The Awakening Story

Foreword
Since there are already many summary essays out there, I choose to take a different approach for this review - an approach very different than what you normally read. Because I don't have a lot of time to write review for every single series I saw, when I do, I want to make it worth my time writing it. So in return it would worth your time reading it. Thus, my analysis offers something else for you to think about.

In this analysis, you will find that I make close observation to only a few characters and some specific scenes. This does not mean that the rest of the series or other characters are bogus or has no hidden messages in it. Due to my time, and space limit, I can only tackle a few major points/characters. I hope to leave room for you, as a reader, to interpret it your own way if mine is so much to disagree with yours.

Lastly, I understand that this psychoanalysis maybe too political and harsh for some of you, but it is the way best expressed in my arguments. Take it not personally. Take it an awakening approach.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An Awakening Approach

Nowadays, few TVB series could gather a heavy acting oriented cast. There have been attempts to gather such a composition, but most groups turn out to be a popularity-oriented cast, in which the actors are popular but not necessarily actors who can act. The Awakening Story (hereafter TAS) caters a diversity number of talents that help a potentially great plot to stand out in series of its time.

Not Your Typical Family Drama
The family-style plot gives great affection to the Asian communities who favor the essence of family and unity. There is a universal agreement that says: to be the best is to be your own kind. In this way, the west admires the east's Confucian society because that is our best export. Similarly, the east admires the west's liberalism and modernity because that is their best export. In the last three decades, TVB series produces many modern TV series that modeled on the west's way of life. Increasingly, the series caught up with the trend to create stories about medical technology, detective criminology, business ideology, and so on. But all of these are not originally our kind, at least not the way TVB has been modeling on. So TAS, like most other series, offers a family ritual to bring the plot closer to the primarily Asian audience. This is what TAS has as its strength.

Alright, so you think it is a typical family drama, but there are more about it that you might have missed. The series pinpoints the strength of unity that is increasingly lacking in modern Asian families in developed urban areas such as Hong Kong, Japan, as well as overseas. Many may not notice this because most people I have come across overlooked the sociology behind each series but primarily who's dating whom, who's ending up with whom, or who should have more screen time than whom. Trivial questions have driven them mad. The strength of series like TAS is the social machine that drives the families together. In TAS, it is less so done through mushy conversations like it usually does, but achieved through the length of time. Sixteen years in length, the Suen family basically has been waiting for a corpse to come alive. It is a hope that could easily falls apart no matter how virtuous you think your family is. Medical cost alone can be a major force to break a family in worse condition.

In practice, with the growth of capitalism'the values of the traditional family system have rapidly broken down. As a result, there is little solidarity amongst family members. Few family members chip in when a health emergency strikes or when a family member is seriously injured or disabled.

As you can see in TAS, Phillip finds a new companion, Susan. Ah Yan and Stephen divert their care to self-socialization. Rose is the only person that remains faithful to her hope; to keep the family together. But Rose is not just a troubled and depressed daughter who is selfish and desperate for her family to be together. She represents the increasingly lacking adhesive that keeps a family together. Rose is the adhesive because we see how she patrols between her mother's sickbed and her office's desk most frequent in her sixteen years of grief. This shows a struggle that our Confucian society is being torn apart by the modern society and capitalism that encourages us to have a social self-image of individualism, and tells us to be materialistic'Get this new outfit! Attend this concert! Listen to this CD! Watch this movie! Buy this car! Purchase this house! Make that much money! Achieve this position! You may never notice this, but watch how Rose lives her life in the first few episodes. At work she eagerly helps her father. She dresses professionally and attends social functions with distinguished individuals. After work, she invests her time nursing her mother, watches over her sister, brother, and grandmother. Rose's role outside of work is similar to a typical, traditional housewife.

