Simon first learned about the Hollywood female director Kathryn Bigelow in 2010, after her film "The Hurt Locker" successfully won an Oscar.
Speaking of which, his first impression of Kathryn Bigelow was her appearance.
At the 2010 Oscars, despite being 58 years old, Kathryn Bigelow, tall and dressed in a long, flaxen silk gown, looked only 30 years old. Her figure and demeanour were enough to overshadow most of the actresses on the red carpet that year.
But in reality, Kathryn Bigelow was born in 1951. Even now, in 1986, she is already 35 years old.
Simon could only lament that there truly is no shortage of enchantresses in this world who can resist the erosion of time.
Then there were her works.
After the Oscars that year, Simon specifically watched several of Kathryn Bigelow's films.
To be fair, most of the films directed by Kathryn Bigelow could only be described as average, but the raw, chiselled quality in her works, left a deep impression. This woman seemed to be using all her masculine cinematic language to tell the audience on screen, 'What men can do, I can do. What men cannot do, I can still do.'
Simon even felt that the gender assertiveness Kathryn Bigelow displayed through her works already carried a hint of obsession.
The bus started moving again, heading south along California's Highway 1.
After a slight gesture earlier, Kathryn Bigelow had focused all her attention on the manuscript in front of her. Simon curiously glanced at it and, judging by the text format on the paper, determined that the woman was holding a script. Even having deduced this, he sat quietly and didn't disturb her.
More than an hour passed like this, until Kathryn finished the last page of the manuscript. Simon then appropriately asked, "Is that a script?"
A woman's intuition is always keen. While reading the script, Kathryn had felt the young man beside her occasionally glance at her. As a beautiful woman, she was never short of people trying to strike up a conversation, and she was already accustomed to such things.
However, the other party hadn't disturbed her for over an hour, only speaking after she finished the script. This inexplicably made Kathryn feel a little more favourably towards him, so she smiled and nodded at Simon, saying, "Yes."
Although she responded, Kathryn didn't have much desire to converse further with Simon.
Although this young man had a handsome face with sharp features and a more mature demeanour than his peers, he was clearly just a big boy under twenty. If her friends knew she had been approached by such a boy, they would surely laugh themselves to death.
Just as she was about to turn her gaze to the window to subtly signal her refusal, Kathryn heard the young man beside her continue, "Actually, I also have a script. How about we exchange and read them to pass the time? It'll still be several hours until we reach Los Angeles."
As he spoke, Simon deftly stood up, took his backpack from the overhead luggage rack, and pulled out one of the two manuscripts, showing it to Kathryn.
Kathryn was a little surprised that Simon casually produced a script, but she still categorized his action as an attempt to flirt. She was about to explicitly refuse, but she glanced at the title of the script in Simon's hand and couldn't help but feel a little curious, instinctively asking, "'The Butterfly Effect,' what does that mean?"
"This is a hypothetical scenario but forward by Edward Lorenz, a meteorology professor at MIT, to illustrate his theory," Simon said, handing the script to Kathryn. He continued, "Professor Lorenz hypothesized that a butterfly in the Amazon basin in South America flapping its wings, could cause minor changes to the surrounding airflow, these minor change continuously spread, causing a series of chain reactions ultimately leading to the formation of a terrifying tornado in Texas."
Kathryn listened intently to Simon's explanation and couldn't help but shake her head: "A butterfly flapping its wings causing a tornado? How is that possible?"
Simon said, "Professor Lorenz uses this to describe the huge impact a tiny variable can have on an entire system. And, I actually think it's very possible, we just can't prove it."
Kathryn hummed softly, not arguing with Simon; she wasn't someone who liked to argue. Realizing she had unconsciously taken the script titled "The Butterfly Effect," she curiously opened it.
Then, feeling the young man beside her still looking at her, she remembered what he had just said.
After a moment of hesitation, she handed over her own script.
Anyway, as he said, it was just to pass the time.
She opened the script in her hand and scanned it, realizing something. She then skipped a few pages and finally confirmed it.
It turned out that, including the title on the cover, the entire script was handwritten in neat, print-like English script. This made her look again at the young man beside her, who had already shifted his attention to her own script.
In this era, typewriters were already a very common office tool. A young person willing to patiently handwrite a script of over a hundred pages, and with such beautiful handwriting, was very rare.
Simon was unaware of Kathryn's thoughts. In reality, handwriting the script was simply his only option; living in a mental hospital, even if the doctors allowed him to have a typewriter, he couldn't afford to buy one.
Opening Kathryn's script on his lap, Simon now recognized it as what should be Kathryn's first theatrical feature film, "Near Dark." He had seen a synopsis of the film when he looked up Kathryn's information out of curiosity after "The Hurt Locker" won an award, but he hadn't taken the time to watch the movie.
As he read further, Simon quickly grasped the general outline of the story in his hand.
Caleb, a farm youth from Oklahoma, meets a girl named Mae and falls in love at first sight. However, Mae is actually a vampire, and in a moment of impulse, she turns Caleb into a vampire as well.
Caleb is then abducted by Mae's vampire companions and forced to wander the world.
