Satan and 50 shades of Doré

Paradise Lost by John Milton. I love to collect book and it is one of my proudest collection. I didn't know it was a classic when I bought it. During my first encounter with the book, it was the illustrations that caught my fascination. And then the epic poem. 

But first the poem. The story follows Satan, from the first rebellion against the God to the attempt to deceive Eve and later on Adam to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge that eventually leads to their banishment from the Garden of Eden. I don't know much about the composition of a poem but what I can tell is it successfully brings out the sense of empathy to Satan. I remember clearly when I first read it when I was 17, I was estranged by my admiration to Satan because I knew I shouldn't. You admire someone, most of time is because you see some quality within him that you wish to possess. Satan definitely is determined because after countless defeats, he still keeps on chasing after his goal, although the goal is an dishonest one. Reading through the verses, you almost want Satan to succeed.

The defeat of Lucifer (Satan) and his army.

If John Milton is conveying nuance of evil through words, then Gustave Doré is doing the same but through illustrations. No better candidate to paint the illustrations for the poem than him. Paradise Lost has been illustrated by multiple artists, but in my opinion Doré's interpretation fits impeccably. Unlike William Blake's hallucinative depiction, Doré's illustrations are arguably more realistic and more grandiose. Romanticism at its core, his illustrations are done through wood engraving. Without colour, the use of light and shades is executed masterfully. Just like film noir, this eventually furthers the already pervasive feeling of fatalism of the poem. Funny that Gustave's last name is "Doré" which means golden in French but his most popular works are all in black and white.

The version I have is Chinese translated but I have also read the original English version. I would say the original one is much better but I also know I can't be too demanding from a translated version because human language is hard and translation is even harder. Anyway Paradise Lost is definitely a classic and Doré's illustrated version is the best.

It is crucial to follow Najib

"It is crucial to follow Najib's facebook page and to like his posts occasionally", I always remind myself. I do so because I don't want to be stuck in the invisible filter bubble surrounding me. With the 14th general election around the corner and the recent news of Mark Zuckerberg's testimony in front of the US congress, I feel like it is important to let more people aware of this fact:

Filter bubble exists and it is harmful to democracy.

What is a "filter bubble"? The term is coined by internet activist Eli Pariser. It is probably wiser if the concept is explained by the author himself in his TedTalk, Beware online "filter bubbles". It exists everywhere online, on every major websites, most importantly Facebook. Undeniably, Facebook is how most of us get the information nowadays. At its root, Facebook is just a company. Like any other companies, its goal is to make profit and it turns out our attention and our time on spent on Facebook is the product it is selling. That is where the filter bubble comes in, to filter out all the "unnecessary" and choose to give only what it thinks we want to see, to grab our attention, to make us linger longer. All of this has been explained by Vlogbrothers' video on the afro-mentioned testimony by Mark Zuckerberg, Who is in Control?

As a Penangite, it is no surprise that I am a supporter of the Pakatan Harapan. Living in Penang, I am surrounded by DAP (Democratic Action Party) supporters, praises to our beloved chief minister Lim Guan Eng, and critics to the federal government and party in power Barisan National. I must agree that DAP has done a good job on developing Penang state, but I am afraid that I have been living in an echo chamber. The same is happening with my Facebook feed. My filter bubble has determined that I should only see DAP and Pakatan Harapan's content.

I always think that ignorance is the poison to democracy. Only knowledge and transparency is the key. That's why I think filter bubble is harmful to democracy. By staying in our own filter bubble, seeing only one side of the coin, we are no different than those in the rural area without internet access, those we claim are being fooled by the BN. Any idea needs to be challenged and debated, in hope of the synthesis of a newer better idea. Staying in the echo chamber won't get us there.