Ah Suet is not just a semi-dead body, she is the Confucian society left behind by the modern capitalist society. Sixteen years ago, a traditional housewife on her way back from shopping for her children got hit by a taxi'automobile is a symbol of western export'and put her into a coma. In other word, the west attacks the east. Years after, her body lays there on the bed, showing that family value is still being practiced, but perhaps it is dying or decaying, or have never improved in a heavily modernized society like Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, Phillip quickly emerges to the modern society after his wife becomes a vegetable person. He finds a new companion and skyrockets his career. His new companion, Susan, is the western modernity that has the essence of success at the cost of dehumanizing social kinship. Susan tries to influence Phillip with her western and liberal ideas. She does not value long time friendship with Alan like Phillip does. She does not like food purchasing on the street because they are dirty, not realizing that is the authentic way of Chinese shops. In this way, Rose's role of the cultural adhesive signifies her pulling together Ah Suet counterpart of a Confucian society and Phillip counterpart of a Chinese society being influenced by western ideology.

Meanwhile, Ah Yan and Stephen come and go without much care. They represent the new age of na've and clueless young adults being torn apart by western and eastern values. They exert their care only when a matter gets serious, otherwise, they would mind their own business and enjoy themselves. They are responsible and obedient children to their parents, but also self-centered individuals striving for their own dream despite what their parents have prepared for them. That is not to say western ideology of family value is bad. However, I am willing to argue that western ideology focuses on the individual. Everything is about me. I want this. My need is the most essential.

On the other hand, eastern ideology leans toward community as a whole. Everything is for our sake. We want this. Everyone matters. Therefore, throughout the series, Ah Yan and Stephen switch back and forth between these two cultural clash ideologies. Watch how they deal with the cultural adhesive Rose. It's very interesting if you look at it closely enough and find yourself surprised at all the motifs and symbolic details that suggest what I am saying. Hence, TAS is not a typical family drama because it has a sociology dogma entrenched in its character and plot.

Cons of Individual Showcase
Throughout the first half of this series, TAS gives a brilliant analogy to the sociology of urban Asia. But up to the moment where TVB gives Ah Suet a makeover, it becomes a disaster! Until the makeover, Ah Suet is intelligently portrayed'entails many great symbolic messages behind her character. However, the makeover reveals that this person is no longer Ah Suet, this is Liza Wang. Liza Wang is a strong, independent woman who is supposedly kind and loved by everyone around her. Moreover, Liza Wang is well dressed and understands matters better than everyone. That's nothing like Ah Suet. The showcasing of Liza Wang is particularly irritating and ruining everything.

Two reasons that weaken Ah Suet's character after her makeover. First, it shows that a person who is old-fashioned in term of external appearance will be fooled by bullies, rejected by their husband, and always need to be cared by men (Stephen or Ko Sir) or modern working women (Rose, Ah Yan, or Susan). Second, it is not realistic that a beauty parlor to its patron can substitute the role of Professor Higgins to Eliza Dolittle (reference to My Fair Lady). I will explain each of these reasons in details.

Ah Suet before the makeover is a slow person, bullied, rejected, weak, and naive. All these qualities can be reasonable for a person who is sixteen years behind contemporary society. Symbolically, traditional family value is being revamped throughout the universe by both east and west cultures because of the increasing rate of divorce and family breakups. Thus, the portrayal of the na've Ah Suet makes sense because supposedly the system is still shy from the powerfully cynical modern society.

It would be brilliant if the series had allowed Ah Suet to adapt to modern society, still dressing like an old-fashioned 'si lai.' Instead, the series let Ah Suet to change herself externally. A poor ideology came along: as long as she looks hot, everyone will change their view about her. Gee, what does that say about our social self-image, I wonder? The disaster is that Ah Suet, the traditional family value counterpart, is being sold cheap to capitalism.

Now, one may argue that Ah Suet updates herself to the new society so that she could fit in and still be an excellent housewife'hence, modern society. That may be true, that we need to update our traditional value to fit with our new way of life. But the way TVB is doing says you have to look great in order to be witty, smart and be accepted. So, I guess you can say that this part is badly portrayed.

Ah Suet after the makeover does not do stupid things like before. In fact, she is pretty damn smart'in terms of business planning, she is smarter than Susan and Phillip, and in terms of family values she is smarter than Granny and Rose. Up to this point, the whole concept of her being a traditional value counterpart is shattered.

It is as if the character Ah Suet has disappeared all of a sudden! Liza Wang is taking over, and Liza will be playing herself. It's a ridiculous individual showcase that is not necessary.

