Anita Mui｜In addition to being strong, loyal, loving, and professional, what else should we continue?

2021 finally comes to the last two days, but Hong Kong does not have any longing for abandoning the old and welcoming the new. Many people even fall into a sluggish negativity-because this year, the new crown epidemic has not improved, the economic performance has continued to be sluggish, and the emigrant population has increased. Many, the political struggle is endless.

The scar was scratched before the scab was formed, and the air pressure was so low that it was breathless. It was like returning to the same turbulent and bleak future in 2003-the beginning of a lottery, "Nothing is good", with a generation of " The legendary queen" Anita Mui died.

Today, the superstar fell and the whole Hong Kong mourned. Everyone dubbed her the "Daughter of Hong Kong" because her short life on stage for 40 years was accompanied by the ups and downs of the city, and her strength, righteousness, great love and professionalism It is also the glorious reflection of this small island, and more importantly, her persistence in Hong Kong. At every moment when she consciously needs her in Hong Kong, she will be obliged to stand on the stage and come to the forefront to entertain the audience and gather everyone, even if The body is unwell and never loses the field.

Today, 18 years later, Hong Kong has experienced unprecedented toss and blows. The popularity of the biographical film "Anita Mui" has evoked the nostalgia and grief of many people, but can everyone jump out of the movie to re-recognize Anita Mui's Hong Kong story and more To continue the spiritual enlightenment that she has left us with her life's energy?

On the 18th anniversary of Anita Mui’s death, Hong Kong is facing another blow. The popularity of the biographical film "Anita Mui" has evoked the grief of countless people in Hong Kong, but can everyone jump out of the movie to re-recognize Anita Mui’s Hong Kong story and better continue her poor life The spiritual enlightenment left to us?

(Screenshot of concert)

Knowing Anita Mui

cannot stop at one-sided political imagination

Many people say that Anita Mui’s life is the history of the rise and fall of Hong Kong.

Born in poor Hong Kong in the 1960s, she went to Liyuan with her sister Mei Aifang to help make up for the family when she was less than 5 years old. Not only did she not have a normal childhood, but she was also scorned by her classmates. Put the stick beside the pillow to prevent harassment.

In the 1970s, Hong Kong's economy improved and the British Hong Kong government began to popularize secondary education. However, Anita Mui dropped out of secondary school. She drove 13 or 14 performances every night and sang for ten hours. She couldn't sing until her vocal cords became cocoon. Stopped, because she has become an important financial pillar of the family.

In the 1980s, Hong Kong's development was in full swing. Anita Mui, who was appreciated for participating in the Rookie Singing Competition, devoted herself to her acting career. She became an unprecedented superstar under the constant self-improvement and favorable time and place, leaving an indelible footprint in the music and film circles. Start a golden era in which "Hong Kong-style pop culture" dominates.

In the 1990s, when the future was anxious, Anita Mui had been indifferent to fame and fortune, focusing on charity and supporting younger generations.

Finally, in 2003, when Hong Kong was suffering from the SARS epidemic, economic crisis, and political controversy, Anita Mui, who suffered from cervical cancer, first organized a 1:99 concert to raise funds for the families of SARS patients, cheer for medical staff and Hong Kong society, and then It miraculously held 8 solo concerts to bid farewell to the fans, and died 45 days later.

"In today's era of the Internet, the society is demanding "tide" and "In." The speed of information update is unprecedentedly fast, and so is the speed at which we forget. When the information is so flooded every day, when the goddess and the goddess are like a rotation, why should we? What classics do you care about? Why bother to tell the new generation to look back at the past?

" Li Zhanpeng, assistant professor of the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Macau, is a loyal fan of Anita Mui

In the "Dream With This City-Anita Mui and Hong Kong Pop Culture" published in July 2019, Hong Kong has produced many superstars, but not all superstars can retain their spirit, and Anita Mui’s legend can definitely represent this In the city, her professionalism in acting, dedication to justice, caring for the disadvantaged, righteousness to friends, support to younger generations, commitment to Hong Kong society, and positiveness in the development of the country all show the good qualities of this small island. .

