Chapter 94: Competitors

"Lieutenant Colonel, about the ending of the script..."

Closing the script Lieutenant Colonel Lenho had handed him, Duke stood up, raising his voice for emphasis. "The one to destroy the alien ship's weapon must be a civilian, not the president or someone from the military!"

"Why?"

The two had worked together once before, and the Pentagon representative was waiting for Duke to explain.

What was the biggest reason? Naturally, audiences loved seeing a nobody save the world. Mainstream American culture still carried distinctly anti-intellectual and anti-elitist traits, and playing to that mindset would make viewers eagerly open their wallets at the box office.

An ordinary person saving the world while the higher-ups acted like complete fools—this viewpoint was vigorously promoted in Hollywood films. But the studios didn't do this because they actually endorsed anti-intellectualism and anti-elitism; they did it because it generated commercial profit.

The most typical example was the Hollywood high school movie, where over ninety-five percent of the time, the football team's quarterback was the villain. Films always portrayed them as simple-minded, muscle-bound idiots. But in reality?

A quarterback was the core of a football team and usually its leader. Not only did they direct the offense on the field, but they could also change the coach's strategy on the fly. Most of them were physically strong, clear-headed, and quick-witted, possessing extremely sharp judgment and the resolve to execute plays. They were often the most popular guys on campus, true elites in every sense of the word.

Yet within this anti-intellectual and anti-elitist culture, they became the most frequently mocked targets in movies, just like the senators in Congress and the successive occupants of the White House.

When it was impossible to elevate those simple-minded North American audiences to a level where they agreed with his own views, a commercial film director had to proactively lower his stance to cater to mainstream tastes.

Duke understood these principles well, but he couldn't use them to persuade the Pentagon.

And so, he began to spout nonsense again. "Lieutenant Colonel, America is a democratic country, and every person is an important part of this free nation. When the country is in peril, the people will inevitably risk their lives to save it. In the script, our military, the Pentagon, and the president have far too many moments displaying their heroism. In the end, having a civilian fly a plane to ram into the alien spacecraft perfectly demonstrates that in times of crisis, the people and the Federal Government will stand together, united as one!"

"What you say does make some sense."

Channelling his inner Soviet political commissar had actually yielded some results. Lieutenant Colonel Lenho shifted to another sensitive topic. "Duke, the Pentagon is very satisfied with the film's tone and the military fighting spirit it promotes."

Of course they were satisfied. If the Pentagon were still nitpicking the tone of a mainstream film featuring such Great Americanism, their brains must have collectively rusted solid.

Just as Duke was silently mocking them, Lieutenant Colonel Lenho continued, "But the Pentagon hopes you can completely remove all content regarding Area 51."

"Lieutenant Colonel, this is just a gimmick to attract the audience." Duke spread his hands. "We have no intention of promoting conspiracy theories whatsoever. We just want to use it to draw in more viewers."

"This isn't my idea, Duke." Lieutenant Colonel Lenho stood up and paced back and forth. "My superiors are a bit sensitive to this type of content."

Sensitive? Duke was taken aback. 'Is there really an Area 51?' he thought.

"The Roswell incident and Area 51 have been rumored for years. The public knows they are fake."

Whether they were real or fake didn't matter to Duke at all; he couldn't care less. "If we had mastered alien technology, wouldn't we have dominated the globe long ago? This is merely a promotional gimmick for the film to get more audiences into theaters."

Lieutenant Colonel Lenho stopped pacing and said nothing, wearing a thoughtful expression.

"In my view, having more audiences enter theaters will bring far more benefits to the Pentagon than disadvantages."

To persuade the Pentagon and save tens of millions of dollars in equipment rental fees so he could pour more money into special effects, Duke truly racked his brains. "Lieutenant Colonel, as far as I know, since the Iraq War, the military enlistment rate has been declining. Over the past two years, it has even hit a historic low. You once told me that The Rock could become a military recruitment commercial, but in reality, it wasn't."

He paused briefly, and when Lieutenant Colonel Lenho turned to look at him, Duke switched to a much more forceful tone. "You've read the script for Independence Day, Lieutenant Colonel! This will be the best possible military recruitment commercial. Remember the enlistment surge after Top Gun hit theaters? An outstanding film that promotes the military is ten, if not a hundred times more effective than the recruitment ads the Department of Defense places across major media outlets!"

Top Gun from the 1980s had brought about a tremendously powerful recruitment effect. After the release of the film—jokingly referred to as an "extra-long music video for the F-14"—teenagers swarmed to watch it. The skyrocketing box office was accompanied by the highest enlistment rate the US Navy had seen since World War II.

Since Top Gun, Hollywood had not shot a highly influential recruitment propaganda film in many years, whereas Independence Day possessed the distinct characteristics of a recruitment commercial.

Duke himself didn't care about these things. His relationship with the Pentagon was purely one of mutual benefit. Now that he had established a foothold in Hollywood, he had to consider issues from his current position: what course of action would be most advantageous for him?

