our profession and learn more outside of it, and not to advance or fall back. Being chased and pushed in this way, everyone goes into roll mode, tired and unable to stop, lying down and unable to lie down.
How far has the alienation of human beings gone? We enter the social machine and want to survive, can we only become a screw and be an emotionless part? The funny thing is that it has come to a strange time, it is for people to be as precise as machines, and for machines to be able to be as creative as people.
Whether it’s writing work, or design work, or even programming, if it’s work, there’s bound to be more than one superior to give revisions. If I have the consciousness of a labourer, to complete the work itself as the purpose, then do things, get paid is part of the job. Do the job, do it well, do it satisfactorily, get your own share of the salary, have seniority, and then go on to bigger projects, earn more money, and reach self-fulfilment.
The logic of “become, then change” makes sense, except that most people probably lose their original selves in the course of the day.
When I enter this so-called work system, the social functioning of the individual will be less valued, more obedience. Obedience to the needs of the Party A, user needs, traffic needs, leadership needs …… The content of the work is quantified by the number, completed in the specified time, to achieve the number of views, the number of fans, the activity ……
For work, I learnt my lesson, no longer to do my best to explore the best solution, but as long as the leadership is satisfied, the customer is satisfied, the more detailed the needs given, the better, you are satisfied.
So, I have those shiny things, gradually become dull, those stubborn insist gradually replaced by a helpless smile, those who try to fight for the words into two words “received”.
The days passed like running water, twelve years in Beijing, as if a snap of the fingers.
Some people may say that I can use 8-10 hours of unhappy working time to exchange for the joy of the remaining time. Well, that’s what I thought at the beginning, it’s worth it to exchange the money I earn from my job for the joy of the rest of the time. Other time joys such as eating and drinking, travelling to the mountains, photography and reading, watching movies and dramas, working out and running …… Gradually the appeal of all these is waning. So I suddenly reflected, if I can’t derive pleasure from these times outside of work, then why should I suffer the unhappiness that comes with work?
Would it be better to change jobs? Tried that too, odds are one is not as good as the other. The most common thing that friends around me say is that they ride the donkey and look for the horse. As I get older, the horse doesn’t even look at me anymore. I seem to be able to foresee that when there is no income for 3 months, I may see a donkey and already feel clear, and by 6 months, I guess I don’t care what kind of breed it is, as long as it has four legs, I will want to ride it first.
I see my friends around me and it seems that as long as they are working, there are very few happy ones. It’s so hard to find a job that you like and that brings value and affirmation.
Maybe, I’m still naive, I don’t want my job to be just a money-making tool that consumes my energy and emotions, I still want to have some self-existence and self-worth. I don’t want to use my favourite and passionate way of expression to write set expressions and fake and empty instructions. When self-expression and the expression of the demands of work create a contradiction, and one’s own value at work is not reflected and recognised, one feels empty.
At one point, I even felt disgusted with the words I had been using, and even wanted to change my job type, as long as I didn’t touch copywriting, editing, or topic selection. I even had an aversion to cash, traffic, personal account operations, powder, and other clearly directed purposes. I’d like to dissolve the purpose of doing something just because I like it.
The main character of the film seems to have not given up on screenwriting even though he is leaving Beijing. The film doesn’t give an answer as to what his fate will be. But I am at a crossroads of choices: stay and continue to work; go to another city and work; or go back to my hometown and live as an unemployed person counting my savings?
The subtitles at the end of the film were very healing:
“You may be being polished by life, but sometimes it’s a growth when the character doesn’t grow. Just be yourself.”
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