Chivalrous men and Dying in Desert

Friday Night

Saw the Korean Film ‘Musa (2001)’ aka 武士 on U last night. For an epic, it is still view-able to pass time while I’m solving a Sudoku puzzle.

I really dunno. Although desert is synonymous with being barren and therefore death, must people keep dying, trapped in a run-down fortress, with no respite. Especially the men who are consider themselves 武士 / Warriors as in the following :

龙门客栈，Legionnaire (Jean Claude Van Damme), Warriors of Heaven and Earth 2003 (天地英雄), and various cowboy-themed movies.

It is not a lot I suppose as it is quite a “冷门” theme as the story line is roughly the same.

Chivalry. A concept admired but little practiced by people. Associated with men due to historic baggage，i.e the stronger sex. Based on the underlying theme of self-sacrifice to higher cause or to protect the weak (aka women and children). A notion that supposedly can appeal to the goodness in people. In reality, Chivalry is very subjective and relative to whom it is applied. 孝，忠，义，爱 are likely to end up in conflict as seen in movies (i.e Romeo and Juliet, Infernal Affairs or some undercover-cop movie, Lost Memories 2005, Joint Security Area, Martial Arts Novels...). In a nutshell, it is never easy to manage people.

Never declare yourself as being chivalrous or a “ 好人”as it would constraint your options. Most important is to never hold the concept of chivalry in your mind as it will trap you in the pursuit of a “good name” and therefore be ruled by circumstances and worst, the opinions of others . To be chasing after a good name is akin to getting approval from people around you or chasing after the Sun. A bloody waste of time. Be mindful of being labeled as a “ 好人” as well as people who are labeled as such. If you want to do "good", do it because you want to, not because you have to.

Reminds me of this phrase from some Chinese movie which goes like this :

“ 宁肯认识真小人也不要识得伪君子”

Unfortunately, human emotions are multi-faceted which is why the following phrase is the most apt here :

“ 画人画皮难画骨，知人知面不知心。”

幸好世界不止是灰色的。