Memoirs of a Geisha: The Showdown

It's showdown time! Time to look back on how "Memoirs of a Geisha" has been whether it's a novel or a movie. I'll give a list for the things I liked about the novel and then for the movie and then the things I didn't like about the novel and then for the movie. (Please note that the things I state are in no particular order, whether by merit or by chronology; they're just written down as I can remember them)


The Novel: Things I Feel Strongly About...

i) The whole mizuage thing was a total screw-up. Ok, fine, so it had a lot to do with money and played a vital role in Sayuri's life as a geisha, it just wasn't, wasn't fair at all to real Japanese geishas that they should be portrayed as having a goal of selling their virginity at a high price. It completely defeats the purpose of the rest of the book trying to emphasise that geishas weren't prostitutes - it doesn't matter what price the virginity sells for - if it's exchanged for money, it IS prostitution.

ii) I get the idea that there's more to Hatsumomo's character - in fact, I'm rather fine with the idea that Hatsumomo had a failed lover of a Koichi, but couldn't more have been done to flesh out the emotions that should have plagued Hatsumomo after Koichi left? And couldn't we at least have been given an idea of what became of Hatsumomo during and after the war? The vague knowledge that she either became or didn't become a prostitute is too confusing and simply leaves the reader wondering whatever happened to her. The fact is Hatsumomo remains a very mysterious character ... or perhaps this has been Mr. Golden's aim after all. Oh my. Hatsumomo IS a true geisha after all (despite her rather wild passions? No wait, she probably has tamer passions than, say, Sayuri. Yes, I do mean that.)

iii) Why why why why why why the HELL did Sayuri HAVE to end up in New York? For the main part having her in New York in the later part of the book only serves to remind readers that an American wrote the book. This destroys the magic of the book having been set in Japan. The last two or so chapters talking about Sayuri's life in New York sounds too much like American propaganda - what with New York resembling Gion or even better than Gion or something. Sayuri is depicted as having fit into New York life like batter fits into a mould - shouldn't she, having been raised in a strict traditional geisha culture and having spoken Japanese for practically all her life, struggle for at least a good few years with communication and all that before being able to settle down comfortably? Ok, so she has a teahouse of her own, nice - but the teahouse isn't, and can't possibly where she spends all the 24 hours of her day. Obviously she will venture out, and obviously she will come into a lot of contact with the people of New York - and obviously the enormous distance between the world she came from and the world she is now should have caused her trouble or something. I know that there are restraints seeing that the book is already long enough as it is, but the lack of any explication on her life adapting to New York (and making it seem like a breeze) is almost too much of a compliment. The author appears to be attempting to praise the Big Apple to the skies instead of describing the life of a Japanese geisha living in America. STOP the ego. Please. I would rather she remain in Japan, perhaps move to Osaka or Tokyo, or even better, return to Yoroido to see how things are. I have always, always wished to read about her visiting Yoroido again, but I was disappointed because it never happened. Yoroido was her birth place, she had a childhood there, and even though her family was poor I'm sure Sayuri at least values the time when she was still little Chiyo. Bringing her back to Yoroido would be a lot more sentimental than sending her to some foreign place and then praising that foreign place to the skies when the context has always been somewhere else so far.


The Movie: Things I Feel Strongly About...

i) John Williams is an utter utter genius. Practically ALL his soundtracks are masterpieces of music beyond excellence. They evoke just the right emotions, and are befitting of the scenes that they depict or the characters that they represent.

ii) WHAT WAS THE PROBLEM WITH CHIYO BEING BORN IN THE YEAR OF THE MONKEY? WHY WAS THERE A NEED TO CHANGE IT TO HER BEING BORN IN THE YEAR OF THE ROOSTER? Bah. Westerners obviously don't find it important.

iii) NO!!! Why, I repeat, WHY, did she RELEASE the Chairman's handkerchief when she was standing on the cliff by the ocean near the end of the movie? There WAS a reason WHY she kept the handkerchief in the book - by having her release it in the movie, it's like as though SHE WAS WILLING TO FORGET HER HISTORY WITH THE CHAIRMAN! That is NOT Sayuri!

iv) No no no - why the blardy-f*** did the Deputy Minister of Finance get replaced by some Colonel Derricks? I am not, I repeat, NOT amused at all by this "stunt" by Hollywood to get some Westerners acting inside. You AREN'T everything, Hollywood - you don't HAVE to have an American in every movie you make. Having an American in the movie and replacing the Japanese Minister with an American colonel, you make Sayuri look like an absolute slut when she seduced him. And what was the heck with Sayuri literally throwing herself into the arms of the colonel? She TALKED and SEDUCED him with her words, as a geisha is prone to do - jumping straight into the steamy act without much of a word is SO Hollywood-ish. Time to expand your horizons.

v) I'm actually pleased to see that in the movie, Mameha's dance of "A Courtier Returns to His Wife" was done by Sayuri instead and Mameha's part in the dance removed. Partially I felt that although in a book this had the role of fleshing out Mameha's ability as a geisha, it would probably serve to only confuse the audience if it was included in a whole in the movie. Furthermore in a movie you have less time to catch symbolism and making Sayuri do the sad, sorrowful dance in a beautiful fall of white snow hinted at the sorrow and sadness that existed in Sayuri's life.

