The little red flower on the last page of the homework book, the name in chalk on the blackboard, the report in the PPT of the company's monthly summary meeting, the shiny medal on the military uniform, the leader's praise, the increased number in the salary slip, the like in the circle of friends , the statuettes at the Academy Awards ceremony.
They can all be an honor.
Because that means affirmation, it means the environment, others, society, affirming that what you are doing is right, meaningful, and contributing. As an affirmation, as an encouragement, as a compliment, honor will follow.
The generation of honor means not only affirmation, but also distinction.
The generation of honor divides people into two categories, one is honored, and the other is not honored.
Those who have won the honor have won the favor of mankind and history, and become a role model for everyone. Countless flashes lit up the red carpet, newspapers and magazines filled with reports, parents trembling with pride in front of relatives and friends, envious glances from classmates and colleagues, all of this, let us show our appreciation to those who have been honored. People are so concerned, their experiences have become talk, stories and even legends, their actions have become patterns, and their words have become classics. Follow these, believe them, and practice them.
The honor will be yours.
And what about those who didn't get the honor?
do not know.
Oh, it's not that I don't know. General talent, lack of effort, poor discipline, bad family, quirky personality, unsatisfactory objective environment, we worked hard to help them summarize why they should not be honored. Sometimes people express sympathy for them, sometimes blame, sometimes resentment, hostility, even hatred. Like the National Socialists against the Jews, the Bolsheviks against the dissidents and spies, the Romans against the barbarians. Not only should they not be honored, but only by eliminating them can they be honored.
Opposition thus arises between honor and non-honor.
Just like this "Lost: The Ninth Eagles".
The martial arts of the Roman Empire have never been neglected by the Hollywood film industry. One after another classic costume war blockbuster, the journey of the Roman Empire, which invaded and conquered the world step by step, and then grew into a superpower that spanned three continents, water and four seas, has been restored to us through our eyes, and it has also been restored. Yes, there are also those Roman warriors who wore heavy armor, strong martial arts, and extraordinary courage in history.
So why are they fighting? Of course for Rome! For the honor!
From ancient times to the present, I am afraid that no one dares to say that this is an dishonorable career, regardless of whether it is Chinese or Western. Soldiers who devote themselves to this great cause are of course worthy of the supreme honor, this is a matter of course! Therefore, most of the Roman warriors in the movie are all with their heads held high, upright, impassioned, brave and fearless, as if their whole life was born for fighting and for this honor.
Of course, there are positives and negatives, and contradictions have no opposites. How can they become contradictions? Therefore, the barbarians who fought against the Roman soldiers were naturally savage, short and wretched, grim-faced, and strong on the outside.
Interestingly, vilifying the enemy is not a characteristic of Westerners. Orientals also like to vilify their former opponents in this way, perhaps even more so.
Against such a background, the characters created in "The Lost: The Ninth Eagle" (it's really awkward, the original English name is "The Eagle", how can it be translated so awkwardly) are very intriguing. In this film, we see a Roman officer with a poor sense of responsibility and a sloppy attitude, a Roman bureaucrat with a wine bag and rice bag, and a reckless Roman bureaucrat. Good at war, a slave who is desperate for his friends, and a general son who is obsessed with ideals and is desperate for his father's honor to correct his name, even if the whole of Rome thinks that he is a neurotic son.
Hey, no, didn't we just say that honor is a kind of affirmation?
Isn't it all negative in this movie? The brave and skillful soldiers were denied, the heroic nobles were denied, the protagonists who defended the country and honored were denied (he just wanted a name for his father that no one else cared about), and the uncivilized barbarians (barbarians) were denied.
But shouldn't the honor belong only to the Romans?
Of course the honor cannot be taken away, because that's for sure. But how to use this honor carefully to affirm people, actions, justice, and values is very difficult. So, in this film, the director expresses this cautious thinking that honor really shouldn't belong to the Romans alone.
What's more, getting honor by killing people is not honor at all.
But again and again throughout history, we have honored those who killed people. We call them the heroes of the country and the nation, the elites of mankind, the heroes and promoters of history, and even judge their contributions by the number of murders, and then determine the size of the honor. The people of primitive tribes who cheered with their heads pinned to their waists, hung around their necks, and strung on javelins were no different from those who later put millions of people in concentration camps and labor camps to receive awards and medals. Those who have been honored here may be enemies in other camps who must be eliminated, and in the past, in the war between Rome and the barbarians, it was staged again and again.
With this understanding, when looking at such a movie, many things will become natural and logical. It is not difficult for us to understand why the camera suddenly slows down, drifts, and trembles when tracking and focusing on the slaughter among the warriors, and why the faces of the warriors, whether they are Roman or barbarian warriors, are not confident, but Worry, fear, and of course, frenzy. (How can you keep killing people without fanaticism?) Why did the protagonist become hesitant and frightened when he killed a wounded enemy just after saying "(attack) don't hesitate" to his subordinates? A barbarian whose parents were killed by the Romans and became slaves himself, why did he not attack the Roman master around him, but was loyal and helped the master to find the honor of his father - that is because he saw in the master faith, Perseverance, uncompromising, loyalty, and all of these, in that era of swords and swords, flesh and blood flying, and the winner is the king, just like the blue lotus on the mountain, how precious.
This is the honor that the director wants to tell us.
There is no monopoly on honor. We award honors as affirmations to outstanding people because they are real people, outstanding people, great people. They are loyal to friendship, stand firm in their beliefs, defend justice, and dare to face darkness and terror alone—whether it comes from the ferocity of their enemies or the insidiousness, calculation, and indifference of their own people. They will move forward firmly. They are like the bright lights in this dark night. With them, we will not get lost if we follow.
But is this firmness unwavering, without deviation? That's not it, otherwise how could it be human? Therefore, we have also seen some such stories: slaves who were once captured barbarian soldiers and hated everything about the Romans but were finally loyal to the Roman masters because of the salvation of the Roman masters. The Roman legionnaire, who was saved by the barbarians and became barbarians, lied against his will when facing the son of his former comrade-in-arms. These all show the complexity of history. For their own camp, these are traitors. Today we accuse them of being cowards, cowards, and cowards, but this is not the director's original intention: their betrayal reflects the fragility of individuals in a cruel era, and it is the distortion and destruction of human nature by a tangled history.
But even so, they kept their faith. The barbarian who became a slave did not forget the hatred of his ancestors with the Romans, but he fulfilled his promise of friendship. The former Roman soldier wore barbarian clothing, but still proudly defended the glory of his fellow soldiers, because that was friendship and commitment. The protagonist who once existed as an idealist, after recovering his father's glory, will not forget the barbarian women who selflessly helped him in times of distress, and he freed his slaves.
From then on, there was no difference, no opposition, no Romans, and no barbarians.
Only people.
All are people. There was something about them all, and that was the brilliance of humanity.
No matter what era, the person who dares to retain this brilliance is a warrior.
Therefore, as an affirmation and reward for these warriors, whether they are Romans, barbarians, or Nazi Party members, Rabe who saved countless refugees in Nanjing, Soviet Red Army journalist Vasily Grossman who exposed the extermination camp, On the road, the young man who indifferently helped up the old man who fell to the ground despite the onlookers, still handed a tissue after a sneeze, and a text message after returning to the dormitory late.
We give them credit.
At the end of the film, the protagonist walks out of the Roman Senate with the former slave. How deafening the phrase "he (slave) understands more about honor and liberty than you understand".
For the brave Romans and Britons who died. So that there will be no more confrontation and killing from now on.
This is the highest honor.
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