Hard to Imagine?
- Peter K F Cheung SBS
- Mar 6, 2022
- 2 min read
FADE IN.
Act 1
INT. SITTING ROOM - 13:00
As the first frame of a film appears on TV, PETER and his WIFE begin to watch.
PETER: Well, it's VCD quality. Haven't we got a DVD copy?
WIFE: No. I find the whole movie on YouTube. It's hard to imagine why it wasn't taken down.
PETER: Perhaps, the right owners don't bother; or it could be their marketing strategy.
After seeing the title of the film "Turn Left, Turn Right", the images depict the Chinese setting.
PETER (Cont'd): Judging from the car models, the film was about 20 years old.
WIFE: This film is suggested to me.
PETER: The aim is to let viewers have a better experience.
Pausing.
PETER (Cont'd): We're just one click away from worldly matters.
Act 2
EXT. ROADSIDE - 17:15
Waiting inside a car, Peter is having screen time.
PETER (V.O.): A Quora answer request is: What makes you say "hard to imagine"?
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): In the film "Turn Left, Turn Right", the characters were very shy in their early adolescence.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): Me too. It's hard to imagine then I'd transform into who I'm now.
Peter types his answer.
EXT. ESTATE ROAD - 18: 30
Walking past a tree with pink leaves, Peter captures and checks an image.
PETER (V.O.): Great! I've got colour accuracy.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Pink symbolises friendship, affection, inner peace and harmony.
INT. SITTING ROOM - 19:00
Peter is watching TV news.
PETER (V.O.): Oh, Russia passed a law yesterday, criminalising the intentional spreading of fake news. The maximum term of imprisonment is 15 years.
Watching attentively.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): Certain news media are suspending their activities in Russia to protect their journalists and reporters.
Peter surfs the web. We see: Fake news is misleading or false information presented as news...
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): Worse still, t aims to damage the reputation of an entity for popularity or commercial gain.
We see: The term fake news was first used in 1890s when sensational reports in newspapers were common.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): So the malpractice has been institutionalised and has been the dark side of the media culture.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): It isn't hard to imagine why certain news media have immediately suspended their activities in Russia.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): But these news media would continue their operation outside of Russia.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): A Quoran asked me earlier how to tell if a news report aims to raise hatred or awareness.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): My simple answer was that: for hatred, the presence of seething words, scathing tone and black mood; and for awareness, their absence.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): I've heard many fake news manufactured by so-called independent media about Hong Kong, China.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): Believing in fake news can be more dangerous than being ignorant.
Sighing.
Act 3
INT. SITTING ROOM - 22:00
While Peter's wife is watching a film on TV, Peter is working on a laptop.
WIFE: This one is of DVD quality.
PETER (V.O): The story isn't real. And there's no right or wrong.
Peter's wife looks bored.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Fake news, on the other hand, influences others to doubt what's right and do what's wrong.
Peter's wife gets the remote control.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): It isn't hard to imagine such public harm has to be deterred.
Peter's wife chooses to watch other videos.
FADE OUT
THE END
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