In the near future, from the pyramids of Cairo to the skyscrapers of Chicago, from the ruined walls of Los Angeles to the boundless expanse of the Pacific Ocean, and from the highways of Paris to the sand-swept military bases of the Middle East, the world on Hollywood screens would endure wave after wave of unprecedented alien invasions.

When Earth, this shared homeland, was on the brink of destruction, there would always be a group of "heroes" stepping forward. Charging into the battlefield with flesh and blood, they would save the crumbling world, ultimately thwarting the schemes of the alien thugs. They would defend Earth, save the people of the world, and upon achieving their great triumph, return to their military camps surrounded by flowers and applause, hiding their merits and fame.

The "heroic feats" of these American soldiers on the silver screen would fill global audiences with "deep reverence" and leave hot-blooded young men "fascinated and longing." Unwittingly, this batch of films would essentially become recruitment commercials for the US Military.

In truth, the US Military providing the stage while Hollywood put on the show was hardly news. As early as the birth of cinema nearly a century ago, the two sides maintained a close relationship. It was just that back then, the military cooperated with film crews for educational purposes—the films could be used as teaching materials in military academies.

Precisely because of this, the American military during World War II was able to directly participate in the production and promotion of recruitment films. Directors like Frank Capra had previously shot high-quality recruitment features. However, much like the hawkish film star John Wayne, who advocated for the Vietnam War and shot The Green Berets in the 1960s to sing the praises of the US Military, those were all just an epiphyllum blooming for a brief moment during "extraordinary times."

The "recruitment films" in today's sense referred to a wave of high-budget commercial movies dedicated to shaping a positive image of the US Military, which emerged after films reflecting on the Vietnam War died down. Beginning with the widely popular Top Gun in the 1980s, although the results were good, they also faced considerable criticism because their advertising characteristics were far too obvious.

However, both now and in the future, as cinematic narrative techniques and visual language were revamped, the image of the American soldier on the screen grew increasingly tall and heroic. The comprehensive strength of the US Military was also showcased ever more vividly. The recruitment effects naturally rose with the tide, and the sponsorship quotas offered by the Pentagon skyrocketed.

At the same time, experienced screenwriters better understood how to weave advertising elements into the plot without leaving a trace, thereby greatly reducing audience sensitivity. Today's Independence Day, much like the future Transformers, fully possessed these traits. Furthermore, if the film was completed according to Duke's vision, one would find the advertising intent far less blatant than Top Gun back in the day.

From a commercial perspective, the cooperation between the production crew and the Pentagon was a win-win deal that only a fool would refuse.

Since the smoke of the Vietnam War cleared and America transitioned from conscription to an all-volunteer force, the military had to spend massive sums every year shooting recruitment ads. But even the best ad was not as provocative as a well-produced commercial blockbuster. Moreover, movies held a massive advantage over ads: their public relations and propaganda elements were concealed within a complete story. This allowed audiences, through sensory bombardment and psychological adventures shared with the characters, to become subtly intoxicated by the experience, bypassing their natural resistance to commercials.

Shifting to Duke's perspective, this "mainstream" sci-fi war action blockbuster he was producing possessed commercial traits such as a protagonist with both bravery and intellect, a passionately thrilling plot, and magnificent, sweeping battle scenes. The positive appeal it generated perfectly aligned with the needs of a recruitment commercial. Naturally, he could obtain props and technical support from the military, exchanging lower production costs for higher profit margins. Why wouldn't he do it?

Of course, Duke himself wasn't an idiot. Even though he had channeled a former Soviet political commissar and rambled on at such length, Lieutenant Colonel Lenho hadn't made any promises. He didn't have the authority to do so anyway. He merely guaranteed that he would relay Duke's intentions verbatim back to the Pentagon and appropriately help the crew fight for the possibility of sponsorship.

"Who said the Pentagon is full of idiots and morons? That their money is easy to swindle?"

After seeing Lieutenant Colonel Lenho off, Duke grumbled to himself. If the Pentagon were truly as naive as depicted in movies or on the internet in his past life, he wouldn't have had to waste so much breath. Perhaps he wouldn't have even had the chance to do so.

Over the following few days, Duke reviewed the thick stack of drafts drawn by the art and special effects teams. The appearance of the aliens and their spacecraft was finalized. The blueprints were transferred to the special effects department at Industrial Light and Magic, and model production, overseen by Stan Winston, officially kicked off.

During the past week, Duke had mainly focused on the models. Aside from the alien models, they also needed to finalize the models for the cities and North America's iconic buildings. All explosion scenes would exclusively use practical effects. Meanwhile, the shots that required CG compositing also entered the pre-production stage. A computer special effects department from Industrial Light and Magic, much like the model effects crew, had stationed themselves with the production team at Warner Studios, maintaining constant communication with Duke.

In addition, the actor auditions had advanced to the second round, so Duke had to divide his attention to select the main cast.