Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice

With the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it will be surprising if DC Comics did not attempt the same with their great many iconic characters. Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice is a product of such. 

The movie has been hyped for quite a while and of course stirred up quite a bit of discussion with Ben Affleck cast as the next Batman. Man of Steel was a successful movie despite the mixed review it received from critics. Nonetheless, Henry Cavill’s Superman did bring the Man of Steel back to life. So as the second entry to the DC Universe and the rebooting of another iconic character, how did Batman V Superman stack up?

The end product is a very long movie of 2.5 hours packing in a lot of characters and a lot of storylines. As I weaved myself through this maze of storyline I found myself lost in time and space, and wondering when would this all stop. Yes, it is a pity as the stories can be so rich and powerful, but with everything happening, there seems to be lots of loss of opportunities littering around the place. 

The first issue I had with the movie is the lack of motive for most of the characters. Even when they have motives you couldn’t help but wonder: “Is that it?” In the Marvel Cinematic Universe every character was given sufficient time to develop their character and their role in that world, so when Avengers came along, even when Black Widow first appeared in Iron Man 2, things made sense and puzzles pieced together neatly. However in Batman V Superman, it seems they tried to force marrying the worlds and thus leaving all characters quite hollow in their motives for doing what they wanted to do. I personally felt the whole back story of Batman could be taken out because we had already watched Chris Nolan’s trilogy, we know very well its back story. It is only being played by a different actor that’s all. For Batman / Bruce Wayne, there were jarring questions in his storylines: if he cares so much about people who suffered in the last Superman battle, why wouldn’t he follow up with the guy whom worked for him and Bruce rescued personally? Why would he let that guy go rogue by over-indulging in grand scale of things that had a foundation as thin as a piece of A4 paper? If Batman is so smart, how would he not know this is Lex Luthor’s doing when going through the whole server archive of information? These were just some huge plot holes that screaming to be filled but never filled.

As for Superman, I understand we want to talk about his human side and his care of this world. But his relationship with all those he cared about were just lightly brought up with a few scenes here and there. And honestly, if he is so super how could he not hear the trouble his mother was going through? Shouldn’t he have a specific channel tuned in for his mom? I mean he came just in time to save Lois and let his mother went through that? That is again beyond comprehension. 

As for Diana Prince, aka Wonder Woman, how would she not be able to decrypt the server archive if she was supposed to be smart and resourceful? She managed to do stuff under Batman’s nose and went almost unnoticed. Even the whole Lex Luthor thing did not make much sense with the whole father complex and personal over thinking about the world leading him to decide to kill off some superheroes and destroy the world? He might be a lunatic but lunatics still need better motives to do what they are doing.

The issue here is everyone is reacting to things that are trivial to their cause. When there are so little for you to react to and you kept on reacting to them, the characters got driven into hyper-hibernation and became extremely boring. This is a pity because each of the characters had so much potential and if done properly could rival people mounting interests and indulgence in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The only saving grace was Lois Lane, the person who figured out the whole plot bit by bit using her journalist instinct. Batman for me in the movie was just an angry piece of junk that annoyed the hell out of me. Seriously why would you want to destroy a character rebuilt by the Chris Nolan trilogy?

That said the film did have great visuals, especially when they re-created the Man of Steel battle scene from the ground perspective, which linked the two worlds neatly together. However, there were situations that CGI or special effects were used for the sake of it and I genuinely did not know why those scenes existed in the movie when they were not even significantly moving the plotlines.

Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice carried a lot of weight on its shoulder and in this case did weigh it down. I mean the scene when Wonder Woman showed up was great but it was already spoiled by the trailer, so there was nothing left to be excited about. Ben Affleck did a good middle aged Batman but I wished the screenwriters gave him more materials to work on, which applied the same to Gal Gadot and Henry Cavill. For me Batman V Superman is a missed opportunity and I think DC Comics really need to think about this holistically to avoid themselves being dragged into this cinematic mess again, for once their characters were destroyed it will take a long time to rebuild.