However, since the official release of "Anita Mui" by the Hong Kong Anle Film Company for six years since its official release on November 12, many discussions have focused on the blanking of collective memory. For example, the criticism did not touch Anita Mui during the "1989 Democracy Movement". The important experience of how to mobilize the Hong Kong performing arts community to support students in the Mainland, and then give a lot of wishful thinking about it, and even simply conclude that "If Anita Mui is still there, she must be a "yellow silk"."

But in fact, Anita Mui's political outlook may not conform to these imaginations.

For example, in an interview with Zheng Yuling in 1992, she talked about her views on opening up the performing arts market in the Mainland. She admitted frankly that when the country is undergoing positive changes, as Chinese, we should support it. The two sides are like a slingshot. If they pull too tightly, they will fall apart, and foreigners will not respect us Chinese people even more.” In 2003, there was a major controversy in the society due to the legislation of Article 23 of the Basic Law. She believes The "State-owned State Law" does not oppose legislation.

Inferring from political realities such as this, if Anita Mui is still alive, she will indeed not ignore the SAR government's brutal amendments in 2019, but she will definitely strongly condemn extreme violence and "speculation" behaviors, and will be saddened by Hong Kong. People beat themselves.

However,

.

Li Lifeng, a professor at the School of Journalism and Communication of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, explained the construction of those imaginations in the article "Anita Mui: Collective Memory and the Political Imagination of Stars": "A possible interpretation is that citizens who support democratic development need to be in different sectors. Find some icons (icons) that are willing to stick to their own values ​​and are willing to sacrifice personal interests for their ideas.” Therefore, as long as some collective memories are “absent”, someone will immediately “construct” them, and they don’t care when they construct such memories. Whether the image of Anita Mui is the most "real", and as long as it can meet certain factual foundations and political needs, it will continue to repeatedly bless, establish, and continue in public discourse.

Anita Mui participated in the first "Rookie Singing Contest" in 1982 and won the championship with the song "The Season of Wind".

The problem is that if the discussion of "Anita Mui" only remains in one-sided political imagination, it may be a pity for the understanding of "Anita Mui", and even unable to better sort out the context of changes in it, and it will be impossible to write a better Hong Kong story. .

"When talking about "Anita Mui", we must not regard it as a pure film text, but as a sociological event in Dulufu's mouth." Li Zhanpeng quoted France in the film review "Anita Mui" is not just a movie, it is also a social phenomenon. Director Du Lufu’s definition of the success of the film believes that "Anita Mui" has become a "sociological event" in Hong Kong from its box office performance (breaking 60 million yuan in a month and a half) to a wide range of discussions. Story omissions-for example, she was discriminated against in her childhood, she was constantly striving for self-improvement, her bravery and innovation to create a fashion precedent, her heart and soul towards fans, friends, younger generations and family, etc., "But the Hong Kong story presented by Anita Mui, the society captured Emotions, and their soothing power, have made movies a social phenomenon."

The "social sentiments" and "the power to soothe the heart" referred to by Li Zhanpeng are probably the time and space of film and reality. For example, in 2003 when Anita Mui died, she was still actively organizing concerts to cheer for Hong Kong people, even clanging. Vigorously refute the lazy government officials who obstructed in every possible way: "The show must go on... In the past few decades, I have never seen Hong Kong as miserable as it is now. Before the good times, we went everywhere to help people; now in adversity, we should stand even more. Come out and help everyone. This 1:99 concert is used to raise funds to set up a fund to help SARS patients and their families. In fact, the most important thing is to take this opportunity to cheer up our medical staff and help Hong Kong!" ——All these virtual and real scenes are indeed filled with emotions, either warm, or nostalgic, or helpless.

And Li Zhanpeng’s so-called "social phenomenon" is "wonderful": "Here, Hong Kong people continue to chase Mirror wildly. Mirror shows stars and talents, and one by one becomes popular (If Mei Sister is still alive, she must support the mirror. On the other hand, Sister Mei has become a hot topic in the society. After crying in the theater, everyone continues to look for Hong Kong. The new and the old go hand in hand. The streets are full of Sister Mei and mirrors everywhere. Hong Kong pop culture , How long has it been so lively? How long has it not shown this power that sweeps the city?"

