Pensieri Semplici 2009/01 "Being Influenced?"

Went to church today and had a sermon conducted by my previous Pastor. Don't get me wrong. I love him dearly as my shepherd and will always respect his views. His quoted from the scriptures a series of sins which being unrepentent of, we will never get heaven. He was worried about his young son going to school, and being influence to be a homosexual. If the child would to have gone to the counsellor, she would have told the child to make responsible decisions. Apparenetly, the parents had expected the counsellor to said it was wrong. This would have subjected the counsellor to another wave of bigotry from another smaller camp. Whichever is the case, they seemed to believe that their child can be influence to be gay. Sincerely, I don't remember anybody influencing me..

Semplice Simon

To all the Loves that brings us to Life.

It's definitely more than 1 year later for me to have seen this movie. It had mostly to do with the misleading cover image of the movie, which have many out there to have mistaken it for a straight move. The gays might have missed it, the ungays cries foul when they realised it wasn't that straight after all. The bottom line, I love it. I stumbled upon this show in the office a few day back in youtube.. watched it.. loved it... and asked a friend to buy the dvd for me. The show was amazing. I cannot explain why I'm so intrigued and deeply affected by it, or why the story remains impressionable to me. Hopefully through this review, you can help me analysis the reason.



Mew and Tong met when they were kids as neighbors living across the street from each other. They went to the same school and their chance encounters came when Tong accidentally blew a chewing gum onto Mew's head from the window upstairs. Being more sporty and out, he also saved Mew from getting bullied at school one day. Their friendship started and shared many a special moments. Playing treasure hunt was a way Tong's family expressed love, so did he with Mew. In one game, when Tong was going to give him a wooden statue in parts, the nose went missing. So there, the statue wasn't completed. I guess it was to say, their love wasn't completed too. Tong's family had to move, when his sister disappeared during a field trip in ChiangMai. His family couldn't live with the loss and pain, decided to move away from it all. The scene where Tong said goodbye and Mew weeping when their car was leaving was precious.

Years down the road, they met again in Siam Square, but now in different schools. And their friendship was rekindled. Mew have been working hard a lead singer in a local band August, cutting albums to cater to the younger crowd. He was given the task of writing a love song by the manager. But how can he write when he's not in love? That's when Tong's presence helped with the inspiration.

When Tong's mother found out about the blossoming relationship, she was aghast with the impending loss of her only child. if he would have chosen the path, she may have deemed him lost. Perhaps she had likened a gay relationship growing old with no children, that of losing the daughter in the jungle. Hopeless and dark. She confronted Mew in attempt to snub out anything which could have started. Mew, in desperate attempt to make right with Tong's mother, decided against seeing Tong again. Therewith, along with his love songs, he did not write nor sing them anymore.

The August band was nearly disbanded and the recording / performance rights revoked since the Lead singer was incapacitated. Tong is furious that his mother has spoken to Mew behind his back. He tries his best to seek Mew out for an explanation. Meanwhile, both of them was grappling with a girl each of his own. Tong with Donut and Mew with Ying.

In the end, when the band managed to pull together for their attempt to perform live at Siam Square, so have Tong finally make the decision to pursue Mew to the last. But I'm bewildered with Tong's words when he finally found Mew after the concert. He said "I cannot be with you as a boyfriend. But that doesn't mean I don't love you." He gave the nose of the statue to Mew as a christmas gift. Perhaps to show the completion of it all. The love that they share, is now whole. Even though in the show they weren't together in the end, I feel otherwise. Time definitely could have helped them to develop the relationship further. Maybe they did, end up a couple many years later. We will never know.

What struck me most in this show is the amount of maturity 2 thai kids has on the concept of love and affection. I am most taken by the innocence and bare honesty of the whole show. The courage shown to have fiercely contend with one's emotions and feeling, to never stop loving. My favorite scene in the show? Mew weeping when Tong was leaving in his paretns car and moving to another place to stay. And when they met in Siam after the episode with the mother.

On the whole, do I think that Love of Siam is a Gay movie? Yes, and much more. Its about love with another dimension. One question that Mew asked that if we love somebody so much, that it hurt so much when we lose them, why don't we stop loving then? Can we actually love somebody that much and not be afraid of losing them. The path of love ends in separation, in one way or another. The estranged family losing their dear daughter, the unrequited love of 2 girls, the losing of your kin etc.

I've an answer to that and this is my answer. When we love someone, the fear of losing them in separation with life many turns and circumstances, it is unavoidable. This fear, should be embraced so that we can cherish our dear ones even more. But when the day comes, all that counts is how much of love have matured and had overcome the grief of loss itself. The person never do really leaves us. He or she is forever living in our love. As long you love, you still have hope. That's the theme.

Mew: "It’s not easy at all, because the longer mu grandma is gone, the more I miss her. So I have one question. If we can love someone so much how will we be able to handle the day when we are separated? And, if being separated is a part of life, and you know about separation well, is it possible Tong that we can love someone and never be afraid of losing them?"

Mew: "At the same time, I was also wondering. Is it possible that we can live our entire life without loving anyone at all? That’s my loneliness. I have lived with it now for 5 years. I know just how bad loneliness feels. I fear it will continue to get worse."

I henceforth crown this movie to join the league of Beaches / Stella / The Rose by Bette Midler, and the many other movies which has touched that part of my soul and showed me a glimpse of new-found light.

Semplice Forever, Simply Simon