So yesterday I watched We Not Naughty, which is Jack Neo's new "comeback" film. Overall, it was an engaging movie, with plenty of comedy and a few tearjerking scenes. More importantly, Shawn Lee was Cute! (And that's good enough for me!) If you liked I Not Stupid 1 & 2, you should probably find this one watchable too-it doesn't deviate much from the usual, but it's not exactly the same either.

But there was a character in the movie which made me think about how so-called elite students are being portrayed on screen. In many Singaporean films, and especially in Jack Neo productions, kids who do well in school are pampered by their parents who shower them with favouritism, while their academically-weaker siblings are shunned and looked down upon. I guess if you removed the drama and exaggerations, it is true to a certain extent, because for a very long time, people have been judging children based on their academics. Not everyone is like this (duh) and I definitely don't think it's right, but this seems to be the usual Singaporean practice. It's just like how adults are judged based on which walk of life they hail from, but I digress.

It just irks me alot when elite youths are either shown to be arrogant, self-centered, insensitive and snobbish know-it-alls (after getting spoilt by their proud mamas and papas), or chao muggers with low EQ and no common sense (after studying too much). This stereotype is played up all the time! The EM1 students in I Not Stupid are perfect examples, and We Not Naughty also had a couple of characters who were supposed to embody the idea of elitism/getting-good-grades-doesn't-mean-you-can't-make-mistakes. But... just because a student has good grades or is from a well-known school doesn't mean she's elitist! It doesn't mean she has the emotional maturity of a teaspoon and thinks she's always right! The movie preaches that we shouldn't discriminate against people from neighbourhood schools, but I felt like it was discriminating against people from elite schools instead. Everyone likes rooting for the underdog, everyone loves rags-to-riches stories, but isn't this a form of prejudice as well?

Why must the ahbengs in movies/dramas always turn out to be misunderstood, insecure and lost youths who have been neglected by their families? Aren't there ruffians on this sunny island who had doting parents while growing up, but still turned out the way they are because the problem lies with their own character and choices? Sometimes, the blame doesn't lie with society, technology or education. But local shows seem to enjoy playing up the angle of a young delinquent who is just trying to prove his own worth, against harsh circumstances. And at the same time, students with better grades are depicted as haughty snobs who verbally abuse their peers.

I know it's just entertainment and scriptwriters can write whatever characters they want in any way. Maybe they weren't trying to generalise Singaporean teens and I'm reading too much into this. But personally I'd like to see more originality and less conformity in our local productions...it would be nice if we could have a Jack Neo movie with multi-dimensional characters instead of cardboard stereotypes.

So yesterday I watched We Not Naughty, which is Jack Neo's new "comeback" film. Overall, it was an engaging movie, with plenty of comedy and a few tearjerking scenes. More importantly, Shawn Lee was Cute! (And that's good enough for me!) If you liked I Not Stupid 1 & 2, you should probably find this one watchable too-it doesn't deviate much from the usual, but it's not exactly the same either.

But there was a character in the movie which made me think about how so-called elite students are being portrayed on screen. In many Singaporean films, and especially in Jack Neo productions, kids who do well in school are pampered by their parents who shower them with favouritism, while their academically-weaker siblings are shunned and looked down upon. I guess if you removed the drama and exaggerations, it is true to a certain extent, because for a very long time, people have been judging children based on their academics. Not everyone is like this (duh) and I definitely don't think it's right, but this seems to be the usual Singaporean practice. It's just like how adults are judged based on which walk of life they hail from, but I digress.

It just irks me alot when elite youths are either shown to be arrogant, self-centered, insensitive and snobbish know-it-alls (after getting spoilt by their proud mamas and papas), or chao muggers with low EQ and no common sense (after studying too much). This stereotype is played up all the time! The EM1 students in I Not Stupid are perfect examples, and We Not Naughty also had a couple of characters who were supposed to embody the idea of elitism/getting-good-grades-doesn't-mean-you-can't-make-mistakes. But... just because a student has good grades or is from a well-known school doesn't mean she's elitist! It doesn't mean she has the emotional maturity of a teaspoon and thinks she's always right! The movie preaches that we shouldn't discriminate against people from neighbourhood schools, but I felt like it was discriminating against people from elite schools instead. Everyone likes rooting for the underdog, everyone loves rags-to-riches stories, but isn't this a form of prejudice as well?

Why must the ahbengs in movies/dramas always turn out to be misunderstood, insecure and lost youths who have been neglected by their families? Aren't there ruffians on this sunny island who had doting parents while growing up, but still turned out the way they are because the problem lies with their own character and choices? Sometimes, the blame doesn't lie with society, technology or education. But local shows seem to enjoy playing up the angle of a young delinquent who is just trying to prove his own worth, against harsh circumstances. And at the same time, students with better grades are depicted as haughty snobs who verbally abuse their peers.

I know it's just entertainment and scriptwriters can write whatever characters they want in any way. Maybe they weren't trying to generalise Singaporean teens and I'm reading too much into this. But personally I'd like to see more originality and less conformity in our local productions...it would be nice if we could have a Jack Neo movie with multi-dimensional characters instead of cardboard stereotypes.

My name is Felicia and my dearest ambition is to bounce on clouds while eating Twix.

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