Although he gains immortality, after several twists and turns, Caleb discovers that this is not the life he wants, and so he wishes to break away from the vampires. At the same time, Caleb's father and sister, after his disappearance, embark on an arduous journey to find their loved one.
On Kathyrn's side, after an unknown amount of time, having finished the last page of the script, she looked up and found Simon still leisurely turning the pages of her script. A small impulse to snatch the script from his hand suddenly arose within her.
Although she didn't particularly like the overly pessimistic and dark tone of "The Butterfly Effect," after reading the entire story, Kathryn had to admit that "The Butterfly Effect," with its ingenious and novel concept and tightly interwoven plot, was far superior to "Near Dark."
Ultimately, "Near Dark" was merely a simple romance film wrapped in a vampire guise, and it even had some plot holes that she herself couldn't resolve.
Quietly waiting for Simon to finish the script, Kathryn involuntarily asked in a tone of inquiry that she herself didn't even realize, "What do you think?"
Simon thought for a moment and said, "I really like the scene where Caleb kneels before Mae and sucks blood from her wrist. It carries a sense of immorality that transcends ethics. This inspiration must have come from the phenomenon of lambs suckling, and when filmed, it will surely be very touching."
Kathryn hadn't expected Simon to express his feelings based on a specific point in the script. Although the "Near Dark" script wasn't entirely written by her, the scene Simon described at that moment was precisely from her own hand.
Many moviegoers would over-deconstruct films after watching them, completely exceeding the director's intentions, but Simon's understanding at this moment perfectly aligned with her own thoughts. She came from an art background, so she habitually added some symbolic shots to her scripts.
"So," Kathryn hesitated for a moment, then asked directly, "Do you think there's anything that can be improved in this script?"
Hearing the woman's question, Simon was a little surprised, but he quickly said, "Perhaps, the farm could be changed to a ranch. I see a lot of farm scenes in the script, but no matter what state a farm is in, it's definitely not as visually appealing as a ranch covered in green pastures."
Kathryn thought about it, nodded, and then asked, "What about the final plot, where Caleb and Mae turn back into humans? Do you think there's a better way to handle that?"
In the "Near Dark" script, the male and female protagonists revert to humans by transfusing human blood, a setting that is indeed very far-fetched.
However, Simon shook his head and said, "You must have revised the script many times, right? If it could be changed, I certainly wouldn't be seeing this plot now. It really can't be changed, otherwise the entire latter half of the script would need to be overturned, and that would definitely be a different story."
Kathryn nodded, understanding that Simon was speaking the truth, but her expression still held some disappointment.
Simon looked at the woman's expression and said, "Actually, there's one more place that could be adjusted."
Kathryn looked over again: "Hmm?"
"The male lead's name," Simon said with a slight smile, "Do you know? The name Caleb comes from Hebrew and actually means 'fierce dog.' This name is too rustic; it's best to change it."
Kathryn understood from Simon's smile that he was joking, and she smiled back, teasing, "You even know Hebrew."
"Yes, quite fluently. So, I'll definitely do very well in Hollywood in the future."
In fact, due to inheriting the memories of twelve other people, Simon at this time not only knew Hebrew, but also more proficient English and Chinese, as well as German, French, and Spanish. This almost covered the world's major languages. So, even if he were to work as a translator now, he would definitely be among the top.
Listening to Simon's tone, Kathryn felt a slight urge to roll her eyes. She also felt that this young man was trying to change the subject and didn't want to comment too much on her script. Perhaps, compared to his "The Butterfly Effect," "Near Dark" really had nothing to say.
It wasn't that Simon was unwilling to offer Kathryn more advice; he was well aware of the strengths and weaknesses in Kathryn's series of works.
The key was that they were still at a 'chance encounter' level of closeness. Should he advise her to rein in the violent, gender-blurring tendencies in her works and encourage her to display the delicate side inherent to women, or something similar?
How would he explain knowing that a beautiful woman like her would make films that weren't delicate enough?
Guessing?
Saying too much would make him look crazy.
However, Kathryn wasn't someone who forced things, so she followed Simon's recent topic, with a hint of casual conversation, and asked, "Then what do you think Caleb's name should be changed to to sound good?"
"How about Simon?"
Kathryn was a little puzzled: "Simon, is there anything special about that name?"
Simon extended a hand to the woman and smiled, "Simon Westeros, madam, may I know your name?"
Kathryn immediately understood that it was his name.
"My name is Kathryn Bigelow," she said, gently shaking his hand. Kathryn also smiled and introduced herself, then curiously asked, "Westeros, a very rare surname. You speak Hebrew, so is it a Jewish surname?"
"No," Simon shook his head and said, "That's my surname."
Westeros is an original word created by George R.R. Martin, and this word should have appeared ten years later. So, Simon is undoubtedly the only 'Westeros' in this world right now.
Kathryn could feel a faint sense of superiority implied in Simon's words, but she didn't feel any aversion.
He could create a script like "The Butterfly Effect," casually discuss the theories of an MIT professor, and master a niche language like Hebrew. It was only natural for such an outstanding young man to be a little proud.