Archive for July, 2006

Superman Returns

{ July 13, 2006 @ 5:26 pm } · { Reviews }
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Took my brother to watch Superman Returns yesterday. Well, I wasn’t all that excited to go watch it really. But the reviews in the newspaper seemed favourable. So I went with an open mind. Wasn’t that disappointing, I must say.

(If you havent watched the movie and are planning to watch it, I HIGHLY recommend that you stop reading at this point, for there are spoilers ahead.)

The opening credits kinda psyched up the mood. There I was, listening to the famous Superman tune, feeling nostalgic. (Yup, its been along time since I heard that tune) Of course the cinema’s surround sound played a big part in giving that effect. I wonder if the same would have been felt had I been watchin from my own tv at home on a pirated DVD.

Anyway, back to the movie. Superman Returns is about how Lois Lane has supposedly “moved on” when Superman took off “without even a goodbye” to visit whatever remains there were of his home planet, Krypton. But after 5 years (erm..I think) absence, he comes back with a Boom! (literally) only to find that Lois has a totally adorable little wheezing kid and a fiance/husband (didn’t quite get which one it was.. *shrug*).

There was this line in the show where Lois was telling Clark, “One day, Jason (her son) will grow up to be big and strong like his father..” (I’m paraphrasing here) The immediate question that popped to my mind at that moment was..”Ahaaa..who’s the father?” Turns out later that I HAD asked the correct question. Hehe.. wait, did I mention the son was absolutely adorable?

The reason I didn’t want to watch the movie in the first place was because the idea of a guy in tights and red underwear worn on the outside was no longer really appealing. Not that it was before, but that’s another issue. So I was wondering what Lois Lane saw in Superman till there was this scene where he took her flying. Yeah, I know that is a popular scene in Superman movies… But girls will forever remain suckers for such scenes somehow. I was thinking that perhaps it was then, where she was admiring the beauty of the moment above the clouds, (where her obvious lack of height really didn’t matter) that she forgot about the bad taste of Superman’s wardrobe. Or shall I say, one and only outfit?

As a whole I suppose the movie was okay, with its cheesy lines and all. Worth the 6 bucks I paid for it I guess. But if I had paid double of that amount, I wouldnt be so sure the verdict is the same. Poor Richard though. His wife/fiancee’s heart was so obviously not with him, nor was Jason his son. Poor guy. As usual, I find inappropriate scenes hilarious and laughed on much to the annoyance of my brother. Aww..sorry. Hehe..

Well, that sums up my short so-called review. Didn’t want to write that much more since I’m sure some people would’ve ignored the recommendation in bright YELLOW at the beginning and go on reading anyway. Typical…

The Easy Way Out?

{ July 11, 2006 @ 10:53 pm } · { Outcasts }
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It is likely that most of us have not been at a point in life where we have to risk our lives to save another. Well, maybe risking our lives would not be so accurate. Rather it is sacrificing our lives for the sake of another’s.

If you had to make a choice at a point in time to save someone at the expense of your own life, would you take it? Perhaps that person is a loved one or someone very dear. My first thought on this, would be that I would do so. I thought that if it meant that someone dear to me had a chance to live, I’d readily give up mine. But somehow along that flow of thought, it occurred to me : “What about my family?”

It would surely break their hearts deeply to know that they have lost me. Perhaps they may be proud that their child could make such a sacrifice for another. Yet noble as it is, grief is unavoidable. I wondered if it was fair of me to give up my life for another and yet bring my loved ones such grief.

It was here that I felt, perhaps death was the easy way out for me. The real ones who suffer would be my mourning family, especially my parents. They brought me to life and raised me over the years, pouring sweat and love to nurture me, only for me to throw it away for another. Was it fair to them? What sacrifice would be worth bringing them such pain? Would that sacrifice still be honourable?

Let’s then move to the person which I gave up my life for. Could that person live with him/herself? Sure, we see in movies where the scripts says to live their lives to the fullest to make up for the lost of my life. But really, does the matter settle at that? They would then have the obligation of taking care of my family and seeing that my wishes (if any) be fulfilled.

And what of me? I die. Nada nada nada. No obligation, no pain, no grief. Would I even be able to regret on the things that I have not done? Who really knows what happens in the afterlife? Whether it be heaven or hell or just plain dark annihilation and nothingness?

