Martial arts, spirituality, war and...
a redneck truck driver?
■ ‘Big Trouble in Little China’features
the classic villain, the stereotypical
hero, and lots of martial arts action
‘BigTroublein Little China’
irtricCrC?
By Mason West and Rebecca Wilson
Oregon Daily Emerald
With the recent success of Ang Lee’s
blockbuster “Crouching Tiger, Hidden
Dragon,” we decided to revisit one of the
earlier martial arts epics, “Big Trouble in
Little China.” This is a movie that affirms
the widely known fact that all Chinese
people know martial arts and are engaged
in gang wars with deep spiritual and reli
gious motives. It also answers the age old
question: What happens when you throw
a redneck, brazen truck driver (basically
the stereotypical male that every other cul
ture pictures) in the middle of such a war?
Of course, he saves the day.
Who could be more perfect to play this
feller than Kurt Russell? If anyone is plan
ning on seeing the upcoming “3000 Miles
to Graceland,” “Big Trouble in Little Chi
na” is definitely a prerequisite. Russell
plays Jack Burton, a truck driver who has
stopped to see his friend Wang in China
town, San Francisco. When Wang’s fiancee
is stolen by the “Lords of Death,” he ends
up involved in the war between two an
cient Chinese clans, the Chang Sing and
the Wing Kong. You can tell that the Chang
Sing are good because they wear yellow
turbans and the Wing Kong are bad be
cause they wear red turbans.
Mason — It’s so simple.
Rebecca — Yes, it is. Yes it is.
Anyway, the Wing Kong are being con
trolled by the evil Lo Pan, a man who has
been cursed for more than 2000 years to be
“of no flesh.” He has been searching for a
girl with green eyes to repeal the curse.
Wouldn’t you know it, Wang’s fiancee has
green eyes. What are the chances? So all
Lo Pan needs to do is make sure he can
tame the naked blade, marry her and then
kill her.
Mason — Funny, that’s the same thing I’m
going to have to do to pay off my college
loans.
Rebecca — That’s what I’m talkin’ about.
So, to combat the evil forces of Lo Pan
and his three super-powered henchmen,
Jack, Wang, the local sorcerer/tour bus
driver Egg Shen and the Chang Sing drink
a magic potion that gives them similar su
per abilities, which Jack demonstrates by
shooting the ceiling and having rocks fall
on his head.
We are obligated to mention Jack’s love
interest, Gracie Law, played by Kim Cattrall
who now appears in television’s “Sex and
the City,” but who we all remember as the
lovable dummy from “Mannequin.” Let’s
just say the dummy thing is a bit of a recur
ring theme in her career. Then there is the
even more stupid journalist character, who
we feel is just a disgrace to the profession.
Mason — It’s funny how I never noticed
her until now.
Rebecca — You probably blocked it out of
your memory.
But what you can’t get out of your memo
ry are those beauty quotes. Try some on for
size.
“You are not brought upon this world to
‘get it’” — Lo Pan
“How do you think I feel? I lost a whole
girl!” — Wang
“It’s all in the reflexes.” — Jack.
“All I ask in order to conquer the universe
is that you give me flesh and blood.” — Lo
Pan
“We really shook the pillars of heaven,
didn’t we Wang?” — Jack
Rebecca — The ridiculous dialogue al
most reconciled me to the exploitation of
Chinese culture. Unfortunately, I know Chi
nese people who are neither evil nor myste
rious, so some of the humor was lost on me.
Mason — Oh, shuck it, Trebek!
Putting our petty differences in racial sen
sibility aside, we have decided to give the
movie three stars. It is a classic campy film
with random monsters, to boot! Not to men
tion the invaluable life lessons that will help
protect you on your next visit to San Fran
cisco’s Chinatown. Remember: red = bad,
yellow = good.
Rebecca — I can’t believe we made it
through the entire review without making
fun of Wang’s name.
Mason — Ha ha ha, wang is slang for pe
nis.
Fresh musician s message, emotion, manner emerge
■ m neraeDUiamum,
Shea Seger offers a sense
of confusion with enticing
lyrics and novel sounds
Shea Seger ‘May Street Project’
RCA
By Mason West
Oregon Daily Emerald
As my fellow critic Dave Depper in
timated in a Pulse article a few weeks
ago, it is time for crappy pop music to
die. But although he noted that pop’s
destruction would be heralded by
third-class artists, we also have a vi
able alternative to kick the habit.
New artist Shea (pronounced
I ..
snnY-aj seger is Helping to lead us
back to the right path in music with
her debut album “May Street Pro
ject.” Here is a 21-year-old who
could very well be singing the same
hackneyed tunes with electronic
beats that pervade top-10 radio. In
stead, she blends modern musical
styles with a basic rock and blues
base and simple emotional lyrics
that we can all relate to.
Seger’s musical style is not easy
to classify except that it has playful
soul. She blends more electrical
sounds and samples here and there
with her acoustic guitar and varying
vocal styles, which range from
those of Fiona Apple and Dido.
Seger’s words can really touch
each individual, but a contradictory
feeling is brought about by the musi
cal tone’s conflict with lyrical mean
ing. “Shatterwall,” a song about try
ing to connect with people, has a
lamenting chorus moaning in the
background like a wailing wind.
Ooooo, metaphor. At the same time, a
grandmother-like voice says, “You’ve
got to go over the bridge and talk to
your neighbor.” The effect is inner
conflict. You want to listen to grand
ma and go over the bridge, but you
feel like there’s something scary over
there that those voices are warning
you about. What to do?
The songs on the album represent
these conflicts and paradoxes inher
ent in relationships by providing an
almost equal number of “Yay Rela
tionships!” songs and “Relationships
Suck” songs. I must state one of my
assumptions at this point: Everyone
is going through, has gone through or
will go through the problems that the
songs on “May Street Project” deal
with. I could justify myself, but just
believe me on this one.
The first single “Last Time,” for ex
ample, is a song about liberation, but it
doesn’t ignore the weakness that
makes it difficult to leave the situation.
As the chorus begins saying, “And if I
wake up next to you/it will be the last
time,” Seger reminds listeners of simi
lar mistakes they have likely made.
Way over on the other side of the
scale are tunes like “Always.” The
song is a duet between Seger and
singer Ron Sexsmith. During the
chorus, they both sing, “You said
you’d save me/but I don’t want to be
saved/I just want to be loved/and to
love/always.” I know that it sounds
really bad in text, but when they’re
singing, you will believe it, man. It’s
definitely the kind of song that cou
ples will cuddle to on special days.
Seger’s integration of male and fe
male sentiments in her lyrics are
what will make this album success
ful. As a member of the penis-pos
sessing population, female artists
have to work much harder to inter
est me with their music. It is too
easy to fall into that “angry-girl
with-a-guitar” routine. But Seger
doesn’t isolate her male audience at
all. Each song could be an anthem
for any person regardless of race,
gender or sexual orientation dealing
with relationship problems.
With all this talk about problems, it
would be easy to take this album too
seriously. That would be a mistake.
Seger celebrates herself and her con
fusion on the album and whether a
particular song has a happy or sad
tone, she is enjoying making it. This
is the most apparent on the upbeat
song “I Can’t Lie.” This song makes
use of southern tones that reflect her
upbringing in Texas while she sings
about frustration with and withdraw
al from the world.
Seger left her southern home in
1998 for London, where the album
was recorded. Now with “May
Street Project,” she returned to the
states in June, and college radio sta
tions will receive the album for play
March 5. KWVA has my recommen
dation to put it into rotation so all
you wonderful people can hear this
talented youngster.
Student
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rtieUea
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