悼米高積臣

日前在facebook 選了五首米高積臣歌曲﹐完事後發現﹐Thriller和Bad小弟只各選了一首﹐其他三首都是米高少年時﹐甚至童年時的作品﹐內容簡樸﹐有小大人的作狀與純真﹐不外乎歌頌愛情友情之類。小弟喜歡米高的﹐原來不是Moonwalk﹐不是音樂會高速射燈﹐歌迷昏倒的畫面﹐都是那些陳年「兒歌」型態的東西。這讓小弟想到﹐一般西洋流行曲名家﹐隨年齡漸長﹐不是愈來愈深邃(例如Zappa)﹐愈來愈扮野(不能盡錄)﹐就是愈來愈行貨(例如滾石)﹐愈來愈無聊(例如Bowie)﹐而米高積臣卻反其道而行﹐他的歌曲是愈來愈幼稚﹐例如同樣說世界大同的大道理(像Lennon)﹐從We are the world﹐到他後期直書heal the world, make it a better place﹐for you and for me and the entire human race......﹐這些信口開河的順口溜﹐任何高中畢業﹐16歲以上的歌星唱出﹐恐怕也難逃假撇情﹐假純情之譏﹐不是太陽計劃主題曲﹐就是政府宣傳propaganda﹐像看完《變型金剛》﹐有智障滿場的感覺﹐但由米高操著那副可遇不可求﹐閹伶(Castrato)一樣的聲線娓娓道來﹐又會讓人覺得有份真情﹐恰如其份﹐比Silly love song高一級。童星出身是包袱﹐但於米高積臣而言則未必(不計他個人心靈肉體傷害等等)﹐八公八婆加諸米高的譏罵﹐除了獵奇心態﹐是他們情感記憶裡沒有這塊少年/兒童米高的板塊﹐聽米高的歌﹐他們只會冷言冷語﹐不會觸動﹐即使他們很懂得拾人牙慧﹐恥笑他是變態畸型彼得潘(然而事實上﹐兒童的彼得潘﹐想與其他兒童結伴戀愛甚至大被同眠﹐像大雄與靜宜﹐像韋小寶與阿珂﹐像阿嬌與Edison﹐像哈利波特與妙麗﹐像寶玉與黛玉﹐又「錯」在哪裡？)。由是﹐小弟看到日劇あいくるしい的高瞻遠矚﹐米高歿後﹐再聽Ben﹐﹐更是別有意思：most people would turn you away, I don't listen to a word they say, they don't see you as I do, I wish they would try to, I'm sure they'd think again, if they had a friend like Ben.....從前覺得是摯友對談﹐現在再聽﹐不是更像歌友給米高積臣的祝福嗎。

罵人的藝術

得利麥當奴

昨晚看了《毒食難肥》﹐論電影水平﹐不是那麼好﹐事實我也看不完﹐但離場之後﹐竟然真有點「媽媽﹐我餓但我吃不下」的感覺﹐考慮以後食齋﹐那小弟猜﹐純以踢爆速食文化的恫嚇性而言﹐還是有效果的。要寫幾句最懶惰的觀後感﹐恐怕像那些週刊影評﹐又是「看完再吃不下漢堡包」之類吧。值得一記的﹐是看電影時﹐小弟身旁坐了三條辦公室打扮男女﹐許是剛下班未吃晚飯﹐捧大堆速食進場﹐再來大盤爆谷﹐紙杯汽水。光陰似箭﹐片子看了一半﹐銀幕上有媽媽哭訴兒子吃了含菌牛肉慘死﹐銀幕下三男女還在大吃特吃﹐真讓我感歎﹐那些熱狗茄汁什麼的﹐真是King Size得多麼離譜呢。有趣的是﹐同一部電影﹐幹嗎有些人如坐針氈(後座OL得戚耳語：所以我從來唔食免治牛呢)﹐看完吃不下晚飯﹐有些人卻能笑嘻嘻﹐邊看邊吃漢堡包呢？

箇中因由﹐看看得利發行的預告片(與美國原版trailer完全不同)﹐可能略知一二。港版沒前奏﹐一開波就直入戲肉(死人榻樓)﹐然後大堆數字(糖尿病)﹐末了拍片人飽受政治壓力(官商勾結反轉法治)﹐然後大字標題「直睹全球豬流感爆發源頭﹐墨西哥恐懼鬥室式屠場」﹐聳人聽聞﹐比蘋果日報略無遜色﹐只說明了﹐至少在發行商眼中﹐這根本就是「恐怖片」﹐因此有人一心一意進場看Torture porn﹐邊吃杯麵﹐邊看人電鋸開腦﹐又何罪之有呢。隨著特區youtube化﹐真實與虛幻的界線愈來愈含糊﹐對著麻木不仁的新新人類﹐台上賣藝的人﹐不語不驚人死不休(米高摩亞立下極壞的先例)﹐真不知如何令台下人腎上腺昇高。小弟可以預言﹐這類恐怖食材+政商陰謀片﹐只會愈來愈淪落到姑妄言之﹐姑妄聽之的都市傳說(urban gossip)﹐例如茶樓恐怖糯米雞製作指南之類獵奇範疇矣。

還有一件令人氣憤的事﹐不能不提﹐影片指名道姓向McDonald's、Burger King(以及美國其龐大食品公司)等等開火﹐勇氣可嘉﹐發行商既有膽識將影片引進特區(小弟相信其他亞洲地區都不可能)﹐中文字幕卻含糊其詞﹐竟然將「麥當勞」之類隱去(而數不盡的觀眾偷藏麥記食品進場!)﹐一方面可證政商娛樂界大串連﹐一方面掩耳盜鈴﹐欺我特區劣民不懂番文﹗ 可怒也﹗還以其人之道﹐我要說﹐某電影發行商﹐Shame on u﹗

一週一健談 #2

The Missed Train
Chip Tsao

Call it a brutal massacre. Or call it a military crackdown. Or to be more officially correct, call it the "June 4 Incident". Does it matter? The shocking events of that night 20 years ago are becoming, sadly, an irrelevance not only in China, but in the rest of the world.

