Fragment 1 impatience with people, including the taxi driver and the receptionist at the hotel. Michael is very aloof and impatient in his interactions with people. The male protagonist's cynicism, self-loathing, and general diffuse boredom of life are very well portrayed. Moreover, he had absolutely no intention of trying to pretend.
Episode 2 After the ONS with Lisa, he couldn't bear with her stupid habits of speaking with food in her mouth. In the sun the next day, Lisa lost her magic completely, everything was wrong with her, and like everyone else He was bored and intolerable. Poor Michael, he should realize by then that it is not Lisa's fault at all. It's never been about Lisa. It's him that is sick. Michael's problem is, cant't bear with himself, so he projects his self-loathing onto everyone that gets connected with him. He is his own worst disease. Even worse, he's contagious. All the antidote he hoped to cure himself, once touched and contacted by him, immediately turned into an unavoidable poison. Duan was so empathetic that it made me gasp for breath. The charm of a date exists only in the early frivolity of "love". Once the momentary crush fades away, everything about him/her looks so wrong. It could be how he/she sits, it could be the color or the length of his/her socks. In these moments, the Michael inside of me literally bursts out screaming. But fortunately, like Michael, I didn't act, cuz I know it'
Episode 3 Michael gets enough of his son. It's not that he doesn't have paternal instinct, it's that he couldn't afford to or just didn't want to prepare himself for the demanding child. The same happened to me when my 3 year old nephew called saying that he missed me in the sweetest voice you can imagine. I tried my best to muster my strength, physically so my voice would sound reasonably cheerful and enthusiastic, psychologically so I can respond in a loving and caring manner. But I can feel my soul was detaching from the interaction, it was floating in the middle of the air, dissociated from my authentic self, which was immersed with indifference. When he accidentally hung up the phone (maybe his face touched the hung up bottom) , I was relieved. And, I felt awful for having this feeling of relief.
Episode 4 Michael is a very sensitive and intelligent guy. But he has been sick for quite a while. The way he parted with his gf ten years ago, and the way he parted with Lisa this time. He just disappeared without any explanation. This pattern keeps repeating. Disease is, he can not live with himself. He is his own worst disease. Since he can never escape from himself, the second best thing for him to do is leave whoever gets too close to him. That's the reason why he'd always need some surrogates such as Lisa. That's the reason why he'd always disappear. I feel bad for him. But I resonate with his feelings. I too deal with problems with absence. , can only deal with all problems in absence. Because this is the only I/he know(s) how.
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