翠袖乾坤：辨別與記憶
Wen Wei Po (香港文匯報) Supplement
Date: February 17, 2008
Author: Man Kit Wah
http://paper.wenweipo.com/2008/02/17/OT0802170003.htm
Downloaded from http://bbs.ent.163.com/bbs/zhangguorong/47126124.html
Translated by Daydreamer on February 20, 2008
Once in a commemorative activity for Leslie Cheung, a junior high pupil stood up and said, “I really envy those of you who grew up with Gorgor for having the opportunity to spend the different phases of life with him together, and for knowing such a beautiful personage …” He said this seriously as if talking about a piece of art.
Lately, people mourned the death of Heath Ledger, the actor in “Broke Back Mountain”. Beautiful people passed away one after the other. If looking at it from an all-alike perspective, they were possibly like a river that flew by, or like the surf we saw, while riding on a ferry, which stirred up and then submerged again in the sea. No matter how best our eye sight follows the surf, it nonetheless comes and goes without a trace. If we look at it from an all-different angle, then all of them may leave footprints in our hearts, none of them should be left out, and none of them can be replaced.
Perhaps we should be proud that we have the ability to differentiate, otherwise, massive memories will be buried. To remember all unique people and things will unavoidably cause regrets and pain, but perhaps that was once the source of happiness!
At school when we discussed about the philosophy of Plato, we had the following criticism towards his world of idea: If every thing and substance in the world all has a prototype in the world of idea to correspond with it, to show the imperfection in the real world, then how can it be explained? Because if in the real world there is a pot of half filthy water, we then may say that in the world of idea, there also happens to have such a pot of half filthy water prototype which is entirely alike. If that is the case, then there is no difference at all.
For those people whom we know and love, because of our sentiment, each of them is a unique prototype in our mind. Do you think Johnny Depp and Leslie Cheung are a little bit alike? That is merely some one-sided impression. Without an unreachable prototype in another world, but only at this time and place or at some time and place there really once existed an individual whom we met and sparked a bright and radiant light.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Monday, February 11, 2008
Elvis Presley v. Leslie Cheung (an article written by a fan)
Written by kendy-85
Date: 2008-01-29 04:37:59
Downloaded from http://bbs.ent.163.com/bbs/zhangguorong/45704126.html
Translated by Daydreamer on February 6, 2008
In 1977, Elvis Presley died putting an end to his 22 years of performing career; that year, Leslie Cheung entered the entertainment world after participating in a singing contest. Twenty-six years later, people define Leslie using the same evaluation they used on Elvis Presley: Immortal Legend.
It is difficult for Leslie to attain the influence that Elvis had achieved in the music world; however, Leslie definitely surpassed Elvis in movie-making in view of the massive poorly-reviewed movies that Elvis had made. Elvis had a chaotic private life which directly affected his music creation and performance in the late period of his career. Leslie, on the contrary, was a highly disciplined person. He had never stopped transcending himself until the end of his life. Nonetheless, in cultural icon evaluation, the Americans proudly put Elvis in the third place. In China, Leslie was ranked seventh, yet this result had aroused much public controversy leading to a great deal of debates in the forum; even mass media joined in making it the hottest topic of the day. For Elvis and Leslie who were of different cultural backgrounds, which one of them was luckier?
Leslie had an inborn aristocrat quality, while Elvis rose to his success by singing black people’s African-American music. The only similarity is that both possessed a magnetic mellow voice and a sexy stage image which was most controversial. Hong Kong’s most valuable lyricist Lam Chik in answering reporter’s questions said that the reason he always wrote sentimental lyrics for Leslie is because Leslie possessed a voice like Elvis Presley. During the eight long years that Leslie had striven, he did once plan to imitate Elvis. At the 1986 Expo performance, we could see Elvis’s shadow in Leslie when he sang “Stand Up”: his voice, his action on stage and especially eye expression which was very much like that of Elvis’s. He first twisted the hip and flung the head, then took up the microphone and threw the stand away, following with a 360 degree turn. Unfortunately, he carelessly fell over on stage when returning to the backstage after shaking hands with the audience; but the Leslie that we saw from that part of the video clip was so loveable, with a childlike air that was possessed by him only.