Bai-nianing in Progress.

And with the progress of Anglicised Chinese I am beginning to tack English grammatical affixes onto my Chinese words. What a wonderful day for language HAHAHA.

Sorry. Got a bit attached to the whole Anglicised Chinese crap.

Anyway, I'm currently in the process of bai-nian-ing (a process which probably only the Chinese will understand, and of course a process which probably only Chinese people will experience and know). I'm not blogging in my own house at the moment - am over at one of my parents' friends' house. Ok that was a very confusing phrasal noun HAHAHA.

Chinese New Year? Well it's both a blessing and a curse I suppose, and for me it's been this annual thing where lots of things happen (especially since it's probably the only time in a year I come into contact with these other kids who are about the same age as me and yet somehow just don't seem to be on the same frequency as anyone else) and it's also an especially confusing time. Tradition's one thing but people-business is also another.

Ok I'm beginning to rant. Shall stop here before I lapse into a long confusing monologue on nothing.

Finally blogging again.

Yes, it's been a pathetically long time since I last blogged. School has been taking up more time than I thought it would and most of the time I spend online is done doing nothing. I've deleted MSN and am currently using E-Messenger.net.

AND OH YES EVERYONE IT'S CHINESE NEW YEAR. HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR EVERYONE! Let's hope this year I do well for my O-Levels, I get lots of money and I get a chance to go and study overseas at last ^_^ And I certainly hope to learn more languages and write more stuff to show off hahaha. And I also hope to blog a lot more often and with more readable content. And I hope Photoshop treats me well and I roll out masterpieces like there's no tomorrow.

Anyway, the main reason behind this post is so I can post some poems I wrote (and also to wish everyone a happy CNY!). Some of them don't really set the right tone for the new year - hope that's ok, really ...


Violin
Quiet, solid darkness
Turning and turning
A turmoil in the deep, dark abyss of life
Turning
Turning
Turning…

A sudden piercing sound
A long-drawn tone
An illuminating note

My mind dances
As my vision swirls
And I
Draw my bow across the strings
Like a knife across the skin
Releasing the blood
Singing
Singing
Singing…

Filling the ever-expanding vacuum
With a pining voice
Lifting me up as the melody twists
And turns and turns
In a barrage of cascading notes
Rising
Falling
Stagnating
Changing
A note born from another note
A note dying before another note
The ascent, yes, the ascent!
The ascent of the melody
The ascent of salvation,
Lifting
Lifting
Lifting…


Breathless
Can I really breathe now?
With work and hell in tow
Countless job after job to be done
Breathless under a blazing sun

Place that here and place that there
Don’t let this vital paper tear
Careful with this it might wear
All this stuff just messes my hair

Breathless breathless breathless
Panting panting restlessness
Nothing nothing seems to be well
Everything everything screwed up like hell

I can’t stop
I can’t halt
Still I go on round and round
Like a duck-hunt eager hound


Walking through a mass of trees
Awash with bright red and green
A mix of joy and sorrow
A potpourri of colours
A beautiful falling swirl of emotions …

The wind, my companion
The ground beneath my feet, supporting me
Holding me up
Keeping me up
Stopping me
From falling
Falling
Falling…

The leaves accompanying me
In their dance across the air
A friend that in a breeze
Slowly dissipates
Slowly
Slowly…

Keep going and going
Through the magnificent autumn
Nourishing Nature
My mother
The calling wind
My teacher
The hardy stone upon the ground
My friend…

In the end
I’m still alone
Alone.


Two Haikus

冬風か？
綺麗な雪か？
静かのか？

Lightly and gently
Snow covers the barren ground
Soft white over rock

And yet MORE tests!

Yup yup, MORE tests ...

Poems.

After what seems to be an eternal age of hoo-has ever since school re-opened (what with the incident of the CCA Extravaganza and the New Secondary One Students' Invasion), I have finally gotten in touch with my muse (who is very very upset that I haven't been tickling him/her for inspiration for ages). He/She bounded around in the invisible fields of my mind for a while, happily laughing and singing before falling over in a state of excitement. Out bled the following two haikus:

Haiku 0

A small trickling start
Far I see a great river
Past the horizon

Haiku 1

Raining heavily
Drops of rain dotting the glass
Overlooked diamonds

Unfortunately at this point the poor muse needed a good sit-down, a good plaster, and perhaps a little shut-eye and decided to block out the creative aspect of my mind.

I shall see if there are any past writings whatsoever I could here.