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Creating an image - or trapped in one

By Raymond Zhou (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-12-31 08:46

Naughty pictures speak louder than words

Edison Chen (pictured left) and his coterie of Hong Kong starlets shocked the Chinese-speaking world when his collection of very private photos was released online by some maverick computer hacker. It set off a barrage of questions: Did Chen violate the unwritten moral code of an entertainer? Did his nemesis do a public favor by toppling a role model, or did he break any privacy laws? Did Chen have the right to take these photos, or more specifically, did he have the right to do the things in the photos but not photograph them, or did he exercise undue carelessness by taking his unencrypted computer to a repair shop?

In any event, Chen and his supporting cast in the scandal have seen their entertainment careers suspended. Gillian Cheung (right) suffered the worst fate: After a half-hearted apology to the public, she turned herself into the butt of a joke. Her scenes in the biopic Forever Enthralled were expunged because "the descendents of Mei Lanfang could not bear to see the person who portrays their mother on screen associated with a tarnished public image". She also popularized the saying "very foolish, very innocent" - she used it to describe her mental state when having these photos taken, but it more appropriately applied to the way she made her remarks in response to the scandal.

For those who watch stars with starry eyes, this was a rude awakening. Yes, they are human beings, too, and are prone to human folly. Sometimes, though, their behavior does not reflect the fact their livelihood depends on a squeaky clean image.

Till death do us part

Paparazzi jostled for a good position as the stars walked down the aisle. But not every story developed the same way.

On April 17, TV idol Tong Dawei (pictured left) distributed candy to guests, including tabloid reporters. Hong Kong actress-singer Kelly Chen married Alex Lau (right) on Oct 2 and posed for photos during the wedding. They were even nice to the paparazzi, too. Tony Leung and Carina Lau held a very high-profile wedding in a secluded hangout on July 21 - way out in Brunei. Only select guests were invited. But photos of the couple in Buddhist attire were available upon request. On the way back from the wedding, Li Yapeng, Faye Wong's hubby, beat up a persistent photographer at an airport.

Minor celebrities probably had to hire photographers for their happy occasion.

Crouching tiger, hidden farmer

Another amateur photographer who left an indelible mark on the year was Zhou Zhenglong (pictured below). The Shaanxi farmer took a series of photos in late 2007 but as soon as it was made known that he had spotted a South China tiger, widely believed to be extinct, people started to question the authenticity of his proof.

Actually, netizens could not find traces of retouching in the photos. Their suspicion came from the fact that the local government was atypically prompt in endorsing these photos. A prolonged debate broke out online, with one side defending the authenticity and the other trashing it, both staking their "heads".

Then, someone stumbled on the origin of the tiger, from an old calendar. Eventually, investigators concluded that Zhou put a blown-up poster with the image of a tiger in the woods and imprinted paw marks in the neighborhood.

But like all good stories, this one has a surprise ending. After pleading guilty and receiving a suspended prison sentence, Zhou retracted his admission, saying he had deliberately signed his name incorrectly in the court documents and stuck by his original story.

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