The young Elvis and Leslie were very much alike: radiant, handsome, and sexy like a good-looking young man found in the ancient Greek myths. However, in Elvis’s middle age, in addition to taking drugs massively, he also over-indulged in food and drinks, and lived an extremely intemperate private life. At the age of 42, he completely collapsed and died. On the contrary, years had not added any signs of aging on Leslie’s face. More so, with the passage of time, we saw holiness and purity in his face, just like an angel. His gracefulness made people fear to look at him directly. These two people, however, did have one similarity, which is fatal attraction, especially towards females. When they were on stage, the audience forgot about themselves. Westerners usually expressed their emotions more directly, very often they would rush to the stage like mad as if they wanted to tear Elvis apart and swallow him alive. In Leslie’s concerts between 1985 and 1989, the audience showed great enthusiasm and passion also. So long as Leslie shook hand with them, his hands would become swollen with fingernail scratches all over. Sometimes, the audience even tried to pull him off the stage.
Leslie was born in 1956, the year when Elvis was discovered by the renowned manager Colonel Parker, then started his path to become a super star. Elvis passed his childhood in poverty. His grasp of music came from experience gained in early years singing in choirs. Leslie, however, studied abroad in England for seven years. At that time, it was the golden age of British music. Leslie who was deeply affected by the music could never forget the singers like Elton John, etc. In his 22 years in the music world, Elvis had brought us a lot of pleasant listening music. Most interestingly, not counting the four to five years of Leslie’s retirement from the music world, he also was in the music world for almost twenty-two years.
Let’s talk more about their differences.
Elvis was a real blue-eyed boy. Throughout his whole life, he was controlled and protected by his recording company. He earned a huge sum of money for his company and for himself, and was a super idol throughout his life time. Even when he was overweighed and in bad shape, people still believed that so long as he shut himself up in the recording studio, he would sing some beautiful songs that could lift people’s soul and spirit. Even after his death for half a century, his image still appears in different kinds of products. Until now, he and Marilyn Monroe are still the irreplaceable sexy symbol in the European and American music and film world. Regarding his private life, Elvis was almost secluded from outside, but in his private world, he had no scruples at all. From the very beginning, he did not have to put in too much efforts. Lyrics and melodies of his songs were relatively simple yet fine and perceptual, also very typical, and possessed a special kind of magic power, especially conformed to young people’s rebellious personality. The whole world was really rocked and rolled by his music. Because of this, he in fact became a priceless commodity. In his music and especially in the massive Hollywood movies, he unceasingly duplicated himself in order to guarantee a profit, until one day he was tired of doing so. In the later period of his career, he attempted to make some changes, but was not too successful, as a result he went back to his old route. When he was not making movies, he would appear on television. Even so, people were still full of hope and anticipation, until at the end they had to face his departure with sadness.
Leslie was different. His delicate and handsome face along with talent in music did not really bring him any immediate success. He strove for eight years before holding his first personal concert. Another big difference is that from the very beginning, Leslie resisted to be used and controlled by other people. Before 1989, he was dominated by his recording company. Majority people did not believe that he would give up everything to retreat at the very peak of his career, yet he really did so. His reason to come back to the showbiz afterwards was not to earn a living or to make a profit like the other ordinary performing artists did. Regardless of the 1989 final encounter concerts, or his come-back in 1995, Leslie had only one goal, he wanted to be himself, to do something that he liked to do, to be a “fucking good artist”. He indeed had achieved that goal by using his own power and strength. The pressure that he faced was different from Elvis’s, although it was just as severe. Elvis’s pressure came from how many copies of records he could sell and how good the box-office record of his movies was. Yet for Leslie, he had to face with his own image being twisted and smeared by the media. Throughout his career, he had always been on his own, a lonely individual facing disputes and criticisms from the outer world.
A very important reason to compare Leslie with Elvis is that in definition both of them were idols of true significance. Both of them led the trend in music. For 20 years, their good music emerged one after another incessantly. However, their own charm and charisma from beginning to end had been more glamorous and alluring than their music. No matter what kind of Elvis’s music you are listening to, be it fast or slow, his eminent hip-twisting movement as well as affectionate- or sly-eye expression will spontaneously go into your imagination. Leslie was more so, no matter how pleasant-listening the songs were, no matter how beautiful the stages had been decorated, they could never surpass his own charisma which would affect audience’s emotion greatly and melt their hearts. In particular, when Leslie sang other people’s songs, that feeling was even more intense. It is very difficult to tell precisely what special characteristic or quality these two people possessed that could challenge people’s innermost feelings and emotions. External factors like perfect outer appearance, uninhibited temperament, exceptionally gifted voices, etc., are possessed by all other entertainers as well, but only Elvis and Leslie could simultaneously take people, with different demands and requirements, to a facsinatedly state. Moreover, without the need of singing or saying a word, simply did something casual, audience’s mood would be stimulated and they would follow them involuntarily.
