Wednesday, October 11th, 2006

Edison Chen: Impresario for the new China?

Chinese stunnas mayne! (From Edison Chen’s blog)

Here’s a piece today on Edison Chen that I did for the SF Chronicle. Yes I know. Those of you who aren’t 16 year-old AZN girls and know a little bit about his teen-idol career might be like, huh? But the cat is doing things.

Here’s a piece of the piece:

Like a lot of people in Hong Kong, a city whose millennial fever spiked three years early when its sovereignty was transferred from Great Britain to China, Chen feels that he has a lot of work to do. His North American movie debut comes Friday, less than a week after his 26th birthday, with a leading role opposite Amber Tamblyn in “The Grudge 2,” the latest Hollywood take on Takashi Shimizu’s Japanese horror classic, “Ju-On.” Meanwhile, he’s managing his brand-development company, Clot, opening a new Juice store in Shanghai, plotting reality shows for MTV Asia (his wildly popular, famous-folks-and-practical-jokes show “Whatever Things” — now on hiatus — made him the Asian Ashton Kutcher), and finishing his latest Mandarin-language album.

Just reading his daily blog, with its high-speed, hip-hop-style mix of wit, braggadocio and commodity fetishism, can be exhausting. In just six years, Chen has made more than 20 films and 10 CDs. Born in Vancouver, B.C., fluent in English, Cantonese and Mandarin, comfortable on the streets of Shanghai, Tokyo, Seoul and New York City, and eager to advance the new China’s youth culture, he has become something of a poster boy for the post-handover generation. Chen may soon become Hong Kong’s freshest export.

posted by Jeff Chang @ 6:54 am | 2 Comments

2 Responses to “Edison Chen: Impresario for the new China?”

the clutterer says:

October 12, 2006 at 9:42 am

I’d like to give Edison the benefit of the doubt, but the number of ABC/CBC kids with the hip hop spoon in their mouths is just staggering in Hong Kong, and Cantopop remains one of the worst genres of music around.

I’ve lived in HK and Shanghai, been amazed by how far and widespread design has gotten in both cities, and how they’ve embraced graffiti and the hip hop ethos in their work, but it’s largely a superficial understanding. And that’s just talking about design – their understanding of the music is even worse.

I do give people like Edison props for trying to bring the best of the current, but the cynicism in me sees it as fleeting at best – it’s all ‘now,’ with little staying power. With that said, for every Edison, there’s an Eric Kot (one of the first HK rappers, if memory serves), and the sight of young kids breakin’ to the JBs in Victoria Park is inspiring.
Anonymous says:

October 22, 2006 at 9:07 pm

edisons blog is just embarassing to read.

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