Chapter 9 Chapter 8 Beauty, beauty, shape, and size: Leslie Cheung's stage art

First of all, I would like to quote a few important words from my brother, and then I will discuss about my brother's artistic achievements on stage.My brother once said that an artist can only be successful if he can achieve "beauty, beauty, shape, and size", whether he can be a man or a woman.How many quarters of "Jiao", "Pretty", "Style" and "Inch" can you achieve?My brother did it 100%. In "Ming Pao Weekly" in 2002, my brother mentioned this important sentence when he was interviewed by Lin Yanni. He said: "I think an actor is androgynous and ever-changing...It's a pity that the Hong Kong market is just a swarm of trends and a swarm of models. That is not my ideal." The androgynous performance that my brother mentioned is an important concept, and it is also reflected in his stage art, which I will discuss with you later.

The other two passages are taken from English newspapers and magazines, one is "Times Magazine" and the other is "South China Morning Post". In 2001, he told the reporter of "Times Magazine" that he was closer to bisexual (two-sex), and he liked the actor Leslie Howard in "Gone With the Wind". He thought the name Leslie was very neutral, so he used it. the name.Another report in the "South China Morning Post" ("South China Morning Post") is also very important. He said that he "more myself as Leslie instead of selling an image". He lives very sincerely. The space of the stage and the space of the film It is integrated with daily life.He mentioned that in the 80s, in order to take into account his image as a pop music singer, due to the needs of the market at that time, he could not say too much about his own orientation and what he liked, but now he has gone all out. In the 1990s, my brother said that he played the role of Leslie every minute. Whether in movies, stage, or music, we can see that he has changed a lot. He no longer needs to worry about getting older and many things have reached a certain stage.His open mind has influenced his stage and film performances after the 90s, reaching a higher level in acting, which is very different from his early performances.

The elder brother is able to transcend the secular boundaries of men and women, showing the third, fourth, and even more possible gender spaces, combining the dual characteristics of androgyny, so that there is softness in masculinity and strength in softness.The biggest influence he brings to us is the femininity of men, because in the eyes of ordinary traditional people, men should be majestic, or in the form of "heroes don't flick their tears easily", but he doesn't mind showing femininity and tears or even It is the form of passion, and he fully develops the other side of the masculine qualities.In acting, he has gone beyond the scope of men and women, and created a new gender profile—a man can be very charming, and he can also be tender.Sometimes he uses stage space to perform, sometimes uses movie characters to express, and sometimes expresses in daily life.He once proudly said that he is the most beautiful man in red clothes. Traditionally, red is often considered the color of women. Let’s take a look at what he wore when he attended the screening of "Different Space" and Japanese fans. Red jacket, no one can have his taste.He has broken many of our secular boundaries and taboos. He has done all the things that men cannot do this way and that way, and he has done them beautifully.

This kind of performance, words, deeds, and art forms, for our Hong Kong society, a society dominated by heterosexuality, a society with many taboos, concerns, and prejudices against same-sex relationships, there are many "interferences" in schools, families, education, and the media. "style" interventions have created a lot of pressure on my brother, but he still goes his own way under the pressure. The song "I" is very obvious, I AM WHAT I AM, this is what I am.It can be seen that after his return to the stage in the 1990s, he faced it bravely. This is an important step, and it has also opened up a very important gender space in Hong Kong pop culture. This is his greatest contribution and a lifetime achievement.

The "beautiful, beautiful, shape, and inch" mentioned by my brother can be seen in this long fur-like dress he wears.Fur represents elegant women, high society, and "high fashion" (high fashion) clothes, but he can wear them the same way, and men can also wear them with an elegant taste. In my understanding and point of view, I think that my brother is in Hong Kong, and even the entire Chinese region, including mainland China, Taiwan and overseas Chinese markets. From the historical perspective of popular culture, I believe that Leslie Cheung is the first pioneer.If you look at him in the entire history of China, I believe that my brother’s achievements are not inferior to Mei Lanfang’s. , I believe that what he has broken through and what he has done are also unprecedented.Different from Luo Wen, Luo Wen can be very "beautiful" and "stylish", whether "pretty" or not, "inch" or otherwise may be judged by everyone. In the history of pop music in Hong Kong, Luo Wen has its own importance. In Hong Kong's overall development and nostalgic culture, I still affirm Luo Wen's achievements; compared to this, Leslie Cheung has made more steps, because his brother has the space and achievements of movies. relatively large worldwide influence.In terms of the interpretation of different roles in movies, especially the expression of gender-crossing, at present, I can't find a second one that can replace him.