To quote Hank Green: "If you don't control your feed, the feed controls you." So I figure, to burst out of the bubble, I need to tweak the system. I can't change the environment I am living in but I can regain control of my Facebook feed. I purposely follow Najib Razak's and MCA's Facebook pages, and like their contents, to let the underlying algorithm knows that I also want to see more of their contents. Although their contents might not be in line with our point of view, it is important not to be impulsive. We should go against our will and "like" the opposite views.

Yes, to save the democracy, we need to follow Najib. 

  

Let the Bullets Fly is a masterpiece

Rarely does a Chinese film simultaneously a popcorn action-tastic flick and a philosophical artsy piece. Most of the time it is either like Wolf Warrior 2 and The Great Wall where you need to just shut your brain off to enjoy it, or like In The Mood For Love where the pacing is so slow and the cinematography is so in emphasis to borderline cringe-worthy. But there comes the masterpiece "Let the Bullets Fly".

It is set in a fictional small town named Goose Town. After watching it for countless times, I still have no idea how the layout of the town is or where the locations are relatively to each other. But it doesn't matter because that's not the point. There are some CG shots and they are fake as hell. But it doesn't matter because that's not the point. What matter the most are the characters. The film is centered around a fast paced three-way chess game among a Robin Hood like bandit (by Jiang Wen) with a loyal gang, a cowardly governor (by Ge You) driven only by greed, and a kingpin mobster (by Chow Yun Fat) who actually runs the show in the town. The bandit is trying to take down the mobster and distribute his wealth to the people; the mobster is trying to kill the bandit; and the governor is trying get as much as possible for himself in between this chaos. How they try to outdo each other is just so much fun to watch.

For a long time I couldn't articulate why exactly I adore this film. Could it be the ever cool looking protagonist with my favorite round teashade? Or his even cooler gang of bandits who hold guns sideway like a gangster? Or could it be the dark humour? Now I know why. That day I was scanning through channels on TV looking for stuff to watch. There was "Inglorious Basterds" playing on one channel and and "Let the Bullets Fly" on another. Then something in me just clicked : "Let the Bullets Fly" is a very Tarantino-y movie.

"Let the Bullets Fly" is funny, brainy, dialogue-driven, and never shy of over-the-top violence, just like every single Tarantino's film. That's why my favorite scene of the movie is the the dinner scene in between the three main characters. The scene perfectly encapsulate all the characteristics I previously mentioned. Just like a Tarantino's film, I won't be surprised if there are fanatics who can memorize all the instantly classic dialogue.

Since it is dialogue-driven, I don't think it works as well when you don't speak mandarin and watch the subbed version, let alone watching the dubbed version. Many times the witty dialogue is playing with words and homonyms. Not only it needs an understanding of the language itself to truly appreciate it, it need some historical context too. For example the dinner scene is clearly paying homage to the "Feast at Hong Gate". 

However I would still strongly recommend everybody to give it a try. If you reading this and you can understand mandarin, I would also recommend this in-depth review by Fast Food Movie. I have never thought that we could interpret the movie this way.

How "What If I Go" evokes emotions

I think many people have the same habit as I. Whenever I stumble upon a piece of excellent music jam, I will replay it for hundred thousands times or until I am so exhausted that blood bleeds out from my ears. So recently I am stuck in this familiar loop again. The culprit is this song - "What if I go" by Mura Masa. I first knew Mura Masa through a video by Vox. Although his song "Love$ick" is more popular and I can agree that it is also a good jam, emotionally it just doesn't hit me as much as "What if I go".

The music starts with a coarse drum beat and then contrast it with the soothing vocal and other lighter sounded instruments. "...Wherever you go, I'm going with you babe, going with you babe..." The lyrics is simple and straight forward, perfect fit for teenage love : innocent and eager for intimacy. You can describe the song as many things but lack of sincerity could never be one. The chorus part is simply good remix. No lyrics. An honest drum piece with intense beats and intermittent silence in between. And finally as the cherry on top, some playfully manipulated vocals are mixed in for good measure.