A Rebel with a Heart

No matter what the media said, there is no denial that Madonna still commands a huge influence in the performance industry and music scene. Not every single is a hit and there surely are prejudice against her in terms of air time for her music, but most of them still pack a punch and most of them are still unforgiving in terms of the messages they carried.

Recently got a chance to see her live performance in Sydney so decided to catch up with her recent catalogue before attending. I only remember the last song I listen to was 4 Minutes with Justin Timberlake and that’s about it. Did not notice MDNA was a standalone album (thought it was just another best compilations) but did notice Rebel Heart because of the controversy of “defacing pictures of historical icons”. Also the concert was named after this album so there you go.

People have been criticising her being late. So for me I had no expectation for her to come on stage on time. Sometimes I do feel people nowadays will just criticising her for the sake of criticising her. Seriously when you already knew she would be late and then complaining about her being late is a bit too much. Anyway she did address the part by saying “Greatness equates lateness” – typical Madonna style.

Once she was on stage there was no cheating at all. At 57 I personally think it is acceptable that you cheat a few dance numbers as they can be pretty demanding live on stage. However, there was no such thing that night. When the beats came up, she was dancing without any hesitation. Her dancers were brilliant and she did not show any sign of catching up at all. Her flexibility and fluidity on stage is beyond comprehension. I think that really what differentiates a good performer from a great performer. Choreography was done for specific numbers and those specific numbers intertwined with the emotion of the audience.

With a concert based on mostly new materials you would expect people to be more lukewarm as people might be there for her old materials. However surprisingly a lot of the audience managed to follow the tunes and lyrics of her latest materials. That showed that Madonna still has a strong following whether the current media likes her or not. Songs like Iconic, Rebel Heart, Body Shop Heartbreak City etc. were all greeted with excitement from the audience. There were of course her all time classics such as Vogue, Material Girl, Like a Virgin, Music and Like a Prayer. Some were remixed and some were delivered in their original flavours. The audience responded to every single track and none of them disappointed. Madonna’s ability to sing and dance without losing a beat or a tune proved that she is still one of the best live performers in the music industry.

During various chat sessions Madonna responded to all the negative media coverage claiming her experiencing a meltdown with her ongoing custody battle for her 15 year old son. She told the audience “Madonna is not having a meltdown. God forbid a mother missing her son. It is a crime for a mother to miss her son”. That pretty much summed up how she despised the modern media that tried to continuously write her off without even attempting to know her. But then how often modern media tries to understand something before reporting them anyway?

The concert was a full three hour fest with lots of memorable tunes and performances. It is something that you would relish and remember for a very long time. The show is about Rebel Heart and surely it is representational of Madonna as an artist. For me I do think Rebel Heart is Madonna return to form (I still failed to relate to MDNA and the Hard Candy albums in any sense except for 4 Minutes). As an artist Madonna is uncompromising, which I think is the reason that made her great and outstanding. She is also fearless about critics and continued to push her musical and creative boundaries. She does not give a shit to the media and various outlets whom have no relevance to her life. She really has the heart of a rebel inside her. 

Casting the First Stone

The world has really gone mad in the past few months. As the world is scrambling to deal with crises around the globe: the Islamic States, the Trump Presidency, Marriage Equality etc. etc., governments around the world seemed to have lost sight of what they are supposed to do as government or what it meant to be a government.

In Australia, the whole “us versus them” attitude in the government has never been as rife as now, thank you to the extreme right wing Tony Abbott government that tarnished and destroyed Australia’s reputation while trying to build a Pearly Gate that shuts everyone but his closest cabinet members out. A change of Prime Minister had not been as beneficial as most Australians had hoped to be. The issue here lies within the still strong extreme right wing influence in the Parliament that clipped the wings of this new Prime Minister, who seems to be working to just keep his job.

