For most, what happens in the bedroom should stay right there. But
for younger ones today, there’s no problem in proclaiming their most
secret of trysts. What’s more, they can find fame – or infamy.
THERE
are certain bodily functions and activities you keep private. You know,
those functions that usually occur in privies and the bedroom.
But
of late, the attitude is you don’t need to close and lock the door on
such activities any more; rather, you invite an audience in.
For example, when South Korean rapper Psy sat on the loo with his pants down in his
Gangnam Style video, early audiences gasped and giggled in embarrassment at the sight.
Subsequently, that scene has been repeated in countless parodies
ad nauseam and the shock value is no more.
Similarly,
while pornography has been around a long time, it was stuff that
professional actors did for show but “normal” people didn’t. If you
filmed it, it was strictly for private consumption.
Well, along
came Facebook, which really should have been called Openbook because it
provides space for people to share all sorts of things, including
sexually explicit material.
The most disturbing aspect about
Facebook, blogs and YouTube is the easy access they provide to an
audience and therefore instant fame.
Narcissistic
self-glorification without justification is almost the norm. That “I’m
famous for being famous” mantra that is most identified with the
Kardashians has infected millions around the world. It doesn’t matter
what you do as long as it gets you noticed.
Which was what that National University of Singapore law student and his girlfriend did.
According
to reports, the couple started innocuously enough. They met on Facebook
and, like million of others, started posting photos of themselves.
Then
they started taking nude shots of themselves and “After taking more and
more photos, we started to want some sort of recognition for our work
so we uploaded them on Facebook,” said Alvin Tan Jye Yee.
When
those photos got flagged and removed by site administrators, Tan, 24,
and Vivian Lee, 23, started an erotic blog last month showing
photographs and videos of themselves having sex. Suddenly, they are
famous and they seem mighty proud of it.
What has taken many
aback is that, in the onslaught of publicity, they have responded with
icy-cool insouciance that is as brazen as their postings.
It is this completely unrepentant attitude that stuns many – it’s so un-Asian, un-Malaysian.
Lee
was quoted as saying that she was not worried whether her parents and
family were upset – even though she said she got the “mother of
scoldings” from them – nor what others thought of them. In fact, they
would carry on as they enjoyed what they did.
Now these two young
people are not aimless school dropouts with no future nor purpose in
life: she is a business studies graduate and he is an Asean scholar
which is no mean feat. One can assume these are bright young adults who
knew exactly what they were doing when they did what they did.
Yet, one cannot help wonder: What the blazes were they thinking?
Did
they really think it was all right to “star” in their own porn and make
it public? Did they not think it was shameful and inappropriate
behaviour? Did they believe that there was no stigma attached to their
actions nor consequences to their actions?
From their responses,
it appears that they really do think so: yes, it’s all right and dandy.
And they could be right, as disturbing as the thought is to older folk.
Really,
it is the older generation who are most flustered and shocked by the
duo’s actions. The younger ones are generally blasé to it; after all,
they have grown up on a diet of overt eroticism and sexuality that is
all over MTV, the Internet, movies, graphic novels and manga.
For
them, as old restrictions, mores and morals become increasingly
ambiguous, the line between the sacred and the profane has blurred.
What’s
more, to Netizens, what Tan and Lee did is nothing new. At most,
there’s a bit of a novelty factor because they are Malaysians.
There
is talk that the couple may be charged for breaking Singapore’s Films
Act for producing and uploading porn and Tan might be expelled for
breaching NUS’s students code of conduct.
Again, the couple have
responded with indifference. Tan, a final year student, is reportedly on
leave from NUS and has started his own firm which he said was “doing
pretty well, so that’s actually my career plan anyway”.
Not only
that, thanks to their erotic antics, Tan claimed they have been asked to
endorse sex toys and lingerie by Singapore companies!
Indeed,
Tan’s clearly articulated intention to leverage on their new-found fame –
“We want Alvin and Vivian to become a household name, ... known for
being a sexually open duo” – makes you wonder whether it was all
carefully orchestrated by two wily people who know that this is the kind
of publicity that can lead to quick and good money.
And because
there is always the next scandal, the next shocking antic coming up on
Facebook or YouTube, they will go from infamy back to anonymity by, say,
next Monday.
So why worry, what was good for a Kardashian can be
good for a Tan and Lee. Or put it another way: what is one person’s
shame is another’s fame.
Comment by JUNE H.L. WONG
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