The Painted Veil

I watched this movie some time ago and have been wanting to blog about it. First stop, I love Edward Norton since 'The Score'. He has this sex appeal that .. well appeals to me. But he's a little too thin in this movie but still sexy for me.

Not going to write a synopsis about this movie although I think it's a little too fast-paced for the story to be told and the sadness to sink in. One part that caught my attention was when Kitty Fane (Naomi Watts) asked Waddington (played by Toby Jones) a British who lives just next door to the Fanes in China, what is it that his girlfriend (a chinese girl, who looks a little insane to me probably due to too much opium) sees in him that she chose to stay with him. Toby Jones then asked the woman in chinese the same question, and to which she replied albeit to my surprise "because he's a good man". Because he's a good man.. wow, that was powerful, as simple as that!! I had expected the reason to be rich or something along that line since he is no good looking, short, stout well, to be crude, he was just plain ugly.

It then dawned upon me that being a good man, is still an admirable quality yet no one sees that as a priority pre-requisite in choosing a life partner today. Women will always boast about their partner being handsome, rich, talented.. and of course they want to live up to their standard and go all out to choose a man who possess at least one of these criteria. Not many women are willing to choose an ugly, poor and is incapable of any talent although they can be .... just ...plain good man.

I too am guilty of that. I remember rejecting guys who came after me and I judged them by their appearance, some short, some poor family background, some slow and not clever.. but I can tell you that they are all good man! I truly believe that they can make a good husband despite their seemingly unimportant short-comings.

For reasons that I figured out, women want the 3 things I mentioned because:

1. Rich - you don't have to boast that your husband is rich, people can tell from the house you live in, the car you drive, the clothes you wear, the handphone he uses and all the latest gadgets that he uses. These are all tell-tale signs that he is well-to-do. Women feel more confident with the fact the their husband is well-off.

2. Physical appearance - again, this doesn't need explanation. People who have eyes can tell your partner is awfully attractive that it makes other women feel intimidated and probably a little ashamed with their 'uglier' partner. Surely, women will feel proud to show-off their partner.

3. Talent - I know many women who are dying to be with talented men; gifted musicians, exceptional singers, great dancers, brilliant artist, commendable sportsmen and etc. They don't have to be famous like superstars, they only need to exhibit those talents among people they know. That is enough to warrant attention. Yet again, these talents speak for themselves. Everyone would be in awe with these talents.. not many people have them and surely women are proud of their other half because of their talent. Surely, they have been swept right off their feet with these talents.

Why then, isn't good man as desirable as the above-mentioned traits? Perhaps, a good man, I feel takes a longer time to 'discover'. Time and effort needs to be taken to truly discern a good man. And if one found a good man, are they truly satisfied? This is when I ask, do you love this man or do you love what he has?

The title is beautiful and is a great illustration of how women ought to look beyond the painted veil to discover what lies beneath a man whom they have no desire for initially.