12 Lotus

Did anybody watch 12 Lotus else well?

I just want to have a good debate as to whether Ah Long really liked Ah Hua despite selling her off to loansharks. I think he does. If he wasn't meant to like her, then it must mean that Qi Yu Wu is a bad actor. I'm sure Royston Tan's intention was to say how people are forced to be pragmatic in a harsh world. It has to be! Creative people are always romantic cynics!

Unfortunately my parents didn't get the movie. Initially, my dad thought it didn't make sense. And he said it had no meaning. My, did my inner aesthete fly into a rage! He thought that it just presented how the getai circuit is a cut-throat business, and the movie isn't worth watching if it weren't for the songs. I don't think the appeal lies in the songs; though they were certainly instrumental in bringing across the larger themes of the movie. After I explained the plot to him, he finally got it, and concluded that "the movie is too deep" for him.

It's about how love manifests itself in archaic, or perhaps paradoxical ways. It's about how pragmatism takes centrestage in a cruel world. It's about the grimness of reality and how stoicism is the only way to handle it. It's about how society operates as it had done before and will continue to do so. And so much more.

And how am I supposed to explain all this to my father? His command of the English language is rudimentary at best, and I find myself gagged if asked to express themes in Chinese.

It's a good movie if you're prepared to ruminate over its concepts. Otherwise, the storyline wears a little thin around the middle of the movie, because there really isn't an ending to look forward to. For a more comprehensive review, read here.

Otherwise: Seats at Kallang Leisure Park are really uncomfortable! The seat tilted away from the back of the chair; which meant that instead of the butt absorbing the bulk of your body weight, your weight is pushed forward to the front part of the thighs, towards the knees. It strains the back. It's like sitting on the edge of a chair, if you don't get what I mean.

I bought some reduced-to-clear organic orange and spice dark chocolate from the supermarket. Yay for overpriced shit that's slashed to half its price because nobody would buy it otherwise! Contemplated getting some chips that were reduced to clear as well, but figured that cheapness wasn't worth the extra calories because I don't like chips all that much anyway.