The Social Network

Saw The Social Network last night.  Full house.

 

Have to tell you it was a great film, almost a psychological thriller in a way, and definitely a wonderful study of Aspergers Syndrome in action, but I'm sure you can read reviews of it anyplace so nothing I can say about it will add anything worth anything ...

... except ...

... watching films in a cinema surrounded by Chinese is always interesting, particularly when there's an Asian character in it, and The Social Network has Christine (Brenda Song), the drop-dead gorgeous sociopath.

And I have to tell you that when, in the film, at that very sad Caribbean party at Harvard's Jewish Frat-house, where the only women were Asian ... when Eduardo commented that Chinese girls were really into nerdy Jewish guys, there was an angry intake of breath from the entire cinema.

I've already told you how shocked I was watching "Sex and the City" when everyone around me went rigid when Charlotte's daughter Lily appeared on screen, and also how there was all this angry muttering from across the cinema while she was proving herself to be such a prissy-missy princess-type and there was definitely a subtle angry hissing through teeth when she stole the phone and screwed up Carrie's wedding.  And you should have seen the angry faces as we all left the cinema.  It was very much like they saw nothing else but this in the entire 90 minutes.

And when Cho Chang betrayed Harry Potter in, gosh, which one was it, there was a LOT of rigid anger from the entire cinema, and a lot of that angry teeth-hissing, but that could be because her parents are Hong Kongers and they were identifying and they certainly didn't want to identify with that.  Oh, and when the costumes from Harry Potter arrived in Hong Kong for the tour, thousands of Chinese went to look, as did I, and I have to tell you it was a particularly easy exhibition to get around, despite the crowds, because the only costume anyone was interested in, apart from Ron Weasley's hideous family tuxedo, was the cheong sam Cho Chang wore to the ball.

However, on the other hand, in Die Hard 4,  there was much cheering when Maggie Q was killed so violently and spectacularly, although that could be because she's American/Eurasian/Vietnamese - take your pick! - rather than Chinese.

And as for Christine, the well-presenting seriously-scary sociopath in The Social Network?  Well, yes, everyone went rigid when she first appeared on screen, as per usual, but then they settled.  Well-spoken, seriously cool Chinese lass at Harvard?  Yeah, they were definitely cool with that!

But then came the sex scene in the toilets?  Immediately, yes, there was the usual stiffening ... but it never developed into real rigidity because, I think, they factored in the fact that Brenda Song's mother was Thai and "What else do you expect from those sort of people." came into play.

So, by the time we were all aware that Christine was mad as a meat-axe and twice as dangerous, everyone was fine with it.

Interesting, huh!

Our friend Pete from Blacksmith Publishing has, only days ago, released a book of photographs called "The Eurasian Face" ...

LATEST PUBLICATIONS The Eurasian Face In these globalized times, people are thinking internationally  and no one represents this move towards diversity better  than Eurasians – those individuals with a mix of Caucasian  and Asian heritage. Once a source of shame, the Eurasian  face has become the face that sells. It is the face with which  everyone can identify. This book of interviews and portraits  reveals how Eurasians see their place in the world today.

 ... which, as you can read above, claims that this face connects with everyone on the planet and thus is the face of the future. 

However, I'd like to say this. Although it's definitely true about the Eurasian face connecting with the world, it's more likely that what it gives everyone is the Luxury of Deniability and Disownership. "That's her Irish side coming out!" or "That's her Polish side" or "Of course he's a baddie.  That's his Thai side."

So, yes, I agree that this is the face of the future because, frankly, with one of these the world's film-makers and advertisers can get away with ANYTHING!!! 

But back to The Social Network.  Great film.  Great script.  Great acting. But mostly worth seeing for Brenda Song's great turn as the psychopath Asian girlfriend.