Year 2000, Kevin Bacon played the character of Hollow Man. Being invisible, this fictional scientist takes full advantage of his new found ability doing stuffs that he would not be able to do, including spying on his female neighbor. Rumor says that there is a deleted rape scene too. The film prompted me to read “The Invisible Man” by H. G. Wells. Imagine what I would do if I can be invisible. Imagine what you would do. That sense of invincibility. Even if one perishes, no one knows (assuming that invisibility persists through death and beyond, which I recall according to the story, it is not the case).
The opposite of Hollow Man is not any one on the street, I think. The opposite of being invincibly invisible is being visible but no one takes notice. Like fading into the background or becoming a piece of everyday wallpaper that no one stops and takes notice.
One day, I went into a restaurant alone. The staffs were busy doing the things they did. I chose a seat in the middle of the restaurant. Still, no one attended to me. I stood up, picked up a menu nearby, returned to my seat, and started reading. Quietly contemplated on what my lunch would be, I could not help but to observe that people around me were aware of my presence but liked a piece of wallpaper, I had faded onto the background. Perhaps when the lunch hour was over, when the rest of the customers had eaten, paid, and gone, the staffs might notice someone siting in the middle of the restaurant reading a menu. And they might wonder when did I step into the restaurant in the first place. Or not.
It seems to me that the only time when we get to notice, examine, and appreciate the wallpaper is when the room is empty, newly renovated perhaps.
Categories: Diary
Tags: Bob the Bot™ · summer blog 20108 Comments
I would like to recommend ‘The Glamour’ by Christopher Priest.
Shyue Chou – Thanks bro for the recommendation. I will check it out when I return to Singapore
I got back from Hong Kong two days back. Wang Yuja is also playing there. She will be playing there at the end of the month.
Krystian Zimerman was playing Chopin in Hong Kong two days ago but my flight was that night! ARRRRRRRRGH!
Shyue Chou – Amazing. You were in Hong Kong! Did you go there because of the concert?
I was there because of my friends’ wedding. Heheheh. It was held at the Shangri-La in Kowloon. My first time there since 1986!
Shyue Chou – 1986! It’s been a while then. I was still studying in Hong Kong. We could have bumped onto one another on the street!
I was on my way to the US again for my second year in university then!
Shyue Chou – Ah, good old memory I suppose
Hong Kong must have changed a lot since then?