Fandom (7)--An Idiosyncratic View From the Inside

He's a Woman, She's a Man (Part 3) Once Leslie relaunched his music career, he was not shy about projecting a flamboyant image in his videos and on stage. Here is the opening of the 1997 World Concert Tour. A series of unveilings takes place in quick succession. First the sides of the crystal pyramid (patterned after a similar crystal pyramid at the Louvre Museum in Paris) open to reveal Leslie enveloped in a glittering cloak. His face is covered by a flamboyant red feathered mask, such as you would see in the Venice Carnival. Removing the mask, Leslie reveals his face to the audience. As they applaud, Leslie breaks into a knowing smile and hands the mask to an attendant, who is dressed like a faun. This is a very queer opening, indeed!Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yh2QVKmTxjMWhen he went to Guangzhou in 1997, Leslie transformed himself through long hair and makeup to channel the feminine more than on any other date of the tour. All we have are stills of this show, no video. It is interesting to note that at that time it was forbidden (i.e., against the law) for men to wear long hair in Guangzhou. No one can tell me if Leslie intentionally wore long hair in open defiance of this ban, or if he was, in fact, unaware of the law.Leslie released an openly gay-themed video for the song "Grieving Man," on his  album. Perhaps the sub-title of this video should be:  Boys Just Want to Have Fun! It is interesting to note that many of the costumes that appear in this video were worn by Leslie's dancers in the 1997 World Concert Tour and his own costumes (and tattoo on his chest) are also from that production. While the video is light-hearted, it also openly acknowledges Hong Kong's gay club culture. In this video, Leslie places himself in the midst of this subculture and does not shy away from being identified with it.Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7n9ZxqZwcco&feature=relatedLeslie continued to play with gender roles and expectations in his music videos for songs on the album. In "Blamefully Beautiful," Leslie plays a victim sexual harassment. The video clearly represents this harassment as an abuse of power, where sexual dominance is used to enforce the social hierarchy. When a new young woman joins the office staff, her subordinate, Leslie, attempts to initiate a relationship with her, but he is quickly put in his place by the boss. The alliance of the women at the end of the video can be interpreted as solidarity to preserve the status quo and keep men in a powerless and subordinate position. By reversing the roles (and power) of the sexes, this video becomes a biting commentary on sexual exploitation of women and abuse of power as the normative condition in heterosexual society.Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcYAe2mT4ds&feature=channel_video_titleLeslie continued to bring a gay visibility to some of his music videos throughout the nineties. As a kind of tune-up for the Passion Tour, he remade his image for the "Big Heat" video. He adopted a more colorful and flamboyant look with long hair and designer costumes similar to the ones that would become a hallmark of the Passion Tour.Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUz63Bmfu3U&playnext=1&list=PL777FA1EA73971211But Leslie was equally comfortable playing a straight ahead (and totally straight) male role in the romantic video "Pillow."Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qg-3ymesKTYOr this hot opening of the  film .Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EgOg55EVS0&feature=channel_video_titleBut Leslie explored more than just gay issues in his videos. In the next video, a lesbian woman is in love with another woman who happens to be Leslie's girlfriend. The frustration of being the outsider in a world that is expected to pair up as male and female is examined from the perspective of female same-sex desire.Video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmVn7YdnDOABut Leslie's most personal statement of his sexual difference has to be the song "I".  The song begins, "I am what I am,"  a proud statement of self acceptance and an acknowledge of difference. Leslie was very clear in talking with his lyricist, Lam Jihk, that this would be the first line of the song (in English) for both the Cantonese and the Mandarin versions . (The lyrics do vary somewhat between the two versions and Leslie came to prefer the lyrics of the Mandarin version and performed that version exclusively in the Passion Tour shows.)Below are the lyrics to the Mandarin version of the song.I am what I am/I will always love myself this wayHappiness is/There is more than one way to be happyFortunately/Everyone is the creator's gloryNo need to hide/I live the way I want to liveNo need for makeup/I stand under the brightest lightFree to become the strongest bubbleI like what I am/Let roses blossom into a kind of consequenceNaked and blooming in the lonely desertHappiness is/living in a glass houseDisclosing to the world/What it means to have nothing to hidelyrics by Lam Jihk, translated by Helen Hok-Sze Leung in , UBC Press (2008), p.103.Standing alone on stage at the end of the concert, barefoot and dressed in nothing but a white bathrobe with his long hair pulled back, Leslie faces his fans virtually naked, baring now not only his body, but also his soul to the audience. Utterly honest and unadorned, simply and sincerely, Leslie declares to the world his difference, and his total acceptance of who and what he is.Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSirijfZXdA&feature=related