Arts Revies: Lianspeak and Desperate Housewives

Review 2 along with a few other issues on- The archetypical Ah Lian description of herself, the example being discussed as displayed below...

_[[0nce up0n a tym..
_[[iin a haut3ed h0use..
_[[live a pwiink sk3elet0n pwincess..

On the outset we would all obviously denounce this as absurdity to the extreme, typed by a hopelessly bimbotic...no to be bimbotic implies that the person has at least some looks to be proud of. Pehaps like my sources said you may call her a "Asia Living Dead Doll", and immediately proceed to denounce her as being desperately in need of the cleansing fire of "intellectualism", and proceed to sanctify her as she has already been done. I'm currently not interested in lengthy moral debates asking whether such a process is right or not but to look at her, or rather such, writing. Is it Art? Immediate answer is obviously no. BUT is there any reason as to why it might be considered Art? A breakthrough from the dull monotonies of the English Language? An ingenious idea to replace letters with numbers? Neat comparison of herself to a "skeleton princess", implying not just how she feels deadened by her boring life, but also how strong the bond of love between herself and her "prince" is that it could survive even in the after life-just like Antony and Cleopatra in Shakespeare!?!?!?!

I'll first clarify that I'm not going to start trying to convince everyone that nestled within the Ah Bengs and Ah Lians of Singapore are a few budding William Shakespeares. No it should go without saying, but probably goes better with saying that she was just riding on the current trends and following her teenage instincts. Thinking of her love for horror movies caused her to use the word "skeleton", being typically girly to the point of nausea made her use "pink", and absurd visions of grandeur made her call herself "princess". Besides, SHE was definitely not the one to invent the letter-number writing style AKA leet speak. Neither is it likely that she was thinking of such complex associations when writing that.

Value is attributed by the person who is doing the valuing. And the fact that the person who created this did not have such interpretations in mind when she wrote this does not make the possibility that the passage may be Art any more remote. Like John Carey also said, it is impossible for an author's intentions to be used as part of our judgment of whether something is Art. Do the Art Galleries in the world all display along with their pictures descriptions of the author's intentions? Do we know what Shakespeare thought of his plays when he wrote them as we study them? All that exists is some hazy mental picture of the artists being awfully Literary people-simply because we hear everyone else saying they are. Similarly, all we have of this girl is the preconceived notion that because she types like that she is retarded and anything that she craps out is thus likely to be equally so. Yet we have already seen that it is possible for one to drag something out of it, and on such grounds, declare it a work of Art!!! I know, the association of yourself as being a "pink skeleton princess" sounds just plain stupid to me as well, but remember that I am going to avoid emotions in my judgments because each person's emotions are coloured by what they have seen and heard. Imagine an intelligent being discovering this sentence 500 years in the future. It's novel, probably totally unlike anything they're used to. True, it's stupid, but it sure gives a lot of laughs! (It certainly did for me.) The person who wrote it must have been a good comedian! Not to mention that something Literary can be found in it. Indeed a true gem-IT IS THUS A WORK OF ART!!! With this absurd but nevertheless plausible possibility in mind, we are confronted some very interesting issues.

First, recall the net-name of the guy behind the delightful Intellectum Vaide Amat. Fr057m0un3- aha I FINALLY GOT IT. I digress. Its leet speak for those who haven't noticed yet-a point I'd like to elaborate further on here. Furthermore. we all know about how Leet Speak is very commonly used by the so-called retards of Singapore. Yet I doubt that anyone is running away calling Fr0 a retard for his use of Leet Speak in his nickname. No, obviously, the difference between the use of Leet Speak in Fr0 and in Beng/Lian Friendster Profiles is the fact that the former is actually able to use it sensibly and properly. Yet the Fr057m0urn3s in this world are outnumbered by the Bengs/Lians 10 to 1. The result is hence that Leet Speak has earned for itself a reputation of a quintessential component of retard vocabulary even though it is indeed a pretty ingenious and inventive way of typing. Purists of Leet Speak may even go so far as to accuse the Bengs/Lians for desecration of the language.

It is, however, in Singlish where this effect of desecration may be even more pronounced and subtle. Many, me included, cherish it as a quintessential component of Singaporean vocabulary. Yet it is seen as the language of Coffee Shop Assistants and people who've not half a brain to learn proper English. Yet it can be used to interesting effects-and not just needlessly and incessantly in Phua Chu Kang. Check out Rockson's blog-perhaps not the best of examples, or any other blog that liberally uses the language in good humour for that matter. No, neither Leet Speak nor Singlish deserve the reputations that they have. Rather, it's the effect of exposure to the masses, and especially to the masses that ABUSE it that is responsible. Indeed, French novelist Gustave Flaubert once said "Equality is slavery-that is why I love Art". Schopenhauer, I hear, also once said that "the most excellent works of every art, the most notable productions of genius must always remain sealed books to the wide majority of men, inaccessible to them, separated from them by a wide gulf, just as the society of princes is inaccessible to the common people." Is this why they made these statements, lest these noble works of Art would have their style copied and desecrated by the masses?

The UK may not be the best place to say this, but I never really thought that monarchy or the idea of nobility was a very good ruling system to have. To become superior just because of your blood? Ridiculous. Neither do I agree with the rest of what Schopenhauer says actually. What's wrong with sharing a good work of Art with everyone else? What is the use of locking it up in a dusty cabinet until it grows mould? Indeed, I think they were "masturbating their own egos" when they said this, the usual superiority complex that one gets because he, unlike most of the rest of his lesser fellow human beings, can appreciate "true" Art. But even if Art is desecrated to this extent-should people, even the "retards", not be able to appreciate the Art along with everyone else? Indeed, I see no point in one spending his effort creating something and yet not see it spread. Heck, if Singlish and Leet Speak were NOT used with the magnitude that they are now, I think they'dve been forgotten LONG ago! Spread the good news, and help Art abolish, in Capek's words, "boredom, anxiety and the greyness of existence"!