Moreover, given that Ah Suet transforms herself from stupid to cupid, I would like to know which beauty parlor has the power to change, not only her external appearance, but also her voice, walk, and the whole damn ideology she somehow adopted after the makeover. Fortunately, the series offers such a great group of talents that despite the failing Ah Suet-Liza transformation, you would still enjoy this series with great pleasure.

Oscar, Anyone?
The best part about watching TAS is the acting. In fact, I dare say it is 'the best' in 10 years. If you don't agree, email me and I will return to you a ten-page analysis on why I think so. I'll make you read until you drop dead :D

It is no use for me to describe each character's performances because that is redundant and perhaps my descriptions won't be able to match up to each of their brilliant performances. I will comment on several noticeable performances and their strength.

Maggie Cheung actually has a supporting role in this series. Despite the nature of her role, I give her even more of my utmost respect for taking a smaller role but with immense challenges. In scenes where Maggie is merely a flower vase to react to the other characters, her performance is rather subtle. But in scenes where she is the focus, she shines like a nuclear bomb exploding in the ocean. For example, in scenes like when Dickson breaks up with Rose, when Rose confronts Ah Suet about her father having an affair with Susan, or when Rose gets upset with her family for tolerating the divorce, Maggie shows a poignant poise in her eyes. This poise convinces empathy without weeping herself all over the place to beg for sympathy, which many actresses use it to get away from being called 'bad actor.' In this sense, Maggie plays her character well for she allows her character to tolerate failures, disappointment, and anger in the body of a woman with strengths.

She is not merely a self-centered and bad temper bitch that many may have described her character in this series. Because one's strength does not necessarily have to be shown to through facial expression, dressing code, or decision-making, but also in handling challenging matters. In the end, you see Rose come through most of her problems, each with effort of holding back her tears. She cried only when she forces herself to, otherwise, Rose never intended to weep because there is no use. We remember Rose advises her brother, 'If you do a good job, it's your responsibility. If you do a terrible job, nobody will feel sorry for you.' Indeed, Rose lives by that dogma. She feels that it's her responsibility to take care of her family. When her family breaks up, she feels that she has failed, but she knows damn well nobody will feel sorry for her so she leaves her family to gather herself together.

People like that do not cry for support even in their worst stages. If they do cry, it is to let out their anger, not to make themselves look pitiful. At her wedding, Rose managed to speak with her greatest emotion without making a mess out of herself. Because Rose has the strength that holds the east and west values together, even though it is weak at times, but she holds on to it. This also shows that the adhesive that is still holding both customs is still managing the two intertwined cultures.

Louisa So once again proves that she is more capable as an actress than one could imagine. She should be considered a leading actress in this series. Why is she still labeled 'supporting actress' I recommend you to ask the geniuses at TVB. Ah So's performance can be considered flawless in this series. Absolutely brilliant! In fact, I am willing to make a far-fetched statement as to say she has what it takes to be an Oscar contender if given the right role. The role Susan is probably one of the best Ah So got. Coincidentally, most of Ah So's best performances are linked with Maggie Cheung, namely "One Good Turn Deserves Another" and "Plain Love II" of their many collaboration. Ah So proves that a good actress does not have to be famous. Likewise, a famous actress is not necessarily a good actress.

Ah So's acting is matured with details and affections. What I mean by that is even the slightest tweak on her eyes or the smallest coarse in her voice that seems so natural are important parts of her acting. Ah So doesn't read from the script, she acts out her character. And she acts out from the heart.

Unlike Maggie, who still acts using facial features, Ah So has emerged to act with her soul. Some people would dismiss that statement as: Whatever that means. But if you are fortunate to see Ah So's performance as brilliant, more power to you. Perhaps this is the goal that Maggie can set to improve. In this way, it's rather hard to describe Ah So's incomparable acting through my simple words. I would not conclude that Ah So's acting 'is great' or 'the best' because as generic and repetitive as it may have sounded upon being used by other fans to their idols, whatever the performance is really like, her acting ability is beyond words.

I would leave it where I anchored my comments on Ah So's performance, that is to say her capability to handle acting shall be rewarded one day if she continues to be offered in-depth roles like this. Whatever the rewards may be, money, fame, or respect, Ah So knows she is capable because she has a love for acting, not to be popular.