Chinese students these days would rather hate the Dalai Lama than remember and sympathize with the martyrs who died in the name of democracy 20 years ago. Hilary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi have either dropped on repackaged the sensitive term "human rights" when dealing with their Chinese hosts on their pilgrimages to the Middle Kingdom. Britain and Europe turn to China for financial bailouts or more trade agreements to bolster their post-financial crises economies. The Chinese people had a golden historic opportunity to change their own fate 20 years ago. They might have inspired the people of Eastern Europe or the late Soviet Union, but that was a dream realized by others. The Chinese people missed the train - and the world has since moved forward.

This is the grim reality one has to face while crying over the spilled blood. With Machiavellian hindsight, one could say that had the students in Tiananmen Square been purely driven by political calculation rather than romanticism, they would have gotten the message from their primary sympathizer within the communist leadership, Zhao Ziyang, and the peaceful demonstrations would have ended before it got worse. This would have helped Zhao survive and buy time. Had passion given way to rationality, the student leaders would have perhaps realized that the carnival-like show they had started was, like Cinderella's ball, subject to a time limit, and democracy was never like a graduation party or a fairy tale.

History is always a big "what if?" question. According to historian A.J.P. Taylor, if the chauffeur of Crown Prince Franz Ferdinand made a right turn on their way the new town hall in Sarajevo, he would have escaped this fatal assassination, thus preventing Word War I. The recent publication of Zhao Ziyang's memoirs adds a nostalgic footnote to such tragic cynicism. We have to wake up to the sad fact that it is up to them - the Chinese people, yes, THEM - to decide what kind of fate they will embrace. If they generally agree with the notion that being well-fed is more important than being free, as Donald Tsang put it, then sobe it. A post-1997 Hong Kong is now in a different game. You missed the last train at midnight, and there's no use to stand on the empty platform crying over your expired ticket. All you need to do is buy another ticket, be calm, and wait for dawn.

八九常用語

看了這段影片﹐意外找到了一些湮沒了的八九年香港社會集體常用語﹐例如一：「袁X 仆街死﹗」(01:12)﹐還有二：「李X 下台﹗」(01:22)﹐只可惜欠了三：「打倒鄧 X 楊集團﹗」。

一如陳奕迅《H3M》大碟﹐以一曲《Allegro, Opus 3.3 a.m.》暗寓解放軍6月4日零晨3點半清場﹐趙哥說的「晚上的3、4點」﹐「電視還是亮的」(0:24 - 25)﹐鬼故事指涉的﹐非關貞子﹐是當年的香港人的集體經驗：凌晨時分全民不睡﹐電視機不分晝夜時時開著﹐一邊流淚﹐一邊從千里之外謝志鋒電話傳來卜卜卜﹐萬里無聲除了鎗聲﹐呆看昏黑的熒幕。

鬼故事的結局﹐「結果當天晚上」﹐「電視就再也沒亮了」﹐就像那部小說名稱 - <什麼都沒有發生>﹐除了非常後現代﹐要隱喻的﹐是袁X所謂﹐清場期間「沒有軋死軋傷一個人」了。趙哥要我們想起﹐在那前網絡時代﹐電視這媒體﹐造就了八九年的風起雲湧﹐一些人高歌統一﹐一些人血流成河。

趙哥一開始大叫「氣死我了」(0:04)﹐就像坦克朝人民英雄紀念碑長驅直進前的一聲清嘯﹐要調侃的﹐當然是那個被非常有型的﹐穿睡衣開會吾爾開希﹐氣得拍了桌子的總理李X。那康永哥委婉地請趙哥下台﹐所謂「請坐」(0:00)﹐想觀眾聯想到的﹐自是當時民眾高舉的標語：「小X你好﹐請你下台」了。

看過查良鏞小說﹐說不定會記得「揚州十日」、「嘉定三屠」﹐康熙明君繼位善待被害遺屬﹐替父順治帝贖罪﹐中天電視不避替封建帝王張目﹐裏通共匪的嫌疑﹐替節目命名《康熙來了》﹐有其深意﹐自是期待胡溫新政﹐博厚寬仁﹐終有一天﹐替高度自治的香港特區﹐解開熒繞廿載的六四心結。

有人說「在流行文化裏把六四偷運進去，是整個不得不見利忘義的流行工業必要的良心懺悔」﹐究其實﹐春城無處不飛花﹐除了「見利忘義」的曾凸首﹐良心人人有﹐今年特別多﹐看在有情人眼中﹐六四代碼﹐無處不在﹐又豈止存在於那些黃耀明、陳綺貞之類的鳥唱片裡呢。