Chapter 13 History of the Wax Museum

After the sixth Madame Tussauds in the world settled in Shanghai, "Andy Lau", "Audrey Hepburn", "Liu Xiang", "Bruce Lee" and "Nicholas Tse" gathered together, and the newspapers published the wax figures of the new stars every now and then. But it didn't take long for British writer Kate Bridge to launch a new book "The Wax Figure Myth: The Life and Legend of Madame Tussauds", which tells the life of Madame Tussauds.It turned out that she made her fortune during the French Revolution, and the "business" that made her "go to glory" was to make statues of innocent souls under the guillotine, so that the revolutionaries could take them for exhibition.This "business" is too time-sensitive, so she often needs to go to the guillotine and cemetery to pick up heads in person, so that she can make a prototype of the wax figure before the head rots and deteriorates.

Wax figures are more eerie and unsettling than other dolls.It is lifelike, but without blood and flesh; it is lifelike, but not infused with soul.The whole thing is in likeness and non-likeness, in being and not being.No wonder the 1953 classic horror movie "House of Wax Museum" used "wax figures" as horror material, with a first-class horror atmosphere.And in the era of lack of photography technology, using it to make portraits of death row prisoners has a first-class deterrent effect.However, even if you have felt its weirdness for a long time, once you know that there is such a past in a wax museum dedicated to celebrity statues in gorgeous costumes, your old heart is really shocked.

I think of Kubrick's "The Shining". The large-scale and imposing resort hotel is actually built on the Indian cemetery, so that every time the mountains are blocked by heavy snow and tourists disappear, the hotel becomes the world of ghosts. .Of course there is a metaphor for American political history, but looking back, behind all the splendid, solemn and elegant things, there may be such an unbearable past that adds weight to a certain metaphor.So, don't look at the back room when you eat (the Peter Greenaway movie "Chef, Thief, Wife and Lover" has a wonderful portrayal of this), don't ask about the past when you are in love, and don't think about the bloody diamond mines in South America when you wear diamonds (Leonor Do DiCaprio's movie "Blood Diamond" can also be used as a textbook), when wrapped in fur and holding a glass of wine and laughing, don't think about the wailing of animals when they are skinned.Madonna, Catherine Zeta Jones, and Carina Lau appeared to be kind, pure, and perfect before they came to us. They have experienced conspiracy, struggle, and tragedy. Enjoy their Mood for Love.

Moreover, to be able to come to today and successfully clean up and abandon the past, one must have some skills and some ability.Just like Madame Tussauds, who once made statues for the members of the French royal family, the Great Revolution came, and she was doomed, but the revolutionaries needed her, and she survived, even though she was imprisoned for a while, she still survived.She survived until the revolutionaries were also guillotined.Because, someone still needs her.The mountains and rivers changed color, and the sea of ​​blood was surging. With such a strange skill, she lived to be ninety years old.Therefore, the shoemaker will not die, but the general will die. The authority of the man of the hour is no match for a small mace.