Other cast members including Liza Wang, Damian Lau, Helena Law, Patrick Tang, Tavia Yeung, and Joe Ma among gave equally excellent performances. But I choose to mention Maggie and Louisa in details because, undeniably, they gave the best performances. If I were to host my own award show, Louisa So would be Best Leading Actress, with Liza Wang behind her tail.

Best Leading Actor would go to Damian Lau, and no competitions there.

Best Supporting Actress is rather a tough call because there are great ones in this series. I was thrilled that Helena Law is not typecasted as a spooky old lady but a feisty Granny who exerts many great moments in the series. I was contended to find newcomers are not all that bad with Tavia Yeung's performance. Alright, she's a bitch in the series, that's so me sometime. I just have to laugh it off and applaud her for taking on a decent approach toward the role. She plays the role so sincere I would have trouble imagining Tavia as anyone else but Ah Yan in real life. There is a charm in her acting that tells me, this is the kind of potential that will grow, and one day will burst to surprise everyone. And this should be the kind of potential actresses TVB should invest more on, if their eyes and brains are being well treated. No, I would not consider Myolie Wu's performance in this category because her performance is very weak compared to this strong cast. But I would consider Lui Yuen Yan, who play Fong Shing Him's mom. She is a terrific actress not just in this series but variety of other productions as well. Unfortunately, does not give her more room to showcase her talent. So surely Maggie gets Best Supporting Actress.

As for Best Supporting Actor, it's really a competition between Patrick Tang and Joe Ma. I would give it to Patrick Tang even though I love Joe in here. But the script does not allow much exposure to Joe's performance. On the other hand, Patrick gives an astonishing performance as the quirky Stephen. What really surprises me is that there are times Patrick's performance seemed to be attacking Liza Wang's and Damian Lau's performances. It throws me off the chair some time. But that doesn't give him the ability to be better than everyone else. Patrick still has a lot to improve because he has rich potential. Like Tavia, Patrick manage to pull off his performance in a natural essence, giving him a decency which is lacking in most newcomers who are, who are rushing for stardom, but too busy worrying about their cosmetic fa'ade and plastic idol image.

Almost Perfect, Almost
If you have made it this far in my lengthy analysis, kudos to you. TAS has an almost great script if time were given to polish and detail the twists and turns. Unfortunately, TVB standard is limited (in their control) and they have ruined the plot by neglecting details that can enhance this potentially brilliant plot to only an average storyline that gets you by the hours without beating your head over the television set.

There is a reason why you see and hear people saying this is the best-written TV series in the past year. Well, not the best, I would argue, but best among the series of 2000-1? Hell yeah. Feel free to take it up with me, my email is up above this page.

What I do not like about TAS is the drags on Liza's and Damian's screen times, particularly Liza's, while cutting short others' screen time. And I am not specifically talking about Maggie. Yes, yes, I am wiling to say Liza Wang and equally Damian Lau are good actors, but TVB and producer Poon Ka Tak must know that a great production entails group work, not individual showcases. Most importantly, it weakens the production when there are too many unnecessary shots that show a character's emotion or shots of Liza (and Damian) talking nonsense about her strength. Strength and emotions need not to be told or explained, it should be showed in the length of time and conveyed in the stepping-stones of decision-making. Maybe Liza has something to learn from Ah So and Maggie. Damian is fine. In fact, I feel guilty not claiming that he has also given an excellent performance. But hey, I've already given him my Best Leading Actor award.

So, is TAS worth a shot? Definitely. Find it boring as you may, but surely you'll be entertained with brilliant performances you can rarely find nowadays.

As similarly stated in my review for Plain Love II, I don't easily give an excellent series a high score because I do believe one day there will be an opportunity for me to give it to the perfect series. I have not seen such a perfect series in the past 15 years. Although I was disappointed with several flaws that could have made the series much more brilliant, I enjoyed this series very much. Meanwhile, I encourage one to look closer at this series or any other series and try to find meanings behind it. It's a wonderful experience and very healthy as well.

Screenshots (TVB's Awakening Story Official Page Copyrighted).