However, Leslie obviously had more self-awareness towards innovation and change in music. The media once queried about his 1997 concerts since no one could forget the Leslie in the year 1989. Radically he did not have to add any new tricks or new elements to his 1997 concerts, all he needed was simply sing some old songs, then the audience would be satisfied. Injecting new elements into the concerts would have gains and losses, then why took the risk to do so? Until now, people will still sigh and wonder what made Leslie decide to come back when thinking of the indefinite ordeal he had endured mentally and physically. Since he understood full well that an entertainer should retire at his most glorious moment, then why afterwards he could not be as natural and determined as he used to be in 1989? No one can answer these questions. Just as an internet friend said, “The absolute real Leslie has left behind a lot of puzzles for us to solve. However, there will never be any answers to them; or perhaps the answers to those questions have already been staying in our hearts unobtrusively and imperceptibly.”
Perhaps Elvis was not too happy after all, but he had never had much restraint in his private life; that is to say, he could have many different ways to vent his emotions without the fear of affecting his image. Even though he might face dreadful void and loneliness after numerous absurd behaviours and actions, it still could not match the depression that Leslie had suffered for 20 years. From a certain perspective of significance, Leslie’s depression could be said as the prime culprit that led him to give up his life, however, it could also be a kind of wealth for him. The illness of depression, or perhaps the so-called source of pain and agony is actually a kind of calmness and consciousness, a kind of extreme sensitivity towards the essence of human nature, a kind of thorough understanding towards the meaning of life …. Leslie had said so himself that an actor must understand the nature of human being, that way he could make some of the characters that he played more persuasive as if he had injected life into them. However, if an actor was too involved in the characters, then he would be possessed by evil spirit, that’s what we call “evil in the heart”. Perhaps that is the reason why whoever possesses big wisdom will probably attach to some kind of religion at the end. Seeing Leslie in extreme pain and agony in his final days, his good friend Alan Tang Kwong-wing tried to make him see the bright side of life, but when Tang was speechless, Leslie said to him, “You thought you knew them all?”
Of course, I do have some reservations towards the way of seeing things because no matter who he is, so long as he exists in this world, he is merely a mediocre individual, with seven-emotions [footnote 1] and six sensory pleasures [footnote 2] interacting. If he can find a gap, it will not be hard for him to reach a certain state of balance, and there is no need to go to extremes. One thing though is certain about this tragedy. Psychological studies of nowadays came from the Western world, attention paid to the Chinese people is by far not sufficient, that probably is the reason why even the psychologist was unable to cure him. Besides, Hong King is a place of extremity and complexity. For those who believe in Western medicine will at the same time consume Chinese herbs; and those who seek help from psychologists will also ask for assistance from Wong Tai Sin [footnote 3]. It is probable that Chinese medicine and Western medicine may have opposite effects; similarly, psychologists will never agree with Wong Tai Sin as they hold different opinions and never trust one another.
FOOTNOTES:
Note1: Seven emotions are happiness, anger, sorrow, fear, love, hate, desire
Note 2: Six sensory pleasures derived from the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind
Note 3: An immortal, one of the most popular gods in Hong Kong
Date: 2008-01-29 04:37:59
Downloaded from http://bbs.ent.163.com/bbs/zhangguorong/45704126.html
Translated by Daydreamer on February 6, 2008
In 1977, Elvis Presley died putting an end to his 22 years of performing career; that year, Leslie Cheung entered the entertainment world after participating in a singing contest. Twenty-six years later, people define Leslie using the same evaluation they used on Elvis Presley: Immortal Legend.
It is difficult for Leslie to attain the influence that Elvis had achieved in the music world; however, Leslie definitely surpassed Elvis in movie-making in view of the massive poorly-reviewed movies that Elvis had made. Elvis had a chaotic private life which directly affected his music creation and performance in the late period of his career. Leslie, on the contrary, was a highly disciplined person. He had never stopped transcending himself until the end of his life. Nonetheless, in cultural icon evaluation, the Americans proudly put Elvis in the third place. In China, Leslie was ranked seventh, yet this result had aroused much public controversy leading to a great deal of debates in the forum; even mass media joined in making it the hottest topic of the day. For Elvis and Leslie who were of different cultural backgrounds, which one of them was luckier?
