CHAPTER 26

Original (Published in "Lun's World"): 2005-02-01

Rewritten: 2025-08-19

Lun doesn't watch many television programs, nor is he a big fan of drama, but he is particularly interested in certain TV and movie stories.

Recently, a parent was very thoughtful and suggested that I apply for an "Entertainment Pass" for Lun (valid in certain cities and designated theaters in Greater Vancouver). This card offers discounts on tickets to disabled or mentally handicapped individuals and their accompanying caregivers.

I'm very grateful for this parent’s concern, but Lun doesn't have many opportunities to use this card because there are only a few movies he enjoys.

The first time I took Lun to the cinema was in Hong Kong. He, a fetus, was already several months old within my wife's swollen belly, but we bravely set out to see Chow Yun-fat's classic, "A Better Tomorrow." I remember after the movie, my wife complained that the baby in her belly kept kicking her, perhaps because of the sheer force of the drama.

We didn't go to the cinema often, and after Lun was born, we had even less time for recreation. We soon immigrated to Canada. After we learned he had autism at age four, our interest in going to the movies waned significantly. We knew he was afraid of loud noises, and the cinema's loud sound system was incredibly loud, which we feared would frighten him.

In daily observation, he rarely paid attention to the TV screen. Cartoons, children's programs, and animal shows didn't hold his attention, let alone dramas, where the dialogue was "more saliva than tea." Hong Kong dramas were often melodramatic, full of intrigue and family dramas, which bored him even more. Perhaps the detective stories were too abstract for investigation. Therefore, we thought he had lost interest in movies and film programs.

Later, we discovered that he enjoyed Cantonese pop music programs, especially Sally Yeh. He especially loved Christmas carols, which he would sing during the holidays. We bought him more tapes of this kind.

One time, we rented a Star Wars Episode I tape and took it home to watch. He settled in, occasionally watching the laser tag scenes. The blue, green, and white lights danced across the screen with a whirring sound, and he was absolutely thrilled.

So we took him to the cinema to see Star Wars: Episode I on the big screen. Half an hour into the movie, he walked to the left side of the screen and tapped the screen with his index finger, wanting to feel its texture and see it up close. I had no choice but to follow him, down and up, out and in, until I'd barely seen a third of the movie. From then on, he frequently asked to go to the cinema. What could I do? I just had to stay away from theaters as much as possible.

Once, we played a Bruce Lee kung fu movie at home, and he was fascinated by the fight scenes. Boys always love to watch others fight. As a father, I'd always be itching to try my hand at it for weeks after each one.

He would be so absorbed in watching eerie, bloody scenes of murder that he would tense up, his eyes wide open in deep thought. If touched, he would startle and hit someone, waking up in shock. Since then, we've been afraid to show films like "King Arthur." Ghost films are too scary to watch for us and we never show them.

Recently, I noticed he'd broaden his horizons. He'd been watching the Japanese drama "The Truth in the Rainy Night," which tells the story of a male doctor and a female detective who, by chance, team up to uncover the truth behind the deaths of their parents ten years prior. He seemed dismissive for the first seven episodes, but by the finale, he sat obediently in front of the TV, watching until the end.