What really disappointed me is the extreme right wing’s continued use of “Christian values” to cast their stones against everyone. They branded all Muslims in the country or the world as Islamic State accomplices throwing out commentary that does nothing but divides the Australian community. Their attitude of Christianity is more supreme than other religions is building gaps in the society that are wider than the Grand Canyon. And then these “Christians” continue to attack the Safe School program and Marriage Equality claiming that they are grooming paedophiles and promoting distorted lifestyles in Australia. They held their Bibles high and yelled at anyone who did not agree with them. If their Bibles are made of stones they will not hesitate to cast them against anyone who opposed them.

However, is that what exactly the Bible taught us? Or are they just using the Bible as a weapon without properly understanding it? Brought up as a Christian from a Christian school one of the very basic things we learnt since we were kids were love and kindness for “God so love the world that he gave his only son”. That is what I took from the Bible. I honestly do not understand how people could act in the name of the Bible when they don’t even understand basic principles as such.

Looking closer at the records in the Bible, we also understand the Middle East descended from the same ancestor. Yes, for those who conveniently forgot about this, if you go back to Genesis you will find out that Ishmael, the son of Abraham was the ancestor of the Middle East. There is no denial that there might be bad blood (nope I am not referring to Taylor Swift and Katy Parry) but the fact is that if this is your own making, isn’t your own responsibilities to fix it? And if you all right wing Christians read the Bible carefully, you will remember God told Abraham that he will still bless Ishmael despite the fact that he was not the chosen one for that his promised. So looking from this angle, if Christians do think they are brothers in God’s faith, shouldn’t they be helping the refugees from Middle East because they are supposed to be blessed by the same God they believe in? If they are not doing so simply because they are not practicing the same faith, are they actually breaking God’s promise to them? Are they just not doing the duty they are supposed to do? It is convenient to divide by religion but if the religion is not meant to be divisive but keeping basic promises made by God, they probably should study it real hard again before making further claims against the rest of the world. Please note that this does not mean condoning what Islamic State is doing but to extend your love and fulfil your duty to bless and keep the descendants of the person God promised to bless.

The other thing is about how those right wing Christians attack the LGBT community as deviants and finding every excuse to put them down. I find it particularly hypocritical when Members of Parliament attack the Safe School program as grooming paedophiles. Hello aren’t we currently having a Royal Commission about the long history of paedophilia in the Australian Catholic Church? Just judging from this I do not know why these Members of Parliament who claimed to be Christians, and Catholics specifically can go around casting their stones against the LGBT community branding them as a breeding bed for paedophiles. Before you attack shouldn’t you be checking what’s happening in your house first? Also their repeated claims of this is against God’s will and these people will go to hell basically has not solid ground to base on. The foundation of their arguments is built on sand so to speak. The thing is God has repeated demonstrated He will bless and utilise people whom the so called “core Christians” would despise. Read through the Bible, God has used and blessed prostitute and non-Abraham-descendants as his messengers or agents to carry out His will. And really if God hasn’t opened up the Gospel to the Gentiles, I doubt these right wing Christians can even call themselves Christians now. So where is the logic that you can tell people who are God’s chosen people when your ancestors were just gentiles and outcasts? That is another fundamental principle these so called Christians need to remember and reflect upon.

It is always easy to cast the first stone in God’s name, but whether by doing so you are upholding God’s principles or you are actually committing blasphemy is another question. You can try building your earthly Pearly Gate and shut everyone else out in the name of God, but if you do believe in God, then what only matters is the pass to the real Pearly Gate, not the one you built in God’s name whatsoever. Christianity is a faith about doing good and not about how you interpret what is good at your own convenience for what man could have God’s wisdom to swear and act in God’s name? If you truly believe that you are a Christian, stay open mind like God did in the Bible and do whatever is good to the people around and the world, as the wrath of God is not yours to unleash but God’s.

The Family Law

Finally finished watching “The Family Law” today. I did not watched it when it was live on air and some of my friends were thinking that I was sour grape because I did not get the role I auditioned for. But the fact was that I am never a weekly following person and never liked to watch and stop. So I just as usual record the whole season and find a good time to watching them in minimal sittings. I also want to have a more objective judgement by watching the whole season in one go without commenting it slice by slice thus losing the whole picture.