However, whether it is wonderful or lively, anyone with a discerning eye understands that the social reasons and background of the current Mirror's popularity are obviously different from the glorious era created by Anita Mui, and even some of the meaning and color of "political correctness" are more similar. It is a manifestation of nihilism after the society has fallen into political enthusiasm. When popular music is in a low ebb, it happens that a group of young people are determined to revitalize Guangdong songs. This does bring a kind of hope to dare to challenge, and it is inevitable that the audience will have emotional projections. Even the soul is suspense, thinking that it can temporarily escape the high-pressure atmosphere, find a little bit of happiness, and fill in the lack of spirit.

However,

Therefore, no matter what kind of "Anita Mui" presents, we have to jump out of the movie to re-recognize her story in order to better understand the spiritual enlightenment she has left us with her life's energy.

As the "big sister" in the music world, Anita Mui consciously associates herself with Hong Kong's destiny. At every moment when she consciously needs her in Hong Kong, she will be obliged to stand on the stage and come to the forefront to entertain and gather everyone, even if she is unwell. Also never lost.

(Information Picture/Reuters)

Step by step

to write a "Hong Kong daughters' story

So, what is the "Anita Mui spirit" that we should regain and even inherit?

For Anita Mui, who was born for the stage, the tenacity of "The show must go on" is not only a clue from the beginning to the end of Anita Mui, but also a portrayal of the shining life of “Anita Mui”-whether it was running in a karaoke room when she was a child, or hitting popularity. Since then, there have not been 292 solo concerts that a Chinese female singer can break; whether it is the "Democratic Sing for China" in support of the "1989 Democracy Movement" or the "Ecstasy Show in the Performing Arts" to raise funds for the "East China Flood"; Whether it is a protest against the "Earth and Earth" rally in which the "East Weekly" publishes nude photos of actresses, or organizing a 1:99 concert to cheer up medical staff and the entire Hong Kong; whether it is for entertainers to fight for social respect and welfare rights and establish Hong Kong Performing Arts The Association of People’s Republic of China is still striving for the mainland to relax restrictions on the distribution of Hong Kong films and organize a delegation to visit the national ministries and commissions in Beijing at their own expense.

The screenwriter of Anita Mui won the Golden Image Award, the Golden Horse Award and the Best Actress in the Asia Pacific Film Festival, the screenwriter of the film "Rouge Button". , Then has a more profound description of the "Anita Mui spirit": "

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Unfortunately, let’s not say that our society did not try to continue her spirit after Anita Mui died. In fact, people may not be able to focus accurately before she was alive, because some media are basically describing another story-Ye Ye Sheng Ge, Diner Three Thousand , "Bad girl" with chaotic emotional life, even questioned her motivation to join the charity.

For such a distortion, Wu Junxiong, a pop culture scholar and associate professor emeritus of the Department of Sociology of the University of Hong Kong, has long been observing. He hit the nail on the head in "The Last Man Zhu Shahua: Anita Mui's Acting Life" compiled by Li Zhanpeng in 2014: "I It feels that Anita Mui spent twenty years to give lectures, but the media did not attend the lectures. This is very disappointing. In fact, it may not be Anita Mui’s wish to be calm. She wears a wedding dress to marry the stage. This is how the media is, it may be heard in Hong Kong. The version will deify you, and then the entertainment reporter will dig through the garbage in your house, and still can't get rid of falling into the rules."

"We enlarged Anita Mui and turned an artist into a "Hong Kong's daughter". This is a good thing. Of course, whether it was supporting students during the June 4th incident to the founding of the Hong Kong Performing Artists Association, she also consciously linked the fate of Hong Kong to herself. , We amplify her characteristics. Her initiative as a woman, her dedication to life, and her ability to express her own characteristics are all regarded as representative of Hong Kong. Indeed,

" Wu Junxiong believes that one of the key

for the recognition of the title of "Hong Kong Daughter" is that in the past, mainstream Hong Kong storytelling was usually male-dominated, and only emphasized Hong Kong men. The enthusiasm, struggle, and hard work of her did not give full play to the "caring" of women, and Anita Mui's "big love" just enriched the Hong Kong story.

Anita Mui is an iconic figure in Hong Kong's popular culture.

Between 1985 and 1989, she won the Best Female Singer Award of the Top Ten Golden Song Awards for five consecutive years.

