Sunday, April 15, 2012

Reflections on The Hunger Games (2012)- the commercial media system in operation!



The Hunger Games (2012) is set in a future where the totalitarian Capitol randomly selects one boy and one girl from each of the twelve districts to participate in the 74th Hunger Games, a televised battle whereby only one out of the twenty-four participants will survive each year. The controlled game environment is alike a 3D virtual world set in real life. The operators of the game setting can add in trees, fire and even wild animals to the game environment. RFID chips are placed within the participants' body for tracking them throughout the game. During the game, the contestants who are well-liked by sponsors might receive gifts from them in situations where they need items such as food or medicine.



The Hunger Games, a violent and cruel game, is in its 74th year of existence. It is a long-running program! What is the reason for that?

There is demand from the audience!

Isn't the televised game similar to the media system that we have around us? The Hunger Games is only an exaggerated version of how we contribute to the growth of commercial media. While it is good to see advancement in media technology and programming, it might also mean that we could be supporting programs that are harmful to the development of our mind, health, humanity or society without realizing the consequences.

Isn't the Hunger Games similar to our reality TV shows where people are encouraged to plot against each other? The "weakest ones" or the ones with no social skills will be voted off in these reality TV shows. The viewers find these programs fun and exciting. For instance, they follow the programs closely and are eager to find out who will be voted off.  What are the values that these shows are instilling in the minds of the viewers? Have you ever wondered? 

The violence and cruelty portrayed in the game that is closely watched by the viewers are alike the violence portrayed in different forms of media (movies, television programs, gaming, etc) in our today’s society.  Are we already desensitized by these programs to the extent that we don't find them harmful, and thus need movies such as The Hunger Games to remind us of the brittle situation that we are in? The Hunger Games, by exaggerating the types of violence that viewers embrace, plays the role of a mirror that reflects the media environment that we are in. At the same time, ironically, The Hunger Games itself is a media product with themes of violence and self-interest that gained popularity. 
 
 
The sponsors in The Hunger Games are just like the advertisers and those who are holding political interests in setting their agendas for the consumers in our media system. They manipulate the game and create storyline that they want the viewers to see. Though the Hunger Games is a reality program, it is not totally "real" and the game events do not develop in a natural course as the whole game is staged, manipulated and fabricated by those in power to serve the rulers, the rich and the elites. The film also places focus on fashion and status of the elites who indulge themselves in food and wine while watching the televised game in posh party rooms. Superficial culture that worships trivial instant pleasures is promoted, just like what today's commercial media propagate in order to serve corporate and political interests.

The hunger games continue...


Saturday, April 14, 2012

Review: Mother Afria (12th April 2012- Opening Night)

This is my first time watching a circus act in a theatre auditorium instead of the conventional circus tents. In "Mother Africa", you do not see animals in action, and you do not get to see aerial flights. However, the precision and clarity of how stunt skills are demonstrated by the contortionists and acrobats would be enough to blow your mind away.


People tend to associate circus performances as pure entertainment. However, "Mother Africa" is more than that. It is artistic, entertaining and soul-lifting. In addition to the exciting and breathtaking items put up by the performers, the costumes and music were also the highlights of the show. The live band that comprised the lively drummers and percussionists filled the two hours performance with high energy! I especially enjoyed the rhythmic drumbeats from the band that were played with high intensity. The fusion feel of the costumes which was a blend of ethnical and contemporary added vibrancy to the show.


 
Generally, I preferred the first half of the programme to the second half. Items that I really loved were the ladder act which was artistically choreographed and displayed with great mastery; the songs by the three ladies during the first half of the show that were beautifully haunting; the highly challenging handbalancing act on a vertigo-inducing tower of stacked chairs that was carried out by the acrobat with ease and eventually ended with a serene meditative repose position of the acrobat seated on top of the stacked chairs; the feet tossing of a pint-sized acrobat through the air in a backflip by a bigger sized acrobat that stunned the audience as the action was repeated 51 times.


 Video clip of handbalancing act on a tower of stacked chairs:



Each move, each act and each moment would be disastrous without the focus, precision, strength, right timing, and coordination (individually and within a team) that the group of 36 artists demonstrated. After I held my breath through all the acts to the last second and left the theatre, what remained in me were the wonderful memories and the vibrant beats of Africa.