For those who don’t know what the show is about, it is based on the book of the same name by Benjamin Law, a Chinese Australian writer, about his own family. The story has brought the whole timeline forward to the modern times (I am sure when he was 14 Kim-West were not around, not to mention mobile phone that plays high quality videos) but remained truthful to the family story. It is a family full of colourful people and hence drama and comedies guaranteed. 

I remember the day after the show first went on air a colleague of mine asked me why SBS made another show about a Chinese family running a Chinese restaurant. I spent some time explaining to her that though the show seemed to be so it is based on a true story so it is not really aiming at further stereotyping Chinese. I asked her to continue watching it then make the judgement. For me, especially in Australia, a show such as this cannot be judged by the cover or even by the first page. 

For me, the show started off in a very comedic fashion. Clearly Jenny, the mother, was the centre of the attention despite the story was being told from Benjamin’s point of view. Her larger than life and no pull back way of talking more than once embarrassed her kids in front of everyone. But she saw that as part of the family, part of the bonding and what the family is about. For the kids the whole growing up in Australia bit completely clashed with a lot of their parents’ thinking. The people they hung out with, the people they date, they food they like etc. are completely opposite to what their parents portrayed them to be. The father is a typical Chinese father who thought providing means love. I auditioned for the father part so did quite a bit of research on the part and understood that Ben’s father acted that way because this was what he experienced and admired about his father when he grew up. So long story short this family is a Clash of the Titans every day. 

I am quite glad this show was produced although I would personally hope the Chinese aspect could initially be limited to daily living details than being amped up so much in the earlier episodes. I found myself quite disengaging when something showed up on screen screaming CHINESE at my face. I particularly find it quite annoying with the whole Chinese whisper gossip part which I personally think the show could do without. It might be funny the first time but when these just go on and on episode after episode, it just became annoying. However, since the show is about a Chinese family in Australia, the producers might felt compelled to amplify the Chinese bit at the beginning as cultural differences and clichés always sell. But I am glad that as the characters established themselves, it became more about the story than the Chinese-ness of the show. A pity was that by that time the show is already coming to a close.

One aspect I really appreciate about the show was that it does not shy away from a lot of subjects, including racism, puberty, inter-racial relationships and homosexuality. The good thing is it does not wave banners on those subjects but smartly incorporating them into the dialogues. For me this is the smartest way to cover these subjects – by not making them like subjects at all.  

However, there is one major aspect that bugs me throughout the whole series – the really bad articulation of Cantonese by a lot of the characters. Jenny’s distorted Cantonese was quite acceptable as she was originally from Malaysia, but for Danny, he was supposed to be born and bred in Hong Kong and yet his Cantonese was even worse than Jenny. Also for the two gossiping women I personally felt that if they were from Hong Kong, have good Cantonese, if they are from Malaysia, then might as well speak Mandarin. I am sure Jenny would be able to understand. I know I am getting quite picky here and seriously most would think none of the local audience would picked up the really bad Cantonese, but for me it was just like thorns to my ears every time I heard that. I wish more works could be done to address this in the future seasons or at least find a voice coach to coach the cast so they could speak more accurate Cantonese. That is if the speaking Cantonese part is about the authenticity of the family, make it authentic.

On the whole I think “The Family Law” was showing quick maturity around 3.5 episodes into the season. If there is a second season, I would like to see the series focusing more on the family and the characters, who just happen to be Chinese.

Australia Day - Unity or Segregation?

Australia is in a good space. We are in a post extreme-right (white) government era and the extreme left is yet to fully recover from its previous fiascoes. The society is in a lively debating mode triggered by the previous extreme right cohort in power and it does not look like it is dying down any time soon. Though on different individual subjects the theme of debates are narrowed down to two major questions – “Who are we as Australian?” and “What is modern Australia?”

