April 28th, 2007 More Movie Talk

Scottish students in my class all love Trainspotting. Their favourite part of the film seems to be where the boys are out for a walk in the mountains and Tommy says “Doesn’t it make you proud to be Scottish?” The reason why they love it is, of course, Mark’s wonderful reply:

It’s shite being Scottish! We’re the lowest of the low, the scum of the fucking earth! The most wretched miserable servile pathetic trash that was ever shat on civilization. Some people hate the English. I don’t. They’re just wankers. We, on the other hand, are colonized by wankers. Can’t even find a decent culture to get colonized by. We’re ruled by effete assholes. It’s a shite state of affairs to be in, Tommy, and all the fresh air in the world won’t make any fucking difference!

While I’m envious of all the fresh air they’ve got, the Scottish students, and also the tutor, actually agree with Mark. It’s amazing how they identify themselves with it. Trainspotting is definitely one of my all time favourite films and I’ve watched it many times. However, I would be lying if I said I could fully understand the Scots’ sentiment when they watch that part of the film.

Therefore, on we go, I tried to think of films or film quotes that I can identify with. I did not succeed, instead, a friend of mine reminded me of a funny quote from a local film regarding university students. A little bit of information here, the film is called “AV”. It is about a group of university graduates who borrow self-employing funds from the government to make porno, while their real intention is, merely, to get laid. This is when a middle-aged man raps in Hong Kong English to the students.

You selfish generation!
What the hell you are doing? you know? huh? Where is your dignity?
Your generation upset me!
You upset all the Hong Kong people, and all the Hong Kong uncles.
All you want is nudity, sexuality, sex and the city!
You fucking stupid generation!

I am not entirely sure if I can identify with this and it actually creates a more comic effect than anything. I shall not elaborate on the situation because I am a university student who is attempting to just get by. Any comment I make will sound hypocritical. But he did make a point there. It is funny how we usually recognize and identify with the sad side of things when they are brought up.

I’ve just watched another psychological thriller named “Donnie Darko”. It burnt quite a lot of my brain cells because it has something to do with science and physics. Unlike “Memento” and “Fight Club”, it didn’t make me like it that much right after watching it. I sat down, grabbed something to drink and tried to work things out a bit. Now I’m starting to like it more.