Rating: 8/10



Cirque Mother Africa
THREE more shows on Sat 3:00 PM & 8:00 PM,
Sun 8:00 PM
Venue: Esplanade Theatre
Tickets: $68-128.
(PAssion Card Members enjoy 10% discount from 1 March - 15 April 2012)



Thursday, April 12, 2012

Hero continues…in Flowers of War (2011)

Zhang Yimou stirred controversies with Hero (2002) by leaving the suggestive connotation that the brutal ruler Emperor Qin is the hero in the film. There are viewers and critics who see Zhang as making a fascist statement as the warriors in the film do not kill Emperor Qin eventually, for the sake of peace. Film critic French (2004) points out that Hero "seems to be taking a strongly nationalist line and to be asserting that the people should put their trust in men of great power and be prepared to suffer and make sacrifices" for the ruler in power (http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2004/sep/26/philipfrench). 

Flowers of War (2011) is set in 1937, Nanjing (China) during the time of the second Sino-Japanese War, which is also known as the "Rape of Nanjing". In the film, the Nanjing prostitutes who turn themselves in to the Japanese soldiers on behalf of the teenage convent girls are made heroes of the film. It seems like Zhang has the tendency to create characters that are least expected to fall into the category of "hero" as heroes.

Well, the prostitutes are not that righteous in the beginning of the film. They are a group of flamboyant ladies who forced themselves into the cathedral which is supposedly well sheltered from the war as it is headed by an American. They form a mini community at the basement of the cathedral and entertain themselves with their little games, music and chats. The convent girls despise the prostitutes whom they view as "dirty". However, as they know that the girls are called to entertain the Japanese soldiers at a party, they decide to replace these girls and go for the party instead. Yu Mo (played by Ni Ni), the leader of the group of prostitutes, says, "I was raped by my step father when I was 13 years old. By their age [convent girls], I was already forced to take my first clients. I don't want them to go through that". She succeeds in convincing the other ladies to go and meet the Japanese soldiers on behalf of the girls by telling them that that they are skilled at handling different types of men, and that they should help to protect the girls' innocence and chastity. Yu Mo assures the ladies that this is one great accomplishment that they can do, as prostitutes.

Paradoxes of the film can be seen from the "greyness" in Zhang's portrayal of the themes of holiness and lust; good and evil; humanity and self-gain; love and war; warmth and brutality; beauty and horror. Nothing is painted in the starkness of black and white. In the film, he makes the cold-faced Japanese Colonel sing a childhood folk song; he depicts the vain prostitutes who cut their hair and dress in dull uniforms in order to save the teenage girls; he portrays an American (played by Christian Bale) who initially wants to steal from the cathedral, but poses as a priest eventually in order to protect the lives of those in the cathedral.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie- from the juxtaposition of the soothing Christian hymns and the deafening sounds of war, to the constant shifts between self-interest and self-sacrifice.  The themes of love, humanity, lust, religion, arts and respect are well framed within the brutality of war.



Rating: 8.5/10

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Cirque Mother Africa opens tomorrow!

"You can hear the pulse of the earth beating" - (Heilbronner Zeitung, Germany)





I am looking forward to this action-pack and rhythmic performance! While it is not rare to see acrobatic acts on TV or on the streets, the high energy, strong rhythm and spontaneity that flow through the precision of forms in "Cirque Mother Africa" are all that make it unique.

Expect to see dancers, percussionists, singers, acrobats and contortionists from across Africa. Each artist is a dancer as well as a singer and/or a musician. It is great to be able to temporarily escape from the hectic urban life, and to immerse in this transcendental realm filled with amazing bodies, high-spirited drum beats and beautifully haunting voices…

Cirque Mother Africa
Date: 12 -15 April 2012
Time: Thurs - Sun 8:00 PM, Sat 3:00 PM & 8:00 PM
Venue: Esplanade Theatre
Tickets: $68-128.
(PAssion Card Members enjoy 10% discount from 1 March - 15 April 2012)

Promotional video on Cirque Mother Africa: