Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Golden Horse Awards - Will Fann Wong get a 2nd chance ?
I read in the Straits Times today that the made-in-China movie "Tuya's Wedding" that was nominated for several awards including the Best Actress category in Taiwan's Golden Horse Awards has been withdrawn from the competition for political reasons. So that leaves a vacancy for the Best Actress category.
So will Fann Wong get a chance at being nominated, just like her co-star, Gurmit Singh in the Jack Neo movie, "Just Follow Law" ?
I guess we'll have to wait and see...
Incidentally, an ongoing online poll shows that most people think that Fann deserved to be nominated more than her co-star Gurmit in the movie. What do you think ? There's still time to vote (on this blog).
So will Fann Wong get a chance at being nominated, just like her co-star, Gurmit Singh in the Jack Neo movie, "Just Follow Law" ?
I guess we'll have to wait and see...
Incidentally, an ongoing online poll shows that most people think that Fann deserved to be nominated more than her co-star Gurmit in the movie. What do you think ? There's still time to vote (on this blog).
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Monday, October 29, 2007
Harry Potter and the Hallowed One
While we're on the subject of Harry Potter, the following is a review of the latest book "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by JK Rowlings that I first wrote for Helium:
The other day I attended a meeting where the main point of the meeting seemed to be to talk about the agenda for the next meeting. This reminded me of the opening scene of Shakespeare’s Macbeth where the 3 witches gather and say “When shall we three meet again in thunder, lightning or in rain ?” - which was essentially planning what to do at their next meeting. Which reminded me of other wizards (e.g. the Wizard of Oz) and witches (e.g the Witches of Eastwich) or that witch played by Nicole Kidman in “Bewitched” which Hollywood has dished out for us through the ages.
Thus when the Harry Potter series appeared, the world was mesmerized by this cute lovable boy and his friends who looked most unlike the wizards and witches that we’ve all seen and heard before. The problem with this is that most people would have generally had a negative impression of witches and wizards as they were mostly portrayed in a negative light in the past - as in Macbeth. But now, with the Harry Potter series, the world has been seduced to thinking that there is such a thing as a good wizard/witch and a bad one.
The truth of the matter is that actually, all so-called wizards and witches are evil, according to the Bible. When one reads the Bible,one will see refernces where God condemns all who practice “magic arts” to hell. In the story of Moses, as seen in the book of Exodus and in the epic movie “The Ten Commandments”, there is also the portrayal of a competition between God and the “magicians” of Egypt when God strikes the Egyptians with the 10 plagues and the magicians try to do the same. Of course, they find that they are no match compared to the Almighty. While I do not expect everyone reading this to agree with me, I am just trying to put my point of view across, according to my Christian beliefs. Thus it is with some irony that the author of the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowlings should use some pseudo-Christian imagery in her books.
For instance, in her latest and final instalment in the series, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”, there is some alluding to the resurrection of Christ when Harry Potter apparently gets “killed” by his evil nemesis Voldemort only to “rise from the dead” miraculously.
Also, the word “hallows”, according to the dictionary, is actually a verb (and not a noun as used here) meaning “to make holy”. And the only other instance that I have come across this word is again in the Bible - and can be found in the Lord’s Prayer, i.e “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name….” More tellingly, one of the “hallows” is actually known as the “Resurrection Stone”.
So what can we make of all this ? Well, I won’t pretend to be able to read J.K. Rowlings’ intentions in alluding to Christianity, but I would just like to caution readers so that you’ll be more aware of these things.
The world is getting more and more complex. Everything is becoming relative- and the line between right and wrong is getting more and more blurred. I can only end by quoting again the witches from Shakespeare’s Macbeth :
“Fair is foul and foul is fair; hovers through the fog and filthy air…”
P.S. If, like me, you like to write articles/book reviews etc, why not write and get paid for it as well at Helium. Just send me your details in "Comments" and I will show you how.
The other day I attended a meeting where the main point of the meeting seemed to be to talk about the agenda for the next meeting. This reminded me of the opening scene of Shakespeare’s Macbeth where the 3 witches gather and say “When shall we three meet again in thunder, lightning or in rain ?” - which was essentially planning what to do at their next meeting. Which reminded me of other wizards (e.g. the Wizard of Oz) and witches (e.g the Witches of Eastwich) or that witch played by Nicole Kidman in “Bewitched” which Hollywood has dished out for us through the ages.
Thus when the Harry Potter series appeared, the world was mesmerized by this cute lovable boy and his friends who looked most unlike the wizards and witches that we’ve all seen and heard before. The problem with this is that most people would have generally had a negative impression of witches and wizards as they were mostly portrayed in a negative light in the past - as in Macbeth. But now, with the Harry Potter series, the world has been seduced to thinking that there is such a thing as a good wizard/witch and a bad one.
The truth of the matter is that actually, all so-called wizards and witches are evil, according to the Bible. When one reads the Bible,one will see refernces where God condemns all who practice “magic arts” to hell. In the story of Moses, as seen in the book of Exodus and in the epic movie “The Ten Commandments”, there is also the portrayal of a competition between God and the “magicians” of Egypt when God strikes the Egyptians with the 10 plagues and the magicians try to do the same. Of course, they find that they are no match compared to the Almighty. While I do not expect everyone reading this to agree with me, I am just trying to put my point of view across, according to my Christian beliefs. Thus it is with some irony that the author of the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowlings should use some pseudo-Christian imagery in her books.
For instance, in her latest and final instalment in the series, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”, there is some alluding to the resurrection of Christ when Harry Potter apparently gets “killed” by his evil nemesis Voldemort only to “rise from the dead” miraculously.
Also, the word “hallows”, according to the dictionary, is actually a verb (and not a noun as used here) meaning “to make holy”. And the only other instance that I have come across this word is again in the Bible - and can be found in the Lord’s Prayer, i.e “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name….” More tellingly, one of the “hallows” is actually known as the “Resurrection Stone”.
So what can we make of all this ? Well, I won’t pretend to be able to read J.K. Rowlings’ intentions in alluding to Christianity, but I would just like to caution readers so that you’ll be more aware of these things.
The world is getting more and more complex. Everything is becoming relative- and the line between right and wrong is getting more and more blurred. I can only end by quoting again the witches from Shakespeare’s Macbeth :
“Fair is foul and foul is fair; hovers through the fog and filthy air…”
P.S. If, like me, you like to write articles/book reviews etc, why not write and get paid for it as well at Helium. Just send me your details in "Comments" and I will show you how.
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