The second issue the Lian description being called Art raises is the fact that just about ANYTHING can then be called Art, because ANYTHING can have SOMETHING drawn out of it!!! Hence, this review on whether something should be called Art is effectively meaningless because ANYTHING can be called it! Even, as we have seen above, something that is simply crass and stupid which someone spun off at the top of her head. Like I had earlier demonstrated in my first review of Harry Potter (And having finished the 6th book be sure that I shall come back to it!), all that is left to do is bring in emotions. But the thing is, as you would have seen, there are many different angles that one may view something as, any of which may not be as clear-not to mention that we forget to look. All I can do to stop this calling of everything Art would be to judge by MY standards. Inevitably emotions will at some point be brought in but oh wells, I don't think that can be helped.

Thus my final answer as to whether I will consider this Art? Well, not like there are THAT many things to delve into. Entertaining concept it indeed is, but I think there are so many other things out there that are much more so. Though by my standards there is indeed something to talk about in this, that really is all there is to it. It's frankly not much to shout about. Hence, sorry Miss (or Mrs?) Pink Skeleton Princess, you were interesting to look at, but no.

Review 3 on: Desperate Housewives, in honour of Julian's request.

This was aired on public TV here when I still had school. Hence I missed many episodes because I was too occupied, not to mention they changed the time it was being shown and left me lost for quite a while. But I watched and remember enough of it to be able to talk about it. Oh and on a side note, I actually mulled over the possibility of giving the material below as some kind of comedic presentation as a substitute for playing the piano on the last day of term, but ditched it on the grounds that only Lit students would possibly find the idea of relating it to our Lit text funny. It is good to know the idea as not been wasted though.

First thing about Desperate Housewives is the fact that it is entertaining-and entertaining enough for me and it seems a lot of other people. It was a nicely woven story that was able to link at least 4 plotlines together, ad finally merge them in the last few episodes to form the dramatic conclusion that the viewers had all been waiting with growing impatience for. Indeed, I think this is the epitome of good serial TV popular culture that I had been trying to find 2 entries back. It is the type that requires viewers to religiously follow the story and be able to recall specific bits of the plot anytime in order to truly understand it. Indeed, with my lack of information on it I was often hopelessly lost. Yet it was still by and large suspenseful, delightful to follow and an overall joy to watch. Unfortunately I cannot elaborate much more on this aspect because of lack on information, but I think if we made high entertainment value one criterion for everything trying to claim the title "Work of Art" from me, I think this one makes the cut.
The second and perhaps more interesting thing is that it is a nice representation of many of today's things. I've already mentioned it as belonging to the upper cut of Popular Culture, but also the many ways female attitudes are being represented here. I am in fact reminded strongly of Return of the Native (Again!). Off the top of my head I can think of 3 similarities between the two.

-Both Serialized when released to the public.
-Both talk about Love in terms of what it was like the stories were written.
-Both paint a reasonably accurate picture of the general perception of women at the time.

Particularly notable are the last 2. Contrast both together and you can have quite a bit to talk about. For those who haven't read ROTN, conventional women were portrayed as being submissive creatures, the best of which were commonsensical and didn't care much about passionate love, just as long as their husband doesn't cheat on them. In contrast Desperate Housewives (DH) has women who are more Eustacian (unconventional) than Thomasin-like (conventional). The opposite of everything is in fact true. Love and sex to them forms a sizable chunk of all their lives and hence the show. They now have more authority in marriage than before, and play a much bigger role. Furthermore, lines of so-called conventionality are no longer clear and you can't single out anyone as being wholly conventional OR unconventional here. It is another representation of how diverse women’s' roles have become, and the fact that their stress has actually been prominently acknowledged in the programme has shown how they have in fact gained much more of a say in the family. Their roles are also neatly summed up in each lady-the one whom Teri Hatcher plays (forgot her name) being the part that is still stuck in passionate teenage love dreamland, Lynette being the one who is going mad because of the kids and her husband's possible affairs elsewhere, Bree being the one a bit excessively chastised by her husband but still straining to remain rational amidst the chaos, and so on. Every single facet of life that women have to go through has been magnified and represents a slice-albeit exaggerated for dramatic effect-of a modern woman's life, of what they supposedly think they go through everyday.

You might at this point reasonably object that all I have done is written a paragraph that could continue rambling about women then and now. And well, the thing is, I think it is the fact that they have captured all of this so neatly in show form, chucked that into a blender along with a nice storyline, turned that blender on and not have ended up producing a big mess quite an admirable feat. For is it not this fact that makes certain works of Literature appealing-the fact that the author stays so true to his/her emotions? I think I have seen pretty much enough of other soaps here like "Neighbours" and "Home and Away" to know that not every show has done it as effectively as this, as they end up sounding unoriginal and boring. Desperate Housewives, I may even go so far as to claim, has by taking the thrills of a drama and the typical "average person and love"-ishness of soap operas ended up being what I would consider to be the defining programme of popular culture. Admittedly enough if you are actually looking for the Literary value of Shakespeare, I advice you to go and watch one of his plays instead. Desperate Housewives does not relay on this to on its claim for a Work of Art. It comes up triumphant in other areas, and by virtue of these other areas I would pretty much believe that it is worthy of the term.

That's all I can do for today. Goodness I've been at the computer for the whole darn night! Nevertheless I do think this a much more effective way of spending time. Oh wells, comments and suggestions please!

PS: Julian, Inuyasha 1-9 is now with me. Reviews will follow when I can think of something.