Brother mentioned the so-called androgynous interpretation method, let’s look at his performance. This is a modeling photo of "Happy Together", which was edited and deleted by Wong Kar-wai in the film.My brother mentioned that an actor should be kaleidoscopic and androgynous.Androgyny means that a person has both masculine and feminine qualities that can appear at the same time and complement each other at the same time.The first person to put forward this idea was Virginia Woolf, a British novelist. She mentioned the characteristics of masculinity and femininity. The combination of the two characteristics in the same person can create higher creativity and power, and the expression can be more powerful. Perfect, she said on a writing level.And Leslie Cheung is reflected in the stage and performing arts. Leslie Cheung mentioned an androgynous performance of an actor, which actually refers to how to show the different aspects of human nature in a more comprehensive way in a role playing (role interpretation). There are flexibility, masculinity, and rigidity, or the two interpenetrate, and the third type of traits appears, etc. How does a man express the obsequiousness of a woman, and how does a woman express the fortitude of a man? Movies such as "Zha Xie" can fully embody the characteristics of androgyny.

Let's look at my brother's androgynous performance on the stage.One is his stage costumes in the 2000-2001 Passion Tour concert, because that concert caused a lot of negative criticism in Hong Kong local media, but was highly praised overseas, so we can see the superficiality of Hong Kong media, even The kind of ignorance of some so- called (so-called) fashion designers.In fact, you can see how my brother handles the whole idea and the cooperation with French fashion designers. The other is the MTV segment of "Resentful Man", which is about changing clothes, expressing the consciousness between changing clothes and changing gender, let's see how MTV expresses a story of identity change.

Let's watch the Passion Tour concert first. My brother is so honorable that he was able to invite the famous French fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier to make six sets of clothes for him. Jean Paul Gaultier is known as a bad boy.The whole concert is actually a very complex stage art, which includes the combination of stage, theater, fashion, story, music, and performance. Jean Paul Gaultier himself is a very important fashion designer. There are his characteristics in the history of fashion, and let’s talk about his history first, so that everyone can understand the purpose of his six sets of clothes. ), the remarks of men wearing skirts for performances.

Gaultier is best known for "mixing and matching" male and female clothing symbols, which he was almost the first to do, and for combining "high fashion" and "street fashion" (street fashion) Together they make for a kind of amalgamation of the ragged and the noble. Gaultier was influenced by the feminist movement and the gay movement in the 1970s. Madonna's underwear is a great masterpiece created by Gaultier. Gaultier had several series in the 1990s, called "Fatal Man" (fatal man), "Pretty Boy" (beautiful boy) and so on.This is the name of his fashion series brand in the 1990s. The brand was cited just now. In fact, all of them can be called the image design of his brother's Passion Tour concert. The feature is to re-develop and re-express the fashion culture in the post-modern period.

Let's take a look at Gaultier's clothing design pictures, these clothes are worn by my brother at the Passion Tour concert.This is a pair of men’s culottes. What my brother wore in the first concert was actually a skirt. After being photographed in the “disappeared” photo, he changed to wearing culottes from the second show, which originated from Gaultier’s fashion in 1985. series.Another picture is the long velvet jacket worn by my brother at the end of the Passion Tour concert, which was designed by Gaultier in 1996-97.This picture shows hermaphrodites, it is difficult to tell whether these two are male or female, Gaultier wants to do another form.From a cultural point of view, clothes obviously tell you the gender of the person wearing them, what social class he is, and his age; the androgynous approach is to "disrupt" the clothes of men and women (Miscellaneous), in the Western fashion concept, it is actually not easy, after a long time of struggle (struggle).