As a migrant i.e. not born and bred in Australia, after all these years I still got asked a typical question when meeting new people – “Where did you come from?” Mind you I don’t have a Chinese accent and neither do I have an Australian accent (yeah strangely I have an American accent although was brought up in a British colony). That makes me an alien and I need to declare my origins like a mutant. Do I mind that? Well yes and no as for me I do look different – I am not blonde, blue eyed and do not easily get burnt into a piece of crispy roast pork, but at the same time I do mind in the context of does my look count that much because honestly I hold an Australian passport, paid off my HECS (HELP) and pay taxes to the government every year. I basically finance the lifestyle choices of our politicians and government. 

This leads to the question of what is Australia Day – is it a day to celebrate or is it a day of moaning? This is a huge debate in itself as Australia Day commemorate the arrival of the British colonists, who then carried out extensive plans to exterminate Indigenous Australians with their supreme gun power and weapons (which strangely enough was first invented by ancient China). For Indigenous Australians, it is the start of the doom period and marks the dark ages to follow, especially for the Stolen Generation. 

Fast forward to 2016, the society is still recovering from the damage done by the extreme right government and finding its ground again. However, despite its downfall the extreme right (white) sentiments has never been louder. Thanks to what we called the Islamic States that is wrecking havocs across the globe. Arguments of shutting the border, closing ties and “stopping the boats (refuges)” are so loud that even the best noise cancelling headphones cannot shut them out. I can’t speak for other countries, but the question I have for all the extreme right parties in this country is – on this very day, aren’t you guys actually celebrating your own terrorist acts performed 200 years ago? If that is the case what makes you think you are the person to cast the first stone or to quote the ex-government’s own words “turn back the first boat?” 

I do not believe in lingering in the past but I am a strong advocate of learning from the past. That is why we have history classes. I do not condone the terrorist acts ISIS has been carrying out either but I do believe in ISIS does not represent all Muslims around the world. I know a lot of Muslims and have a lot of Muslim friends, none of them look like the lunatics you saw on the ISIS channel. So along the same line, not all Australians are racist too because I know a lot of them too and none of them talk or act like our ex-extreme right (white) government. Branding people by the looks and sound of a small subset is what is causing all the trouble. And most of the time this was done in the interests of another subset of the society. Also at the same time not acknowledging the past while acting you have every right to condemn the present does not make you a better person or country. 

I still remember the stories one of my Indigenous colleagues told me when I first started working in Australia. I learn about the Indigenous people through books and stuff but nothing prepared me to understand how much they had suffered to live in this country and just to fight for an opportunity to show people they are valuable to the society. The things her family went through, the injustice thrown upon them, people’s bias against their culture – you don’t even have to live it to understand it. Up to this date, I still tell myself I want to tell her stories on TV when I got a chance one day so people know what it is like and how much harder Indigenous Australians need to work to get to where they want to be. 

There is no doubt Australia Day has become a debatable day for celebration, but if we truly want to build a great modern Australia and a great Australian culture, acknowledgement of the past mistakes is vital. Culture is a collective ideology that is unconsciously reflected by the collective way of life exhibited by the constituents forming this ideology. Modern Australia is definitely no long an “All White All Mighty” country that it was decades ago. What made Australia great nowadays is the collective change the new first, second and third generation migrants have brought to this country, enriching it and moving it forward. Culture is never meant to be a static entity. Whether you like it or not it will continue to evolve and the most important thing during this evolution is don’t make the same mistakes your predecessors did. And the only way to achieve this is, again by acknowledging the wrongs in the past.

There is not point of living in the past but with this acknowledgement we can build a greater future. If one day our government decides to truly reconcile with Indigenous Australians and decides to truly embrace its current ethnic and cultural diversity, then it is the beginning of a true modern Australian culture – a culture that embodies the diversities among its constituents and normalises what is considered as different and queer in the past. Being different is no longer an issue as it will become the new normal – in my humble opinion, this is the direction Australia need to move to if it truly wants to become a great country.