Leslie had an inborn aristocrat quality, while Elvis rose to his success by singing black people’s African-American music. The only similarity is that both possessed a magnetic mellow voice and a sexy stage image which was most controversial. Hong Kong’s most valuable lyricist Lam Chik in answering reporter’s questions said that the reason he always wrote sentimental lyrics for Leslie is because Leslie possessed a voice like Elvis Presley. During the eight long years that Leslie had striven, he did once plan to imitate Elvis. At the 1986 Expo performance, we could see Elvis’s shadow in Leslie when he sang “Stand Up”: his voice, his action on stage and especially eye expression which was very much like that of Elvis’s. He first twisted the hip and flung the head, then took up the microphone and threw the stand away, following with a 360 degree turn. Unfortunately, he carelessly fell over on stage when returning to the backstage after shaking hands with the audience; but the Leslie that we saw from that part of the video clip was so loveable, with a childlike air that was possessed by him only.
The young Elvis and Leslie were very much alike: radiant, handsome, and sexy like a good-looking young man found in the ancient Greek myths. However, in Elvis’s middle age, in addition to taking drugs massively, he also over-indulged in food and drinks, and lived an extremely intemperate private life. At the age of 42, he completely collapsed and died. On the contrary, years had not added any signs of aging on Leslie’s face. More so, with the passage of time, we saw holiness and purity in his face, just like an angel. His gracefulness made people fear to look at him directly. These two people, however, did have one similarity, which is fatal attraction, especially towards females. When they were on stage, the audience forgot about themselves. Westerners usually expressed their emotions more directly, very often they would rush to the stage like mad as if they wanted to tear Elvis apart and swallow him alive. In Leslie’s concerts between 1985 and 1989, the audience showed great enthusiasm and passion also. So long as Leslie shook hand with them, his hands would become swollen with fingernail scratches all over. Sometimes, the audience even tried to pull him off the stage.
Leslie was born in 1956, the year when Elvis was discovered by the renowned manager Colonel Parker, then started his path to become a super star. Elvis passed his childhood in poverty. His grasp of music came from experience gained in early years singing in choirs. Leslie, however, studied abroad in England for seven years. At that time, it was the golden age of British music. Leslie who was deeply affected by the music could never forget the singers like Elton John, etc. In his 22 years in the music world, Elvis had brought us a lot of pleasant listening music. Most interestingly, not counting the four to five years of Leslie’s retirement from the music world, he also was in the music world for almost twenty-two years.
Let’s talk more about their differences.
Elvis was a real blue-eyed boy. Throughout his whole life, he was controlled and protected by his recording company. He earned a huge sum of money for his company and for himself, and was a super idol throughout his life time. Even when he was overweighed and in bad shape, people still believed that so long as he shut himself up in the recording studio, he would sing some beautiful songs that could lift people’s soul and spirit. Even after his death for half a century, his image still appears in different kinds of products. Until now, he and Marilyn Monroe are still the irreplaceable sexy symbol in the European and American music and film world. Regarding his private life, Elvis was almost secluded from outside, but in his private world, he had no scruples at all. From the very beginning, he did not have to put in too much efforts. Lyrics and melodies of his songs were relatively simple yet fine and perceptual, also very typical, and possessed a special kind of magic power, especially conformed to young people’s rebellious personality. The whole world was really rocked and rolled by his music. Because of this, he in fact became a priceless commodity. In his music and especially in the massive Hollywood movies, he unceasingly duplicated himself in order to guarantee a profit, until one day he was tired of doing so. In the later period of his career, he attempted to make some changes, but was not too successful, as a result he went back to his old route. When he was not making movies, he would appear on television. Even so, people were still full of hope and anticipation, until at the end they had to face his departure with sadness.
Leslie was different. His delicate and handsome face along with talent in music did not really bring him any immediate success. He strove for eight years before holding his first personal concert. Another big difference is that from the very beginning, Leslie resisted to be used and controlled by other people. Before 1989, he was dominated by his recording company. Majority people did not believe that he would give up everything to retreat at the very peak of his career, yet he really did so. His reason to come back to the showbiz afterwards was not to earn a living or to make a profit like the other ordinary performing artists did. Regardless of the 1989 final encounter concerts, or his come-back in 1995, Leslie had only one goal, he wanted to be himself, to do something that he liked to do, to be a “fucking good artist”. He indeed had achieved that goal by using his own power and strength. The pressure that he faced was different from Elvis’s, although it was just as severe. Elvis’s pressure came from how many copies of records he could sell and how good the box-office record of his movies was. Yet for Leslie, he had to face with his own image being twisted and smeared by the media. Throughout his career, he had always been on his own, a lonely individual facing disputes and criticisms from the outer world.