Women used men's clothes, which existed in the early days, such as strong women's clothes and women's suits; but it is very difficult for men to use women's clothes, because many social taboos are not allowed, but Gaultier is very bold, men wear skirts ( In fact, men in ancient Greece wore skirts and even gowns) These dresses crossed genders. Men can also use necklaces, accessories (accessories), braids, and long hair, which subverts what men want and what women want. Everyone crosses over , and then seek and discover that there can be another side that is completely different in each person's idiosyncrasies.We assume (assuming) that she is a woman, but she may be very masculine and masculine; we assume that he is a man, but he can be very charming, very delicate, and very gentle.These pictures are to give you a background (background) to know Gaultier's fashion history. He mixes, mixes and collages the past, present and different ethnic minority costumes, no matter in color, cutting (cutting), The use of fabrics is very bold and innovative, and the clothing of men and women is freely used without boundaries to make new forms. The whole story of the Passion Tour concert is from Angel to Devil (from Angel to Devil).Now show six pictures of my brother's clothes.The first one is a white feather dress, and a white angel, which symbolizes a kind of purity, very pure (pure), very simple (simple); the second and third are beautiful boys in the world, in the form of Gaultier's "Pretty Boy" , the first one is an ancient Egyptian pattern silver see-through shirt, the upper part is the ancient Egyptian design "Cross the Culture", and the lower part is black sailor pants; the second one is a Greek shell shirt, which he wore in the first concert The one I wore was a skirt, which was changed to this pair of culottes after being caught in the "disappeared" photo; the third stage became a Latin lover, a golden red suit, followed by a black see through (perspective suit), and a tight (Tight-fitting) trousers, patent leather and glossy, made into sexy (sexy) and erotic (erotic) forms, very attractive, is the object of desire or the person he desires.He is on stage to show you, to show you, to give you a desire for him and to make you feel that he is "beautiful", so that you can be fascinated by him. Angel fell into the world and became a beautiful boy, and became a very attractive, very erotic, very sexual (sexual) lover.Finally, there is Devil. When he was wearing the red jacket, he also drew a devil symbol on his forehead. This Devil is in a magical and phantom state, very self-indulgent, very addicted, and shows a very magical power. In fact, the entire concert is rare in the history of Hong Kong concerts. It is a kind of theater, with stories, succession and transition. Clothes are used to tell the story, to tell the growth of a person, from a simple Angel to the world. It is a growth story to become a Pretty Boy (a very beautiful boy), become a Sexual Object, to confuse people, to be fascinated by people, and then to become a devil to control people.In the history of popular music in Hong Kong, I believe that no one has done this before. The whole stage design is a dreamland (dreamland), enough to see my brother's "beauty, beauty, shape, and size". It can be male or female, showing male Wearing a series of cross-feminine clothes and his long hair, but his body line is masculine, very strong after working out, his voice, even he has a little beard, wear these clothes as a man, To show male femininity, he is not imitating women.At the time, he said: "I'm not imitating a woman, I'm expressing as a man that clothes can be displayed like this." You can revisit the clips of "Debauchery" and "American Pie" in his Passion Tour concert.You can pay attention to the clothes we mentioned earlier and his body gesture in the picture. Leslie was studying in the UK. Although he did not complete the entire university course, he studied textiles (textile) and fashion. His father made suits and made suits for many famous stars. In fact, he has that background and is interested in fashion. , has a strong sensitivity to clothes (sensitivity), and he asked Gaultier to design clothes for him. I firmly believe that he knows what Gaultier has always been playing. Something that has never been done in a Hong Kong concert.My brother has a strong awareness in this regard. He usually reads a lot of books, absorbs a lot of different knowledge and understands a lot of different cultures, and can understand how to cross gender boundaries.At that time, I was very angry with some local media and those so-called fashion designers who came out of nowhere, saying that he wore old clothes, that Gaultier refurbished old works, that men should be masculine, that my brother has mental problems, and so on.The comments of these local media have now become a historical archive, and their ignorance has become a good negative teaching material for social research. Afterwards, the concert will be toured in overseas places. In Japan, Canada and other places, the concerts are highly praised.I remember when I went to the concert, my sister went to enjoy it with a foreigner from other places. He said it was fantastic (wonderful). He didn’t understand Cantonese, but he felt that the whole stage was very visually appealing to him. Shocked, he said that apart from Japan, people in Hong Kong can also do the same, because Japan has a long history of inverting gender on stage, and he was shocked by the fact that Hong Kong also has such performances. It is a pity that Hong Kong has such a level of art, but those media do not know how to cherish it.In this concert, my brother used his body as a weapon to show that clothes and gender can span men and women, times and regions, history and culture, to express the highest state of androgyny of Gaultier designers, and to combine androgyny in Expressing this kind of power with one body completely smashes the fixed boundaries and even rigid limitations of men and women, ignores secular concepts, opens up a new space to express new gender identities, and resists a lot of prohibitions an ideology of society. The last part I want to talk about is the MTV "Resentful Man".When I watched this MTV, I found it very entertaining. There is a story in it. Many viewers will appreciate the openness