Ask and ye shall receive – Family Law Ep 2

 
Fiona Choi as Jenny Law in The Family Law (Ben King/SBS)
Fiona Choi as Jenny Law in The Family Law (Ben King/SBS)

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-viewer, Simon Chan with his mother, Ellen, pictured.
Me-viewer, Simon Chan with his mother, Ellen, pictured.

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!

Simon Chan

Author: Simon Chan

Simon Chan is a Barrister-at-Law

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