(Visual China)

After Anita Mui’s funeral, Wu Junxiong once wrote "One Funeral, Two Experiences" under the pseudonym "Liang Kuan". He mentioned another observation that Hong Kong people identify Anita Mui as a "Hong Kong daughter": "First, Hong Kong people have love for Hong Kong. This love has always been driven by the focus of local performing arts; second, Hong Kong people are willing to tell stories for Hong Kong, and these stories are often fully manifested in local performing arts superstars." At that time, the TV station broadcasted the entire funeral for days, like a gathering for all people. Related reports are overwhelming, just to help him relive this Hong Kong legend that climbed from Liyuan to the Red Pavilion, crossed the East, and then faced the world. He also sighed with emotion: "On the face of Anita Mui, I saw that starting from the low and striving for The ever-changing, constant self-improvement, and the Hong Kong-style brute force of the iceberg. In Anita Mui, I found a kind of arrogance that comes from maturity and the Hong Kong-style showmanship that Lin Yihua (Hong Kong screenwriter and writer) said was inherited from overseas but infinitely born in blue. See Anita Mui , I see Hong Kong."

What is "a Hong Kong-style showmanship that has been taught overseas but is infinitely young and blue"?

"As soon as Anita Mui appeared, she had already said goodbye to the world before." In the "Legend of the Undead" broadcast by Radio Hong Kong at the end of 2007, Wu Junxiong explained Anita Mui's shock and achievements in the development of popular culture in Hong Kong.

He later explained this statement in detail in Li Zhanpeng's book-first,

, which is different from the gentleness and introversion of Xu Xiaofeng and others. Life is a torture singing method. She handles the bass and treble well, and can make the song magnificent. All kinds of skills make her different." Secondly,

. On the one hand, she actively refers to Madonna. "Unlike Chen Baozhu and Xiao Fangfang, Anita Mui took the initiative to absorb some Western ideas and integrate them into the local area." On the other hand, she also worked hard to absorb the gorgeous Japanese performance style of the 1980s and localized both. It can be described as

.

Some people regard Anita Mui as the "Madonna of the East", but Wu Junxiong believes that the two have different historical significance, because when Madonna debuted, the United States had already experienced the second wave of women's movements. Although she did not have a complete gender discourse, she did have its own reasons. The background of gender politics. In contrast, when Anita Mui rose, Hong Kong did not have any female sports background, and the society as a whole was still quite conservative. It can be said that there is no theoretical support at all, but it can break taboos, grow wanton, and shine.

An example that impressed Wu Junxiong was that the song "Bad Girl", which was once banned by the radio, was able to "enter the house" (introduced to thousands of households in Hong Kong). However, this kind of criticism is still inferior to the preferences of the masses, which is a good thing for the whole society and culture... Anita Mui’s sensuality and art overshadow moral controversy. This is the reason why I love Hong Kong’s popular culture in the 1980s. Borders, you can try something out of the ordinary. At that time, the world's popular culture was also breaking the old and creating the new."

"The special thing about Anita Mui is that she has a lot of close friends, and she has a rich life experience, spanning several periods of history, and building relationships with different people in each period. Therefore, to revisit her story is to understand the world of Hong Kong pop culture. , Is also to understand the Hong Kong story. Hong Kong has a big background, it is a political orphan, but there is no political dogma, Hong Kong people are happy and unhappy are projected in popular culture. When it

” Wu Junxiong summed up the closeness between Anita Mui and the people of Hong Kong. He is a "Hong Kong daughter" who sings, breathes, breathes, and sorrows with us.

Li Zhanpeng also strengthened Anita Mui’s discourse about Hong Kong in "Finding Hong Kong for Daughters-Hong Kong Culture Represented by Anita Mui", and “there is no political baggage” that was the characteristic of that era: “Behind the close relationship between Anita Mui and the audience, It is pop culture and Hong Kong people’s lips and teeth. Once, music, film and television works were the biggest strengths of Hong Kong’s cultural export, and also the most important sustenance of Hong Kong’s local identity. Both sociologist Ma Jiewei and cultural scholar Luo Feng have pointed out that popular culture is Hong Kong. The core of culture is the foundation of Hong Kong people’s identity and even the inscription of Hong Kong’s history. As for politics, especially in the colonial era, it is not the focus of Hong Kong people’s attention."

