The Meaning Of Chow Yun-Fat (It's In His Mouth)
The Meaning of Chow Yun-Fat (It's In His Mouth)
Ultimately, it comes down to his mouth.
Chow Yun-Fat is the coolest movie actor in the world today, and the only way I
can explain this is to talk about his mouth. He does cool things with his mouth.
Smoking cigarettes is no longer an emblem of cool in the USA, but Chow does
wonders with cigarette smoke in Prison On Fire. Director Ringo Lam understands
this; like most of the great Hong Kong directors, he loves using slow motion and
freeze frames to pinpoint important moments in his movies, and he saves a few of
the most elegant slow-motion sequences for Chow blowing smoke and looking cool.
In John Woo's over-the-top classic, Hard Boiled (the ...
Want to read the rest of this paper?
Join Essayworld today to view this entire essay
and over 50,000 other term papers
|
at playing cards, but now he must be pacified by constant pieces of
chocolate that he scarfs greedily, goofy smile on his face. Blowing smoke,
dangling his toothpick, eating chocolate, or just smiling ... ultimately, when
trying to explain why Chow Yun-Fat is cool, it comes down to his mouth.
Everything I have said so far describes a subjective reaction to watching Chow
Yun-Fat on the screen. Fill in the name of your favorite actor or actress,
change the specific references, and this could be your essay. We don't learn
anything new from such subjective meanderings; we only identify taste
preferences. I'm proud to be a Chow fan, but then, I am proud to be a fan in
general. With other favorites of mine, though, I am able to get at least a
little bit beyond subjectivity. Be it Murphy Brown or X-Ray Spex, Bruce
Springsteen or NYPD Blue, at some point I can analyze my relationship to the
cultural artifact in question, place it in some cultural context, and come to
some hopefully useful ...
Get instant access to over 50,000 essays.
Write better papers. Get better grades.
Already a member? Login
|
the main villain is a gay mobster with a hard-on for Chow, and somehow
his gayness is a positive aspect of his character, unlike so many American
action films where gay means psychopathic or neurotic or evil. His gayness is
positive because he obsesses over Chow Yun-Fat; it is hard to find fault with
anyone who merely recognizes what Chow fans know in their own subjective worlds,
that Chow Yun-Fat is the coolest. At the end of Full Contact, with the villain
about to die, he tells Chow that he only hopes that they will meet in the
afterworld where they can finally consummate their repressed affair. Chow kills
the bad guy, telling him in the wonderfully bizarre phrasing so common to ...
Succeed in your coursework without stepping into a library.
Get access to a growing library of notes, book reports,
and research papers in 2 minutes or less.
|
CITE THIS PAGE:
The Meaning Of Chow Yun-Fat (It's In His Mouth). (2006, September 13). Retrieved December 23, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Meaning-Chow-Yun-Fat-Its-His/52305
"The Meaning Of Chow Yun-Fat (It's In His Mouth)." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 13 Sep. 2006. Web. 23 Dec. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Meaning-Chow-Yun-Fat-Its-His/52305>
"The Meaning Of Chow Yun-Fat (It's In His Mouth)." Essayworld.com. September 13, 2006. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Meaning-Chow-Yun-Fat-Its-His/52305.
"The Meaning Of Chow Yun-Fat (It's In His Mouth)." Essayworld.com. September 13, 2006. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Meaning-Chow-Yun-Fat-Its-His/52305.
|
Save
Report