Missed out on your fix of family friendly television madness? SBS on demand has you hooked up for watching, and guest me-viewer, Simon Chan has you hooked up for the very personal experience of sitting down to experience The Family Law.
We asked Simon for a “me-view”, ie what does a creative, smart, Asian Australian see when they connect with art/culture that is (at last, some might say) directly connecting with them as an audience.
Here’s what emerged:
Me: Probably not what you were expecting, E. Dad’s gone to bed, but Mum might oblige.
‘The Mum That Stole Christmas’. The Family Law Ep2 as reviewed by Simon Chan, Barrister-at-Law, and his mother.
Me: Mum, there’s a program on SBS I want to watch.
Mum: You watch. I have too much work. (Clangs in kitchen).
Mum: (turning on SBS). There are two channels. Which one?
Me: SBS ONE. (With the emphasis on ONE).
Mum: This it?
Me: No. It’s Maeve Mara with a baked fish.
Mum: What’s the show?
Me: ‘The Family Law.’
Mum: I saw ad for that. Terrible acting – nothing like real people.
Me: It’s a sitcom, Mum! Besides, it’s Benjamin Law’s memoirs of his real family. How can they not be real people? (Pause). It’s partly in Cantonese.
(Mum sits on lounge).
Mrs Law: (Looking through the TV screen at my Mum and me.) Terrible acting. Nothing like real people.
Mum: Who’s that?
Me: The actor playing Mrs Law. I don’t really know her. (Sotto voce). Nor you, really.
Mum: Who’s that?
Me: It’s Caroline Kennison, playing a shady acting agent. Or Dianne Eden. I don’t know. She’s a friend.
Mum: And who’s that?
Me: Andrew Buchanan. He’s playing the father of the perfect Eurasian family. He was in “Sex Diary of An Infidel” with me, remember? When I played the trannie at La Boite, and you said “I have a daughter now.”
(Pause).
Me: I’m pretty sure the actor who plays the father was the original trannie in the Playbox production.
Mum: You have a lot of actor friends. Mostly homosexual.
Me: I’m an actor. Completely homosexual. And Kimie Tsukakoshi’s in it. From “From Asia With Love”? And she’s definitely not homosexual.
Mum: Then why they no show her face? Best part of show.
(Big pause).
Mum: Is that a real dog?
Me: It’s a guinea pig, Mum. And it’s real.
Mum: This is boring and meaningless. I’m going up to bed. You not watching it anymore?
Me: I’m writing a review. Of this.
Mum: Then turn TV off. Waste electricity.
Benjamin and I should write a play together for Law Boite (pun intended).
The Family Law screens on SBS Thursdays at 8.30pm.
Want to contribute me-view of the family law? Just get in touch!