misgivings, stereotypes and prejudices

i have always been careful not to pass any form of value judgment before i acquire a reasonable amount of information about any subject matter, mainly because i do not wish to make a biased statement without accurate facts.

a basic principle of mine, but by no means a simple task to execute. to put it concisely, people are affected by the situations and environments in which they reside and thus, are predisposed in forming perceptions about a particular issue or person with a mix of experience, inadequate information and biases. when confronted with an event that contains elements of uncertainty, people quickly conjure views that may or may not represent the event in its unbiased entirety. such views might be positive statements but they are more likely to be normative statements veiled with a shroud of deception, masking their true forms and causing them to appear positive prima facie.

that said, i make conscious attempts not to commit such logical fallacies as much as i can. having encountered and experienced the said fallacies first-hand, it is only equitable to give the issue or person due consideration (even to the extend of the benefit of doubt) when making assessments of any kind.

while advice and suggestions are usually given in good faith, it would be wise to ascertain the hypotheses and conjectures which constitute part of the kind words with material facts that are best obtained first-hand or through meticulous research, for such speculations, more often than not, attempt to sway and align one's thoughts with another.

an irritating score and more.

highest viewership in 15 years of local serial drama history...

vcds and dvds released into stores...

a pack load of controversies and discussions...

a short, 3-minute scene to tie up the biggest loose end...

if you have no idea what i'm talking about, either you don't watch tv, or are encased in a cage without access to any information, or simply living outside of singapore.

ok, ok... it's little nyonya... an overhyped topic that is already on my nerves, especially when i hear the theme song or see any of the characters on-screen, endorsing a product... mind you, the songs and commercials are over-played on every sort of conceivable media vehicle!

let's not talk about the drama itself, because there are people more qualified to talk about it. i myself rarely caught a few episodes of it, so it's pretty biased to place any form of value judgment on it. let's talk about each of my peeves, listed at the beginning of this post, one-by-one.

1) highest viewership in 15 years of local serial drama history

ok, clap-clap... after so many serial drama screw-ups and meaningless "part 2s" there finally is a reason people rush back home to watch tv again. lately, there were some other serials, such as perfect cut, that essentially "made the cut." in an article published in the evening papers, it was noted that serials which turned out popular were in fact written by third-party film production companies that mediacorp, "the biggest broadcasting station in singapore" (big f deal man), outsourced to. there were a few legitimate reasons as to why these serials were successful. one of them was that the scriptwriters were not under as much pressure to complete the serial (at least in terms of time) and hence were more able to craft a more coherent script with better lines and a fullier content.

i'm not sure if little nyonya was written by "outsourced companies." nevertheless, if the scriptwriters at mediacorp were truly competent, viewership would often appear as headlines in the newspapers because the writers are capable of churning out stories that were reasonably newsworthy (in the positive sense). thus, we won't be hearing things like "highest in 15 years" but would see more of headlines such as "highest in 12 / 13 / 14 years" (etc). this is a sign of competent scripts.

2) vcds and dvds released into stores...

standard marketing ploy, no comment. anticipating a sizeable market from the positive reactions, releasing the drama in local vcd / dvd stores is a logical tactic that makes business sense. period.

3) a pack load of controversies and discussions...

what happened to yueniang and chen xi? why was it like this / that? it's not logical that [event] should happen during that era? crazed, raped joanne produced a shinier performance than main cast? new actor dai the reason why star awards was postponed? WTF man! not that i care, but there has to be something better to write about rather than these packload of BS... how about more old men dying from viagra overdose in geylang, inconsiderate singaporeans, purely random, but coincidental lottery numbers during the new year period? gossip about female stars taking a sunbath with rich ang moh fiance with butt or boobs exposed?

4) a short, 3-minute scene to tie up the biggest loose end...

a sign of incompetent scriptwriting and a reactive rather than proactive response to the demands of the audience, the scriptwriters decided to film a short scene that served to explain the ending and give the audience a proper reply as to what happened. of course, they could include the ending as a bonus feature in the vcd / dvd and say to consumers: hey, it includes the ending, buy the disc! not exactly unique, but with youtube and the endless video editing software that one can get from the net, the ending will soon be up on youtube, myspace, google videos and what-not. if the scriptwriters are truly understanding of the audience, they should be writing a full script from the start.

in any case, the audience now remembers the serial as "one that never completely address the relationship between the male and female leads, but had to have an extra scene at a slot on sunday just before the evening news" in addition to the draggy final episode with feature-adjusted, ballooning felicia.

yeah, and they now even have olivia as a special guest for yoga lin's concert. maybe she'll sing that infamous song again, who knows? no money for guessing the correct outcome!

and here's the more...

watched the wedding with my friends last week. i wasn't particularly interested in looking at the love affair of a couple on-screen, but heck...

the story was apparently written by zhou chong qing, a fan of fann, and frankly, the script was so-so only. i don't really find the lines funny, only managed a few, soft chuckles. probably i have too high a standard about comedies? and that goes for cartoons as they are funny only because of the cute factor and nothing else - which i do not classify as funny.

i rather look at cute girls than cute animated figures.

did i just waste $10? yup, i did... but i did not know much about the film beforehand, so i can't really say anything much about it.

the movie was simply filled with product placements at every conceivable opportunity. new moon abalone and bird's nest... pokka drinks... mitsubishi aircons (not sure if have, but heck)... if this is the "insurance" that local film producers are buying in case the movie was a flop, it begs the question if the "insurers" (i.e. new moon, pokka etc) think that the placements would be effective in the sense that it would facilitate brand recall, foster brand awareness, and translate into tangible product sales - it remains to be seen. however, the endorsements do go to covering part of the cost, as well as covering part of the producers' asses if the movie was really a flop.

sidenote: for all the past local films that were made, only 3 made a profit - and that is about 30% of all the local films produced. i'm not sure if that is the expected proportion of profitable films... but i guess it does serve as a benchmark for local producers to really buy some "insurance" because the endorsing companies are likely to pay in order for their products to appear on-screen - this would contribute to part of the revenue for the film.

bottom-line: radio deejays should stick to what they do best i.e. radio broadcasting. if you have a likeable face and personality, you can go hosting. but scriptwriting... i hope not. better to keep your admiration to yourself, if you get my drift.