The filming of "a few good men" went very smoothly. Jack Nicholson soon finished all his scenes and left the crew. Although Hugo and Jack's relationship couldn't be called close—they were just ordinary friends—Hugo learned a lot from Jack. It was truly a rare and valuable experience.Having made a breakthrough in his acting, Hugo felt quite at ease and comfortable when performing other scenes. Continuously verifying his insights through practice was the best way to hone his acting skills, and for Hugo, this period of time was truly exceptionally enjoyable.Entering April, almost the entire United States turned its attention to Los Angeles, because the Rodney King incident was about to be tried. After watching the complete video, the local court jury declared the four police officers not guilty. Just two hours later, raging fires ignited all over Los Angeles, black smoke filled the air, and gunshots rang out. Many people took advantage of the chaos to loot, rushing into stores to Rob them. At this moment, law and order completely collapsed. A quarter of the city was engulfed in flames, and the extent of the damage far exceeded the black urban riots of the sixties. Even more seriously, the riots showed signs of spreading. Signs of unrest appeared in major cities across the United States, forcing President George Bush to mobilize tens of thousands of federal troops and the California National Guard to enter Los Angeles to quell the riots.After the riots occurred, blame and insults were directed at the jury. The jurors were branded as Nazi racists. In the midst of the chaos and anger, no one was willing to listen to the jurors' true account of the incident. Because this year was an election year, President Bush was completely blinded by panic. As the head of the federal government's executive branch, he actually overstepped his authority, announcing that the federal government would re-prosecute the white police officers before the federal grand jury had even held hearings or made an indictment decision on the case.On one hand, Bush did not understand the cause and effect of the matter at all; he was also one of those misled by the media. On the other hand, in the context of an election year, the Rodney King incident had already become a political event. The worried federal government had to intervene, even demanding that the white police officers be convicted at all costs, which truly caused the situation to spiral completely out of control.This was the first time Hugo stood in the long river of history, feeling the weight of history. Previously, when watching movies that talked about how serious or exaggerated racial discrimination in the United States was, or how complex the culture and traditions of this immigrant country were, Hugo had no substantial feeling, because that was a world very far away from him, not just geographically, but also temporally.But now, Hugo was standing in the America of 1992. Although at the time of the Los Angeles riots, the entire "a few good men" crew had come to Washington D.C. on the East Coast for filming and fortunately was not affected, seeing the city where he had been living just a week ago turn into a sea of fire, the inner shock was still indescribable in words.Actually, the reasons why this Rodney King incident triggered the Los Angeles riots were very complex. The globalization of the U.S. economy led to massive unemployment among the black working class in major cities, causing them to lose basic living security. During the administration of former President Ronald Reagan, welfare programs were significantly cut, causing the gap between the rich and the poor to deteriorate severely. Black impoverished communities had long been neglected, and crime rates remained high. The judicial system was riddled with flaws, and police officers breaking the law and abusing power were extremely common.However, the most important reason was that the media, with its power to influence public opinion and create hype, did not hesitate to use edited footage to mislead the direction of facts for its own benefit, thereby controlling the outcome of the event before the court even opened. At this moment, the "uncrowned king" played the role of God's judge, and in a sense, single-handedly directed this unprecedented urban riot!Now, this incident was not over; one could even say it had just begun. Under the president's attention and stimulated by the election year, the Rodney King incident remained a fuse that could explode at any time. No one knew where the event would ultimately lead."Freedom of speech and a fair trial are two of the most precious things in our civilization; it is truly difficult to choose between the two." Hugo repeated this sentence in a low voice and then couldn't help but nod slightly in agreement. The many problems reflected in the Rodney King incident were a true portrayal of these two difficulties. Hugo raised his head and looked at Kevin Bacon beside him, "Who said this?""U.S. Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black, who has the same name as you." Kevin smiled, and then seeing a shy smile appear on Hugo's face, he couldn't help but pat Hugo on the shoulder, "I was just wondering if this might be one of the reasons why Rob chose you in the end."The reason Hugo brought up this Rodney King incident was not only because it was the hottest focus of the past week, but also because Hugo had been thinking about the case in the story of "a few good men." In Colonel Jessup's view, he made a series of decisions to protect the country, but from a legal standpoint, Daniel could not agree with the Colonel's point of view. But the problem was, the Colonel did not kill Santiago with his own hands, so Hugo felt that how to understand this case and how to analyze and debate the case required careful consideration.Just as Hugo and Kevin were chatting here, Joseph suddenly ran over, "Hugo, Uma is here to visit the set, you..."Hugo didn't react for a moment and looked over, seeing Joseph frowning slightly with a worried look on his face, "What? Who did you say?" Hugo didn't understand at all, so he had to ask again."I said, Uma is here to visit the set, and she is at the entrance of the film set now." Joseph repeated. He didn't know what the relationship between Hugo and Uma was like now. Previously, he had been pursuing her aggressively and then suddenly gave up, and then there was the kiss at the premiere of "the last analysis," and later the incident where Uma stayed overnight at Hugo's house was even more of a bizarre twist. Therefore, Joseph was not sure whether Hugo would welcome Uma's arrival.Hugo was stunned and subconsciously looked towards the entrance. Naturally, he couldn't see anything, but he saw the Staff Member looking at him with ambiguous expressions—this kind of teasing look wouldn't have appeared before, but now everyone seemed much more affectionate towards Hugo, as if they were saying "a beauty has come to visit," looking as if they were waiting to watch a good show.Hugo couldn't help but feel a bit of a headache. He didn't know what his relationship with Uma was considered to be now. After that night, the two hadn't been in touch, and he had gone straight into the "a few good men" crew and had been busy ever since. And now, Uma had actually come to visit the set directly. Hugo didn't know what was going on, but what could he do now? He could only go with the flow, "I'll go out and welcome her." A beauty had personally come to the film set in Washington, and if Hugo didn't go out to welcome her, that was not the behavior a gentleman should have.Hugo handed the bento in his hand to Joseph, then started walking towards the entrance of the film set, while his mind kept thinking about what the first sentence should be after they met."Hello?" This didn't seem right; or how about "Hey, long time no see," that seemed too casual; "I really didn't expect you to come to visit the set, you are so welcome," this... was too enthusiastic; "A beauty comes to visit the set, my honor," was this flirting?Various thoughts ran through his head, and before he knew it, he arrived at the entrance. Then Hugo saw the pretty and fresh Uma, and his footsteps couldn't help but stop. Today, Uma was wearing a simple white shirt and light blue jeans, paired with a pair of black flats. The plain and simple outfit, without any gorgeous embellishments, displayed the most moving and pure side of Uma's temperament.Uma also saw Hugo, a bright smile appeared on her face, she waved at Hugo, and then walked up with light steps, "I'm filming near Washington, and I heard you were here too, so I just happened to have some time to drop by and see you." Uma greeted him in a relaxed and comfortable way, as if the two were familiar friends. Her poised and generous performance made Hugo's nervousness seem somewhat redundant, "What, you wouldn't welcome me to visit the set just because you saw me come empty-handed, would you?"Hugo couldn't help but be amused, and said with a smile, "I was originally expecting at least some coffee."Uma shrugged and touched her flat jeans pocket, "After I get my paycheck, everything will be there.""Bread? Or milk?" Hugo and Uma walked side by side towards the crew, and he continued to joke, following up on Uma's words. But as soon as the words left his mouth, Hugo secretly cursed, thinking it was bad; the suggestive flavor of these words was just too obvious.Sure enough, Uma gave Hugo a meaningful look, the smile at the corner of her mouth paused, and then bloomed with relief, "I thought pizza was the most popular food when visiting the set." Uma didn't point out the potential meaning in Hugo's words just now, but instead wittily brushed it off with a simple joke, but that look was imprinted in Hugo's eyes."Fried chicken, in fact, is the best choice." Hugo's eyes flashed, and he didn't continue to dwell on it, but continued the conversation along the lines of Uma's topic.After the two entered the crew, Hugo took Uma to briefly meet Rob, Demi, Kevin, and others, and then the two sat down next to the makeup table on the set. Hugo pointed to the messy lunch box boxes in the corner. Today's lunch was Chinese food takeout, but unfortunately, it wasn't the taste he remembered, "I heard just now that someone came to visit the set, and I was expecting to be able to get rid of today's lunch. How about it, do you want to try our crew's lunch?""Oh, believe me, your lunch is definitely not as lethal as our crew's," Uma crossed her legs properly, her hands crossed on her knees, looking like a lady, but her eyebrows raised slightly with her words, showing vivid signs, "When I was also hungry and my stomach was churning, seeing a simple sandwich appear on the makeup table, at that time I really wanted to say, 'Fuck! Is this lunch? Even if it's not some rich Chinese food, it should at least be a hamburger, right? It's actually just a sandwich?' My middle finger was almost about to poke through the roof."
