Leon Cheo | People Like Us, “The Scene,” Season 1, Episode 1 / 2016

man without a name

by Douglas Messerli

 

Leon Cheo (screenwriter and director) People Like Us, “The Scene,” Season 1, Episode 1 / 2016 [8 minutes]

 

After a quick look of all the central figures preparing for their night out, this first episode centers upon Rai (Ashoka) meeting up with Joel (Crowe), who’s just been to the gym, for a meeting (made presumably online) in a hip restaurant Rai has chosen. Rai tells Joel that he’s in the army, while Joel admits, when asked about his choice of food, that what he really wants is a “connection,” having not dated for quite a while. The boy with whom he had a relationship suddenly admitted that he didn’t feel anything between them anymore.

     Rai wonders if he might join him later for a drink, but Joel can’t since he’s meeting up with friends. Rai’s look of disappointment suggests that things between him and Joel may not go much further than the dinner date.

     We see Isaac at a party where upon checking his cellphone, Rai follows up with an offer to get-together. At a bar Joel tells his friends that Rai was not a good match, they encouraging him just to find someone at the bar with whom he can just “get laid.”

     In between these scenes, we’ve witnessed Ridzwan in a sauna having a quick fuck. His sexual partner presents him with his card.

     Meanwhile, Joel dances with a cute boy who suggests they meet up in a back room. Joel demurs, but soon after tries to follow only to discover he’s already kissing another young man on nearby bench. Frustrated, Joel leaves the club, Taboo, only to discover Ridzwan, who he acts like he knows, querying him on which club he visited, listing for us most the major Singapore bars: Tantric, DYMK, Backstage, before responding, “Don’t tell me you went to a sauna.”

      Throughout this conversation, Ridzwan has attempted to ignore Joel, eating the entire time and pretending to ignore him. Still troubled the sauna, he interjects, “I thought only desperate guys go there.”

      Ridzwan answers, “Aren’t we all?”

      A few moments later, Ridzwan asks his unflappable new friend, “What, you’re

 still here?”

      Joel introduces himself, as Ridzwan puts down his fork, gets up, and walks off, saying “Bye Joel.”

     But Joel doesn’t give up. He follows, encountering Ridzwan again as he tries to catch a taxi, greeting him with a “Hey,” to which his new friend mutters, “You again.”

      “I never got your name.”

      “I never told you.”

      “Can I have your number?”

      “What for?”

      Certainly, by this time any normal man might have long ago given up. But tonight, it appears, Joel is desperate, and there’s obviously something he likes about the cynical sauna-goer. He answers in a protracted sense of logic, arguing that with his number he will text him and wait for his reply, and when he doesn’t receive a reply, he can wonder why.” Even Ridzwan has to admit that such logic is truly “creepy.”

      Joel assures him that he’s just kidding, that he really wants his number so that they can meet again—which still, given Ridzwan’s attempts to get rid of him, seems more than a little queer. Joel resolves the situation by taking out a piece of paper, writing down his name and number, and slipping into Ridzwan’s shirt pocket, saying “Call me.”

       There’s something definitely likeable about such an obstinate would-be lover, and something equally attractive already about Ridzwan’s dismissive character.

 

Los Angeles, June 6, 2023

Reprinted from My Queer Cinema blog (June 2023).