The Father of My Children/ Irony/ 陳奕迅

Burning myself down. Still. Some thoughts yet be put into words:

1. Some afterimages of the film. Not very good. But the two children actresses fascinated me. Whether it’s the unpretentious performance or performative unpretentiousness which grasps me I have no idea. The infant character is not bother to turn back their gaze. Do they satiate my voyeuristic drive, or open up a unprecedent cinematic experience which explodes the distinction between a public and private space?

2. Just like what Benjamin says, the more I try to say something new, the sooner do I sound boring. My two friends try to – at least seem to me – denies their national identity when living in their country. Some sort of thirst for cosmopolitanism or invention of the self? The harder they try to ironize their nation, the more ironic they themselves become. Someone escape by being ironic, but he is ironically trapped in a more immediate irony – he becomes an irony from my point of view. We thought we are witty when we say one thing and it means the other. But this thought fails to escape from being repetitive, old-fashioned and pretentious in others’ eyes. The more fleeting my intention is, the more stagnant my identity becomes. No ironies.

3. Why do I like Eason Chan? I think I can write a book to answer that. Perhaps I want to say something about Stardom as well, which I will probably repeat what people said. There are several things strike me with Eason:

a. I like Eason not only because of his songs. His character presented to us through the camera is not less charming than his voice. What is so attractive about his character?

b. I guess his character in many ways expresses the attitude towards life which many of his supporters aspire. Eason’s unpretentiousness, his enthusiasm, his disinterest in politics and power – all these are attitudes his supporters haven’t and will only aspire to possess in their most abstract terms.

c. Eason’s songs are often revealing in their lyrics. Or shall I say they often capture momentary feelings in everyday life. The songs are commentaries on life, even life philosophy. If that is true, Eason will be the most alluring mouthpiece to spread the propaganda. And yet, with broad and fresh voice, Eason almost becomes an advocate of what is trasmitted through your earphones. Passion explodes the words which tear through the screen and echo in air. Is the lyricist Lam Chik speaking, or Eason singing? Do the lyrics recall or rewrite my past? Is it a love scene I experienced before, or is it a scene which I always have been fantasizing in my mind?

d. Although Eason’s songs are most of the time gloomy, I don’t get too upset for listening to them. I don’t mean the songs are not powerful enough. But there seems to be Eason DUO at work here. The singer poses a problem in life through a song. In the next second the problem is dealt with, even cancelled out by the singer himself. I have mentioned the playfulness in Eason. Eason the singer throws a problem in music. And then Eason the bloke disburdens all problems with his foolish laughter.

e. There is an issue about delusion, that problems seem to be solved are only neglected by frivolity. Pop songs cannot be defined without this: its repeatability. Every song repeats for nobody knows how many times in all kinds of audio passages. If the dialectics work like what I have suggested, it comes to place every time when a song is repeated to your ears. You are not blind to the problem (the song poses) anymore as it is thrown to you so many time. And the playfulness of the singer – Eason in this case – not only unburdens the problem, but also gradually form an attitude inside you. In no time you didn’t learn to be like him, but that his attitude grows through your eardrums along with repetitions.

4. A rthk interview of the Hong Kong pioneer of green life. (薇薇語)

5.A rthk documentary on Hong Kong universal suffrage and the five district re-election. (鏗鏘集)