When I Opened My Eyes I Was a Superstar

# 216

Hero (4)

Team leader Lee Dae-hyung felt his hands sweating at Martin’s sharp expression.

If there were no major problems, in fact, even if there were some problems, appearing in ‘Heroes’ was unconditionally beneficial to Do-wook.

It was a separate issue for KK to be a world-renowned idol group and for Dowook to become a truly world-class actor.

Team leader Lee Dae-hyung looked at Martin’s expression.

Martin was an old man and a master. Although he may seem like an ordinary old man in passing, the world he created called ‘Heroes’ was not an easy one.

Of course, Team Leader Lee Dae-hyung also had some parts that bothered him, but it was very difficult to express them without adding or subtracting them in front of Martin, the creator.

It was because I couldn’t mess things up for no reason.

“There are several reasons…”

“Which one is it?”

When I heard that there was not just one, but how many, Sarah quickly asked.

“The story is that David’s mother works as a cashier at a Korean town supermarket and his father works as a cleaning worker at the university David attends. “I came to the United States for the education of my only son.”

“that’s right. Even Americans know well that Koreans have a tremendous passion for education. Thanks to this, there are many Koreans in leading universities such as the Ivy League. The parents’ spirit of sacrifice for him is also extraordinary…. Martin was also deeply moved by the story of Mr. Choi, a professional golfer, about his father. “They say he worked as a manager while starving for Choi.”

In response to Dowook’s words, Sarah explained the background to the setting.

“yes. David’s family story is quite understandable… In order not to fail his parents’ sacrifices and expectations, David becomes a person who does nothing but study. “He comes to a foreign country and only studies. He has no freedom of mind and is oppressed, so he is an introverted and passive person.”

Martin nodded.

Dowook’s interpretation of the character was accurate.

And the character David portrayed by Martin was also convincing from the background to the present. Considering that the heroes of ‘Heroes’ have their own human agony, the setting given to the character of the first Korean-American immigrant child was quite persuasive.

But that was the problem.

‘What Americans think of Koreans… is very much the same.’

Although it seemed like he had put some thought and research into it, in the end, the image of Asians that Westerners had was inevitably embedded in it. The part about meeting Billion Man, receiving the latest Real Man mask, and growing up while working as a hero could actually be interpreted from a Western perspective.

‘You can’t be thankful just because it doesn’t remind you of Koreans during the Korean War.’

Do-wook continued speaking while thinking.

“Of course, other heroes also have flaws and struggles. However, I have an introverted and passive personality… a study bug… I think this only fixes the preconceived notions about Koreans or the negative image of reality.”

Martin’s expression was dark.

“If such an ordinary, universal character becomes a hero and changes, wouldn’t that be meaningful?”

Sarah countered.

“of course. However, I am not happy with the idea that introverted and passive characters are the common characters in Korea. Even if you become a hero, that will ultimately be your true personality.”

Dowook said with a serious expression. Sarah fell silent, thinking she had made a mistake.

“Actually, I may be hoping for too much in this regard. But…”

“Keep talking.”

Martin said to Dowook, who looked cautious as he looked at Martin’s expression.

“More than anything… the reason I can’t play this character is because of the changes in David’s body.”

A man several generations older than David, probably his great-grandfather, lived on the Korean Peninsula and lived during the Japanese colonial period. And he was a person who was mobilized for Japanese medical experiments. Although he was released safely without any problems at the time, it was established that genetic modification had occurred in the body of Do-wook, the third generation.

Team leader Lee Dae-hyung nodded.

This part was also difficult for team leader Lee Dae-hyung to understand. However, since it wasn’t explained in detail and was treated as a single line of dialogue, I wondered if I should skip it.

During the Japanese colonial period, Japan committed many atrocities. The Maruta experiment was one of them.

However, the Maruta experiment was simply summarized in one line as a ‘Japanese medical experiment’ for technological advancement.

If used well, it could have been an expose on the fact that human experiments were even conducted during the Japanese colonial period, but the focus was not on such anti-humanity aspects.

Rather, Do-wook’s amazing abilities originated from Japanese experiments, which, like colonial history, ultimately helped him become a hero with amazing abilities.

It was a critical issue at stake in the history of East Asia. If it was not going to be properly illuminated by summarizing it in one line, it was right to leave no room for interpretation.

Martin and Sarah remained silent for a long time as Do-wook clearly talked about the parts that could be problematic.

“This is a very sensitive issue.”

Team leader Lee Dae-hyung added with difficulty in a heavy atmosphere.

I hoped that they would understand why Do-wook had no choice but to take such a strong stance.

Of course, Martin and other screenwriters wrote the scenario with the historical background of Korea and Japan in mind.

But to them, it was just ‘material’.

Because of that, many things were overlooked.

Although these were things that I thought about and set in depth, they were only ‘concerns as material’ for the work.

Heroes was also a field where experts in each field demonstrated their expertise to the maximum. It was no different for such experts to make this mistake when they said they would cast Do-wook, who is Korean.

It was because I thought it was too easy.

Without realizing it, they thought, ‘This will be enough.’ I had this thought.

They make Asians the heroes and cast Koreans. That alone was already a change that broke a certain mold. I thought it was meaningful enough as a movie.

The movie ‘Heroes 2’ would gain significance for its existence with more free-spirited and progressive content than the original.

The clumsiness that was uncharacteristic of the ‘Heroes’ production team was fully reflected in the script.

Dowook felt that he could no longer do this work at that point.

