A CATHARSIS: Nic Tse and Faye Wong Reunite!

Archive Post from 9/22/2014

Nic Tse谢霆锋 and Faye Wong王菲, MY ABSOLUTE IDOL and perhaps sole reason why I ever invested so much time in the Chinese language, have gotten back together after their 10+ years of separation! Why bring this up? Honestly, I only have the darker purpose of perpetuating gossip and scandal. I think it's astounding that we as humans are capable of becoming so attached to celebrities and the goings on of their lives. But I believe there's a greater purpose. Like the audience of a great Greek tragedy, entertainment news watchers long to see the portrayal of sadness, hope, pity, comedy perfectly wrapped into one, similar to that of a movie screen in their *attractive* idols' lives.

Now, for those of you unaware of the tumultuous triumvirate of Nic, Faye, and Cecilia Cheung 张柏芝 , the story is somewhat complicated.  All you need to know is that for years Nic has yo-yo-ed back and forth between Faye and Cecilia Cheung 张柏芝, until Cecilia convinced Nic that real men have wives and children, and thus pushing Faye out of the picture... Until now! Cecilia and Nic's unholy union ended in many public fights during 2011, a good year for Nic, winning Best Supporting Actor in the Hong Kong Film Awards for his role in Stool Pigeon < 线人>, a bad year for Cecilia who started tanking and becoming "box office poison". 

And Faye? Not to be heard from since her last concert tour ended in 2012, she has stayed largely out of the limelight. Except for the admittedly intoxicating duet with Eason Chan 《因为爱情》。 Oh, and she divorced 李亚鹏, but really he was more known for his business dealings as compared to the few hits he had in film, and therefore [I] the general public could care less. 

Reading this news about Faye, I would've thought one of my best friends ran back to her boyfriend for the Nth time. (plenty of experience there..) I even have the feeling of "Damn, I don't like Cecilia as an actress anyways, I'm glad she is losing out on Nic with his smooth voice and good looks." I come back to earth when I recall the time a former boss of mine responded to my in-depth knowledge of the 峰柏（Nic and Cecilia) love story with "别浪费时间关注那么多八卦的事情。” trans: Don't waste your time paying attention to such gossipy things. While Pai may have had a point, I believe there's something oddly cathartic about watching a celebrity couple get together, fall apart, then get back together again. It's as if the movie script becomes real, not unlike actors portraying similarly impossible situations on the silver screen. Furthermore, it's the modern tragedy, without people gouging their eyes out. Alright, it's more like an Andrew Lau movie 刘伟强 since there are triads。