and cross-space of the screen when watching it.This MTV describes a group of men, and the words are written by Lin Xi. Lin Xi is my senior brother. I believe he likes Zhang Ailing very much. The name "Resentful Men" may come from Zhang Ailing's novel.It is traditionally accepted for a woman to resent a boudoir, but for a man to resent a boudoir must be denied. Lin Xi wrote this song "Resentment for a Man" for her brother to sing, men can also have a boudoir grudge, and they can have a secret grudge. If there is no love, a man can also be melancholy , my brother can sing that taste. MTV borrows a group of men who may be lawyers, professionals (professionals), and technicians during the day. After work at night, they take off their ties, suits, and clothes that symbolize their professional status, and put on what they like. Clothes, some shinning (shiny) clothes, scarves, earrings, put on makeup, go out "wet" (have fun).Watch out for the MTV story and brother's provocative performance as he shows off his body, "beauty, beauty, shape, size" all inclusive. In MTV, you can pay attention to brother’s clothes, the silver make-up, men changing clothes in the bathroom; there are many symbols of clothes, including clothes, accessories, accessories, makeup, perfume, liquid soap, etc., they are expressing The liberation of sex at night. There is a very important idea in the MTV of "Resentful Man". Men can yearn for love, and they can yearn to be loved. My brother said "more myself as Leslie instead of selling an image" and hope others care about him." "Love" can't be too much for him; in this song, males are abandoned, loveless, lonely, and how they make themselves happy. Clothes and gender awareness in MTV is very strong, social taboos, some clothes are not for men to wear, some colors are not for men, some people will make irresponsible remarks and criticize men for "camp" (female type) ), and even suspect their orientation, psychology, and family problems... MTV has wigs for decoration, a large bunch of gold chains, and the elder brother's neck is full of gold chains. How the world sees him is another matter for him , how he wants to express that situation with "changing clothes".The famous writer Virginia Woolf said a very important sentence. She said that gender is like clothes, which can be replaced at any time.Think back to my brother’s red high-heeled shoes at the 97 concert. In the end, he lay on the ground and changed those shoes. He wanted to tell the audience that gender is like clothing, which can be replaced.In daily life, you will wear some clothes in the morning; you will wear certain clothes to certain occasions; you will have other choices for a certain mood and certain weather. That is self-identity, which is expressed from the inside out .MTV emphasizes that men are restricted by the social system during the day. They may be lawyers or plumbing technicians. Clothes must be related to their occupations. Clothes are a symbol to represent them. This is helpless to frame them.My brother expressed liberation on MTV. They took off their tie, their daytime clothes, and the things that bound them. They left a body and redressed themselves. They could do whatever they wanted. Makeup and wigs are fine.I think this MTV is important and shocking. Another emphasis is on reemphasizing the dominance of the male body.The current media, especially the popular media, likes to peek at women's bodies. In recent years, it has been found that men's bodies are being peeped at. Any exposure or dew point will be photographed and magnified. The body is shown on MTV, it's definitely "naked bodies" (nude), there are a few shots of the brother and the whole dancer changing clothes, there is even a scene where he just took off his clothes, showed a little, and has a tattoo , very provocative, glanced at the camera, very cute, very powerful, very captivating.Changing clothes and dew points actually express that dressing (dressing up) is a kind of pleasure (pleasure). MTV content expresses men's self-appreciation of their own bodies, and many of my brother's clips have this form. In Guan Jinpeng's "Boys and Women" short film, the brother said that he is a narcissist, and he fell in love with himself in the mirror. There is such a conscious scene in "Days of Being Wild".Men may change their clothes because they are "greedy" (love to be pretty), or because they need to dress up, which can be a kind of pleasure.Why can't men be "greedy"?Why can't men be openly "greedy"?This information is important to society. There is a scene on MTV where you watch and indulge yourself in the bathroom, change some clothes made of feminine materials, and change your image. In MTV, the elder brother has a wonderful interpretation, consciously, there is a symbol of sexuality.In fact, there are other ways to interpret these images. Maybe it’s a group of professionals who go to a different environment from their daytime work at night, maybe night clubs (nightclubs); maybe it’s a lonely man who finds a place where he can gather. or they work part-time as gigolos, because they are seen counting banknotes on camera; men can do things that are considered taboo, and the space at night is completely opened up, expressing that a male body can use another form, program to show.The nighttime becomes a liberated space expressing masculine needs. The last thing I want to say is that I believe that my brother has become a legend (legend), and it is certain that in my opinion, no one can replace him.His hard work and development on stage and film, I hope someone can carry on the past and forge ahead.In the past so many years, my brother has gone through many different stages; when he came back in the 90s, he was very clear about his ideals, his choices, orientation, and the social pressure and taboos he would face; but he wanted to go further far, farther than others.With the efforts of my brother, it is very difficult to open up a more gender-diverse cultural space in Hong Kong. I hope that future entertainers and Hong Kong media will cherish this space more. Go, because this success has not come easily. The manuscript is compiled from Dr. Luo Feng's speech at the "Lifelong Accompanying Leslie Cheung" - Reminiscing Leslie Cheung's Artistic Life Symposium hosted by Brother Hong Kong website on September 12, 2003.