It was easy to say that it was wrong if it was discriminatory content without any consideration at all. Then, that’s when the worries begin.

However, in this script, there were parts that I ‘worried about in my own way’ and I thought that it would be difficult for the other person to understand what the problem was.

Since this script would be the result of all my worries, I felt that it would be unreasonable to ask for changes to the script.

“Hmm… I see.”

It was a short period of silence, but it felt like a long time.

After a long silence, Martin spoke.

‘Is this the end of rejection?…’

Team leader Lee Dae-hyung swallowed his saliva in disappointment. At that time, my eyes met Sarah. However, Sarah, who had had a bad expression before, had a smile on her face.

‘what?’

It was when Team Leader Lee Dae-hyung had a moment of doubt.

Dowook was facing Martin so he couldn’t see Sara’s expression. Martin’s expression was very solemn. It was definitely a different feeling from when I saw Dowook at the casino.

“…That won’t work.”

Martin said.

Dowook did not regret his choice.

He thought it would be a bigger mistake to contribute to the world’s misconceptions about Korea and Asians.

However, through his own words, he hoped that Martin and the production team of ‘Heroes’ would lead the first Asian character in more depth and detail.

“I am truly grateful for this opportunity. Heroes is a movie that has a greater impact on the world than any other movie. Young people, in particular, develop their own dreams by watching Heroes. “It would really mean a lot if the Real Man character was completed and joined Heroes.”

Dowook said with a light smile.

However, because he was sincerely hoping for such a thing, his eyes were serious.

After creating ‘Heroes’, Do-wook was talking about what Martin thought about the most, the greatest joy and burden, and the driving force behind producing ‘Heroes’ for a long time.

Martin thought as he looked into the black eyes that seemed like they would be sucked in. His eyes were not wrong. Although it may have been Do-wook who caught the pickpocket, it was he who discovered ‘the real man’ called Do-wook.

“i know. Don’t know. So this script…”

Martin said, his expression softening.

“That won’t work. “As it is.”

“……yes?”

Dowook looked at Martin with a puzzled expression. Sarah smiled as if she knew that would happen.

In fact, when setting up the character, questions were raised just once about whether it was already too old-fashioned or whether it contained only preconceptions about Koreans and whether there were no elements that could break the preconceptions.

That was even by Martin. The Korean that Martin met, Do-wook, was by no means introverted, timid, or passive.

However, there was an image that the majority thought of, and following the image was an easy way to gain sympathy from many people.

There is only an image of Koreans that the majority think of, and the concern about what the majority of Koreans are actually like is ‘because they are going to become heroes anyway.’ It was true that I didn’t think about it any more.

Since he is not yet the main hero of ‘Heroes’, it is true that there was little time devoted to him.

In any case, Do-wook saw right through the fact that he was trying to go so easily.

I hadn’t even thought about the Japanese experiment, to the point where I thought I might have to apologize to Do-wook. It was a failure to properly understand the pain of the Japanese colonial period.

“The Real Man character will be completely revised.”

“That’s…”

“Do-wook is a real man who needs to be completed anyway. There’s no way other Koreans would want a real man who Do-wook doesn’t want. I am a person who does commercial comics and commercial films. “This amount of modification is nothing in order to allow a wider audience to see it.”

Martin said firmly. Do-wook, who had guessed that he would be a very stubborn type as a master, had to admit that this was also his prejudice.

As a commercial writer, Martin was always ready to accept the opinions of others.

Because of that, we were able to build the world of ‘Heroes’ by transforming the work to keep up with the times.

“Still a no? Was the revised script so messed up that you didn’t want to receive it?”

“Oh no! “It’s just Mr. Martin’s work…”

“Can you reject it by criticizing its mistakes so harshly?”

When Martin said something half-jokingly, Dowook could only laugh.

“thank you. For speaking honestly. “It’s a commercial movie focused on entertainment anyway, so not everyone has high expectations, but I still thought it would be good if it had some depth.”

Dowook nodded at Martin’s sincere words.

After a long meeting with Martin, Do-wook and team leader Dae-hyung Lee left Martin’s mansion after spending dinner together.

Sarah saw the two off.

“How did you know?”

Team leader Daehyung Lee asked Sara.

“Martin will accept Do-wook’s words…”

Sarah looked at Team Leader Lee Dae-hyung as if asking what he meant, then smiled as if she understood. This was because the embarrassed expression on Team Leader Daehyung Lee’s completely incomprehensible expression when Sara smiled earlier left quite an impression on Sara’s memory.

“Martin never responds by saying, ‘I see,’ to opinions he doesn’t approve of. Because there are many people who distort and understand even the shortest words they say… But in Do-wook’s words, in the end, ‘I see.’ “You said it.”

“Oh, I see.”

“yes. okay.”

Team leader Lee Dae-hyung and Sara looked at each other and smiled.

There was a long discussion, including connecting the director of the ‘Heroes’ film team via video call, but it was fortunate that the work was completed well.

Do-wook and team leader Lee Dae-hyung could not hide their expectations about how the revised script would turn out and how Do-wook’s ‘Real Man’ would ultimately turn out.

***

3 months later.

General Comics Studio in the United States.

Dowook entered the huge studio for his first filming.

It was also Dowook’s first appearance scene.

It was a character that Dowook studied for quite a long time, going through various script revisions. Dowook was confident that he could play David, who was now a completely new character from the first draft, and the real man well.

It was like that until I arrived at the studio.