Both "externalization" and "internalization" are the keys to Anita Mui's success in promoting the development of Hong Kong's popular culture.

(Profile picture)

Externalization and internalization

create Hong Kong's trend and cultural brilliance

Both "externalization" and "internalization" are the keys to Anita Mui's success in promoting the development of Hong Kong's popular culture.

"Foreigners are not only Anita Mui's choice, but Hong Kong's choice: Since the 1970s, Hong Kong has been exposed to a lot of Western culture. Scholars call it an era of "miscellaneous marks" or "half Tang Fan." By the 1980s, Hong Kong The economy is booming and it is also following Western culture; the different cultures and lifestyles of Hong Kong and Mainland China are calling for a new way of cultural self-expression." Li Zhanpeng analyzed that Hong Kong did not have traditional Chinese culture and pure Western culture at that time. But she can always innovate in retention and mutate in implantation, and Anita Mui is so inclusive from her song to her image. Although she has the shadow of the West and Japan, she did not lose herself in blind "foreign seeking", but was able to Combining with self-worth, "internalization" has become a distinctive and incisive personal style. "

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"The kind of self-establishment through borrowing is a sign of Hong Kong culture at that time. Hong Kong people like Anita Mui. Apart from being fascinated by her sensuality, the public is actually participating in the establishment of a Hong Kong identity, in "why why tell me why In the westernized lyrics and stage action of "Night Party Order Taboo Breakdown", the audience finds an urban identity, a Hong Kong culture that is different from the Chinese mother. This kind of culture has sprouted in the 1970s: Xu Guanjie's light singing is like an ancient poem. "Flick and Fly to the Light Boat", I sang English songs again for a while. This mixed quality was carried forward by Anita Mui through her various phenomena.”

It can be said that the city's mourning for her death that year was not only the memory of that good time, but also the ratification of Hong Kong's establishment of subjective consciousness and local culture, and even a summary of a historical stage.

It is a pity that society usually has a negative perception of popular culture. This is especially true of political elites who think they are superior. Therefore, they have never thoroughly studied the Hong Kong-style pop culture boom that has risen since the 1980s and has swept across the Taiwan Strait, Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia. How much contributions have been made to the development of creative industries and the shaping of their spiritual outlook, naturally, will also ignore the extent to which factors such as a region’s economic foundation, quality of life, and social atmosphere have had an impact on the development of popular culture.

In that era when popular culture prevailed, the martial arts dramas adapted from Jin Yong's novels integrated the glory of "Hong Kong production". The police films supported by Chow Yun-fat and Jackie Chan became popular in Asia, and the "nonsense" Stephen Chow films were irreplaceable classics. The trend of Cantonese songs created and inherited by Alan Tam, Anita Mui, and the "Four Heavenly Kings" have repeatedly dominated the entire Chinese music scene. Looking back on those years, some people wrote chivalrous feelings of worrying about the country and the people, some performed the heroic qualities of daring, and some Expressing the absurd and exaggerated Hong Kong-style humor, some people have developed the spirit of fighting together, and some people have sang the Hong Kong style that combines China and foreign countries-and that is undoubtedly a "golden age" of economic growth, with prosperous industrial development, active upward mobility, and public services Sufficient and lighter burden of living, Hong Kong people will not run around just for three meals, without too much anxiety and resentment, they can have some leisure time to "chasing stars" and achieve spiritual satisfaction at the cultural level.

At that time, Hong Kong's manufacturing industry was booming, and it was well-known both at home and abroad for its "cheap and good quality" and "reliable quality" "Made in Hong Kong". Four industries including textiles, clothing, electronics, and plastics were the leaders; Labor costs have risen sharply, but it "coincidentally" coincides with the reform and opening up implemented by the Mainland since 1978, which has been able to drastically reduce operating costs, allowing Hong Kong to continue to prosper, and also spurring real estate speculation and the prosperity of the stock exchange market.

Therefore, among the "Four Asian Little Dragons", Hong Kong has the most amazing consumption power, which in turn provides a good economic foundation for the development of popular culture to a certain extent.