The music is already so good but it still can't hit me as deeply without the music video. The person who composes this music video totally deserves a medal. To fit into the theme of teenage love, the actors are of course teenagers. There is no narrative per se, just a collection of shots of activities teenage couples would do. The locations are ordinary: kebab shop, Asian store, residential flat, further adding to the realistic portrayal. 

The use of 1:1 ratio for the video is genius. It is chosen for a reason - to resemble to the photos captured with an old polariod camera, to evoke an overall nostalgic feel. The technique of looping through the same shots taken only from slightly different angles introduces the depth of field, thus making the photos feel alive as they should be. Photos are not just 2D images. To the right person, they represent stories. The entire MV strikes me as if Amélie just delivers to me my long forgotten metal box full of old photos. I open it and waves of feelings swelling within me. 

It reminds me of something I wrote a long time ago and I copy it here again.

 <Confession of Lovers>

In the dormant air,        we both are silent,

As a sweet-sour feeling reigning over our sentiment.

Everything seems to be unreal, so we feared for a second.

But there is no room for reasons or comprehensions,

As we surrender to the absolute sensation,
Savouring the intimate moment, 

The mutual affection.

Relationship with the dead

22nd of December marks the winter solstice and also the Dongzhi festival for the Chinese, a festival mostly related to making and eating tangyuan. The lesser known practice however is worshiping the ancestors. The ritual and offerings are less elaborate than that of Qingming festival and less and less families are keeping this practice. But my family is still carrying it out every Dongzhi. Last year 2017 was no exception. But only my parents and I went to pay my grandfather's grave a visit. Unfortunately my little sister had a dancing competition that day, wasn't able to join. That was not the case with my little brother though. He didn't join not because he was busy or anything. He rather sat in front of the computer watching Running Man. My parents didn't say anything but I was a bit upset about it.

I am upset about it because he sees the tradition as meaningless and a waste of time. I am also afraid that that is the current trend in our society. More and more traditions are lost in time because less and less people are practicing them. As we are catching up with the Western civilization obsessed with "rationality", I always wonder what place traditions have in our society. It is so easy to deem them as total nonsense, total hassle. That's why I am afraid. I'm afraid that it is a trend. I'm afraid that ditching the traditions has become the "in" thing to do.

I refuse to throw away the traditions right away. Instead we should put every single one of them under microscope and analyse them, trying to find a reason the keep each of them. Only if we couldn't a right reason that we discard it. As I go through the process of analysis and synthesis of why we worship our ancestors, I come to the conclusion that it is there to keep, because - family. In fact for most of the traditions, I always see them as an opportunity to unite the family and do something together, bonding. That is why I was upset about my little brother. Because I see it as a family bonding activity, if any family member doesn't pay the least effort to commit to it, there is no point to carry on the ritual anymore.

When it's about family, Dominic Toretto triggers!

In the recent video analysis of Pixar's Coco by Wisecrack, another interesting concept is introduced to explain the reason why we worship our ancestors - Jean Baudrillard's symbolic exchange. The relationship between the living and the dead is thought to be a mutual exchange. And unlike any exchange in a capitalist system, the values of the exchange is unmeasurable, a symbolic exchange. We bring the offerings to honour the dead and in turn, the dead offers us the wisdom, their life stories, to help us better understand where and how we come about. It serves as a chance to review your own life, force you to examine your life whether it is a good life and one that doesn't disappoint the dead.

In Coco, the dead "dies" for the second time when he or she is no longer remembered by the living. I don't think there is a similar notion of second death in the Chinese culture, but sure damn it is poetic that I gonna tell my kids about this. Banksy puts it beautifully :

They say you die twice. One time when you stop breathing and a second time, a bit later on, when somebody says your name for the last time.

I once inserted the same quote in my own attempt to honour my grandpa.

While the existentialist part of me won't believe in life after death in reality, but I would still worship and honour my ancestors. Because the ritual is not only (and probably never) meant for the dead, it is also meant for the living.