A very important reason to compare Leslie with Elvis is that in definition both of them were idols of true significance. Both of them led the trend in music. For 20 years, their good music emerged one after another incessantly. However, their own charm and charisma from beginning to end had been more glamorous and alluring than their music. No matter what kind of Elvis’s music you are listening to, be it fast or slow, his eminent hip-twisting movement as well as affectionate- or sly-eye expression will spontaneously go into your imagination. Leslie was more so, no matter how pleasant-listening the songs were, no matter how beautiful the stages had been decorated, they could never surpass his own charisma which would affect audience’s emotion greatly and melt their hearts. In particular, when Leslie sang other people’s songs, that feeling was even more intense. It is very difficult to tell precisely what special characteristic or quality these two people possessed that could challenge people’s innermost feelings and emotions. External factors like perfect outer appearance, uninhibited temperament, exceptionally gifted voices, etc., are possessed by all other entertainers as well, but only Elvis and Leslie could simultaneously take people, with different demands and requirements, to a facsinatedly state. Moreover, without the need of singing or saying a word, simply did something casual, audience’s mood would be stimulated and they would follow them involuntarily.
However, Leslie obviously had more self-awareness towards innovation and change in music. The media once queried about his 1997 concerts since no one could forget the Leslie in the year 1989. Radically he did not have to add any new tricks or new elements to his 1997 concerts, all he needed was simply sing some old songs, then the audience would be satisfied. Injecting new elements into the concerts would have gains and losses, then why took the risk to do so? Until now, people will still sigh and wonder what made Leslie decide to come back when thinking of the indefinite ordeal he had endured mentally and physically. Since he understood full well that an entertainer should retire at his most glorious moment, then why afterwards he could not be as natural and determined as he used to be in 1989? No one can answer these questions. Just as an internet friend said, “The absolute real Leslie has left behind a lot of puzzles for us to solve. However, there will never be any answers to them; or perhaps the answers to those questions have already been staying in our hearts unobtrusively and imperceptibly.”
Perhaps Elvis was not too happy after all, but he had never had much restraint in his private life; that is to say, he could have many different ways to vent his emotions without the fear of affecting his image. Even though he might face dreadful void and loneliness after numerous absurd behaviours and actions, it still could not match the depression that Leslie had suffered for 20 years. From a certain perspective of significance, Leslie’s depression could be said as the prime culprit that led him to give up his life, however, it could also be a kind of wealth for him. The illness of depression, or perhaps the so-called source of pain and agony is actually a kind of calmness and consciousness, a kind of extreme sensitivity towards the essence of human nature, a kind of thorough understanding towards the meaning of life …. Leslie had said so himself that an actor must understand the nature of human being, that way he could make some of the characters that he played more persuasive as if he had injected life into them. However, if an actor was too involved in the characters, then he would be possessed by evil spirit, that’s what we call “evil in the heart”. Perhaps that is the reason why whoever possesses big wisdom will probably attach to some kind of religion at the end. Seeing Leslie in extreme pain and agony in his final days, his good friend Alan Tang Kwong-wing tried to make him see the bright side of life, but when Tang was speechless, Leslie said to him, “You thought you knew them all?”
Of course, I do have some reservations towards the way of seeing things because no matter who he is, so long as he exists in this world, he is merely a mediocre individual, with seven-emotions [footnote 1] and six sensory pleasures [footnote 2] interacting. If he can find a gap, it will not be hard for him to reach a certain state of balance, and there is no need to go to extremes. One thing though is certain about this tragedy. Psychological studies of nowadays came from the Western world, attention paid to the Chinese people is by far not sufficient, that probably is the reason why even the psychologist was unable to cure him. Besides, Hong King is a place of extremity and complexity. For those who believe in Western medicine will at the same time consume Chinese herbs; and those who seek help from psychologists will also ask for assistance from Wong Tai Sin [footnote 3]. It is probable that Chinese medicine and Western medicine may have opposite effects; similarly, psychologists will never agree with Wong Tai Sin as they hold different opinions and never trust one another.
FOOTNOTES:
Note1: Seven emotions are happiness, anger, sorrow, fear, love, hate, desire
Note 2: Six sensory pleasures derived from the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind
Note 3: An immortal, one of the most popular gods in Hong Kong
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