For example, many people are willing to spend hundreds of yuan to watch a concert. In the 6 years from 1985 to 1991, Anita Mui held 103 concerts in the Red Hall, breaking the record for the number of female singers. The sales of albums are in the hundreds of thousands, and the controversial "Bad Girl" has sold 720,000 copies and set a new high in Hong Kong.

During the "1989 Democracy Movement", Anita Mui actively mobilized the entertainment industry to support the students in Beijing, and she also contributed money and efforts in the subsequent floods in East China.

(Profile picture/Stake picture)

However, the "golden age" is no longer here. Economic development is stagnant, the industrial structure is single, the upward flow is slow, and the distribution of resources is uneven. People are facing "explosive pressure" in their lives. "Stars" can "chase", and people have also turned to the pursuit of illusory "democratic freedom" under the highly politicized society, thinking that this is a panacea for Hong Kong to "go back to the past."

However, nothingness will always pass and people will always wake up, but it seems that the leaders of Hong Kong governance have never used this to reflect on how to help the citizens from anxiety and grievances by consolidating the economic foundation, practicing fairness and justice, and improving the quality of life. Is liberated to live and work in peace, enjoy mass entertainment, and seek spiritual satisfaction?

How should we examine the shortcomings of the development of the cultural and creative industry, and what industrial policies are being implemented, so that the Hong Kong-made pop culture that is gathered at home and abroad can continue to have a place in the three places, so that everyone can re-establish a positive mental outlook?

Not to mention, what should be learned from the story of the "Hong Kong Daughter".

"Society and her have been watching and imagining each other: she is imagining the outside world, and the outside world is also imagining her. She longs for the life of a common man, and thinks that it is happiness, and the public looks to her and admires her because she pays for it. What the public lacks is extraordinary.” Li Zhanpeng uses Hong Kong’s “self” and “other” as a framework for thinking about Anita Mui and Hong Kong’s story in “Dream With This City-Anita Mui and Hong Kong Popular Culture”: “During her lifetime, the public used A certain distance is observing the other—a complicated woman and inexplicable star text, and then constructing social gender awareness from this other; after her death, Hong Kong people see themselves in her—an equally inexplicable and inexplicable text. A complicated Hong Kong story, and then from her and Hong Kong people’s shared selves to review history and think about the situation in Hong Kong.”

"If you use Anita Mui to think about the past, on the one hand criticizing the current artists, on the other hand lamenting the current situation in Hong Kong, this does not necessarily have a positive effect. In fact, Anita Mui can represent a kind of break (yesterday’s daylight and today’s dim), but also a kind of Continuation. After all, how can the valuable diversity of Hong Kong culture be passed on? How does Anita Mui’s obsession with social justice link Hong Kong’s civic awakening today? How does Anita Mui’s hybridity help us reflect on today’s rather narrow local views? Only in this way can we continue. Therefore, Anita Mui’s Hong Kong-style cultural heritage will not be "museized" and continue to exert its power.” This is Li Zhanpeng’s reflection on the significance of the “Anita Mui spirit” in Hong Kong today.

Li Zhanpeng emphasized that

"This "Anita Mui spirit" is not a static exhibit in the museum, but should be still present today. The precarious Hong Kong, as a resource of some kind of thinking and action, continues alive."

"Hong Kong used to be my home, now it is, and always will be. Since it is my home, whenever I need me, I will stand up and do my part, just like my good friends, when I have a need When the time comes, we will also stand up and help me.

"-In 1990, Hong Kong had a large-scale immigration due to the return to the issue and the trauma of June 4th. As the tide, "Radio Hong Kong" hereby launched the "Hong Kong Heart to Heart Action", calling on Hong Kong people to unite as one, and Anita Mui's touching heart is still in use today.

In 2002, when Hong Kong’s economy was in recession and the society was in recession, Anita Mui also sang "Below the Lion Rock" in a concert to encourage Hong Kong people to help each other together: "Today, Hong Kong, everyone is in a downturn and very lost. In fact, all walks of life will encounter it. At low tide, Hong Kong needs everyone to have confidence and hope...

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Written by:

Note: The original article was published in the 293th "Hong Kong 01" weekly electronic newspaper "The