Feb 14, 2009
I am writing in response to The Monday Interview with Jack Neo (Master Of One, Life!, Feb 9).
In it, he talked about Eric Khoo's film Mee Pok Man and implied that he could have done a better job by making the movie in a more comprehensible way.
I was appalled by Neo's apparent belittlement of the film and its director.
His comment is uncalled for, particularly when he is a Cultural Medallion recipient.
I would expect him to have greater respect towards the work of his counterparts, especially when he himself had said in the interview that he felt sad when his work was criticised by movie reviewers.
This leads to my second point. I personally agree with the unfavourable reviews of Neo's movies.
As a Singaporean who advocates good local movies of a high quality, I am very frustrated and upset with his simplistic way of presenting storylines that reinforce stereotypical ideas.
In my opinion, this does not advance the nation in any way, be it culturally, intellectually or spiritually.
William Soh
[Chill dude. First, I wasn't interested in reading the interview with Jack Neo. I like some of his movies, but many are formulaic and trite. Entertaining enough, but not "must-sees" so no interest in finding out more about the man. Then this "reprimand" for insulting Eric Khoo. Again, Khoo's films are either incomprehensible, or self-indulgent. I went searching for the interview to see what were the "implied" insult.
All I read and interpreted was one's man internal dialogue as to how films should communicate with the audience. On those terms, I would say the Neo communicates with the audience better than Khoo and on that basis, makes more engaging films.
Some critics may say that Khoo makes more artistic films, better films. Whatever. But Khoo's style and film is not going to be the future of Singapore's film industry. I hope Neo's films are not the future either. But the future will be decided by whoever can engage the audience better. Neo does that, but his reach is limited, and I am not sure if his films are fully representative of Singaporeans, or just the Channel 8 set.]
I am writing in response to The Monday Interview with Jack Neo (Master Of One, Life!, Feb 9).
In it, he talked about Eric Khoo's film Mee Pok Man and implied that he could have done a better job by making the movie in a more comprehensible way.
I was appalled by Neo's apparent belittlement of the film and its director.
His comment is uncalled for, particularly when he is a Cultural Medallion recipient.
I would expect him to have greater respect towards the work of his counterparts, especially when he himself had said in the interview that he felt sad when his work was criticised by movie reviewers.
This leads to my second point. I personally agree with the unfavourable reviews of Neo's movies.
As a Singaporean who advocates good local movies of a high quality, I am very frustrated and upset with his simplistic way of presenting storylines that reinforce stereotypical ideas.
In my opinion, this does not advance the nation in any way, be it culturally, intellectually or spiritually.
William Soh
[Chill dude. First, I wasn't interested in reading the interview with Jack Neo. I like some of his movies, but many are formulaic and trite. Entertaining enough, but not "must-sees" so no interest in finding out more about the man. Then this "reprimand" for insulting Eric Khoo. Again, Khoo's films are either incomprehensible, or self-indulgent. I went searching for the interview to see what were the "implied" insult.
All I read and interpreted was one's man internal dialogue as to how films should communicate with the audience. On those terms, I would say the Neo communicates with the audience better than Khoo and on that basis, makes more engaging films.
Some critics may say that Khoo makes more artistic films, better films. Whatever. But Khoo's style and film is not going to be the future of Singapore's film industry. I hope Neo's films are not the future either. But the future will be decided by whoever can engage the audience better. Neo does that, but his reach is limited, and I am not sure if his films are fully representative of Singaporeans, or just the Channel 8 set.]
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