Mech Pilot who is on the picket line right next to the actor who plays them in the movie.
Pilot: So they really told you I didnt want to be involved in production?
Actor: Hand to heart, mate, they made you seem like a real asshole. But honestly i did my own research and once I got the script I didnt really blame you.
Pilot: Ha! Fair enough. Nah, as soon as I heard they were shopping it around I knew it was just gonna be some fuckin propaganda. I just figured if they were gonna make it anyway I wanted to try to do what I could to make it not a Complete trash fire.
Actor: And just No response?
Pilot: Left on read. Couldnt even get a shitty cameo.
Actor: Absolute bastards. Can I ask you though, at the risk of seeming vain...what did you really think? Like manners out the window, let me have it.
Pilot: Truly truly? It was really weird. Some parts I laughed, just straight up "I'd never fucking say that like that in my Life, that never happened thay way." Other shit was like I was reliving it. Like when i dream about stuff and its not my point of view, ya know? But you did great with it all. Youre a fuckin professional, its why we're here.
Actor: Thanks, really. That means a lot.
Pilot: The Weirdest thing that stuck out to me tho? And maybe its a bit grim.
Actor: Hit me.
Pilot: ...When I lost the leg I didnt actually scream as loud as you did. And the one they gave me didnt look nearly as nice as yours.
Doesnt Have to be a leftist. It'd be cool if he was, but sure he's more likely way less redeemable than that, even if he regrets anything he did as a soldier, which nothing in this text even says he does. I really do not have an answer nor do I think one is necessary for the point of this dialogue. He could be mostly uncritical of his government but still be annoyed they threw him in the gutter as soon as he stopped being useful and then heard they were making a movie about him without his consent or consultation. Maybe that makes him a hypocrit, but some people are hypocrites.
That being said, the OTHER mech fiction prompt from this blog I wrote this morning is 100% about a cool leftist mech pilot who defected from her militant religious order who raised her. So...dont read that! You wouldn't like it.