This is if a child dies. What about if a parent dies? A breadwinner leaves the family to fend for themselves. A homemaker leaves the breadwinner to struggle with both responsibilities in the family. Although with supportive friends and family, it is just another hurdle in life to be overcomed, a death of one parent would spell hardship in the remaining parent’s life. A loss that would be tough to replace. Indeed life could never be the same again.

Hence, from a living person’s point of view, it would seem that death is easy way out. Yet we fear death. I wonder if this was a fear planted in us right at the start as part of an instinct for survival. Really, why do we fear annihilation? Because of the things we want to do, but have not done? Is there really a complete list of things to do before one dies?

My conlusion? Another unanswered question..

In loving memory of Clayton, Wai Keat and Jun Hao.

War of the Genders

{ July 1, 2006 @ 2:44 pm } · { Views }
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What? Not this again… (at least that’s what I think is running through your mind now as you see the title) Yup.. This is certainly not a novel issue. For as long back as my feeble mind can remember, the war of the genders has ALWAYS been an issue. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not referring to WWI & WWII type wars. Its the “Who’s better than who?” wars.

Sometimes if you stop to think, you will find that these comparisons are just plain silly. Males and females were made to be different. Does every difference in this world warrant a competition? Heck, even in sports you have categories like feather-weight, light-weight, under-21, under-18 etc. Its ironic that we can create such categories to promote a somewhat “equality” in competition yet we still compare amongst genders in this not so privately waged war. Here, both genders could not have been more different from each other, aside from the fact that we’re both homo sapiens.

A recent example of an incident to my friend amused me somewhat. He had been trying to apply for a part time job for the holidays but has been unsuccessful so far. (Here, I wish him all the best and pray hard that he’ll get a job before the hols are over. Haha..) Anyway, he was complaining that he couldn’t even get a simple job of an office clerk. The company he called told him, “Erm, sorry ah..tapi kita nak girl.” I burst out laughing. (sorry..) My friend then openly declared that he hated the dicrimination. Haha…What a change in scenario.. Amusing don’t you think?

Maybe the situation isn’t exactly reversed. It’s as if simple jobs are the stereotype for the female class. Yet to say that this isn’t discrimination against the males, would also not be so accurate. Logically, I highly doubt that much males would be content with the job of an office clerk. So my reasoning is that they were looking for a permanent staff. If a guy were to be applying for this job, chances are that he’s only gonna be doing this temporarily. So in order to filter out these temporary job hunters, they add in the criteria = female.

Sure, many women of this era have chosen more “challenging” careers than being a mere office clerk. I have to salute these courageous women for knowing what they want, without fearing the male dominant corporate world out there. However, there will always be the docile ones who stick to their “role” as a homemaker and doting mothers. Shall we call such girls the ideals of men?

An article in the papers pointed out that girls of the current generation are more apt to fall back into the traditional role as mentioned above. Most are no longer those career driven power hungry women, currently in the corporate world. To what extent is this true? My answer? Maybe.. (This, coming from a girl of the current generation.)

Ask parents nowadays as to which they prefer. A son or a daughter? The former was once highly preferred as he would carry the family name. Recently a lecturer of mine anounced to the class that daughters are better. (Well, announce is a strong word, but..erm…something along those lines la. Hehe..) He felt that sons leave the family once they’ve found their wings, whilst daughters will stay back to care for the aging parents. The idea is that name would be nothing if their son couldn’t even be bothered about caring for his parents. At that age and time perhaps, all a parent would use to gauge how successful they have been as a parent is when the apple of their eyes are filial. Monetary success could not possibly be of paramount in importance. Do you remember the advertisement where a group of old women were boasting about how successful each other’s son was? In the end, when the less successful son of one of the women came to spend time with her, the others could only look on in envy.

At the end of the day, its values instilled that matter the most whether male or female. There will be no end to the debate on “who’s better?”. I stress again, rather than compare, why not co-exist? Isn’t that what we were created for in the first place and what we’ve been doing all this while? Sure, there are MCPs (male chauvinist pigs) aplenty, but lets not also turn a blind eye towards the honourable gentlemen. Everything is about balance. If everyone were good, I guess the world would be a tad bit boring. Before lamenting on what you lack, look first to what you have. It may not be the best, but as long as it serves its purpose, we make do and carry on with life.

p/s: A little competition once in a while does spice things up nevertheless! ;)