Lao Fu Zi: Remnant of the past, or thriving legacy?
It’s nothing out of the ordinary for younger demographics today to recognise Lao Fu Zi (or Old Master Q), given how iconic it is. But it’s not with the kind of relevance which Blackpink or the Marvel Cinematic Universe commands in modern media, where their presence is shoved in your face whether you like it or not. If anything, Lao Fu Zi is more like Marilyn Monroe. It’s very likely a random 15 year old can easily recognise her discernible image, but you can’t accuse him or her of wilful ignorance for not being able to name one of her movies. In fact, googling Lao Fu Zi virtually gives you only news of the deaths of its creator and its publisher.
But unlike Marilyn Monroe, glamour and Lao Fu Zi don’t belong in the same sentence, even with its collaboration with Prada, Gucci, and Givenchy in the past. The creator, Alphonso Wong, himself described his character as someone that “reflects the lives of everyday people” with characteristics you can find in anyone, which explains its timeless quality. Regardless of its current popularity, people of all ages and eras can enjoy its ability to present the occasional and relatable absurdness of daily life with its own unique comedic spin, while never really demanding a suspense of disbelief (even if the comics do involve time travel, aliens, or talking animals to name a few eccentricities).
So what meaning does Lao Fu Zi have in the current age of morbid humour and satire? Well, just as it has done since 1964, it’s changing to keep up with the times. But rather than just altering the comics to suit modern tastes, the brand itself has been branching out into other markets.
In addition to exhibiting and selling its original artworks, Lao Fu Zi has made forays into the pop art scene, like its collaboration with simpleArte to produce the Old Master Q shadow series where its art prints are available for sale.
Even in classrooms, the character lives on in textbooks for Chinese idioms called “Old Master Q Happy Idioms”. Maybe if these were around when I was still in school, I would’ve actually enjoyed learning Chinese instead of reading about how Xiao Ming had a life-changing discovery for the hundredth time.
However, these ventures away from the comics themselves seem to imply the resigning of Lao Fu Zi to nostalgia and its mostly established position as a symbol of a simpler past. This is somewhat of a shame, especially when its humour resonates with postmodernist elements like irony and cynicism that can be seen everywhere in today’s music, movies, literature etc. The tides of relevance do not contain rhyme or reason for why we care about things or not, they simply wash out the old and bring in the new, wholly void of sentiment.
In a way, just as we grow more distant from our grandparents as time passes, Lao Fu Zi has embraced its current status as a fond memory from the past.
With that said, while change inevitably occurs with time for better or worse, some things stay the same. There’s always a place at the dinner table at your grandparents’ place, and Lao Fu Zi will always welcome the old and new no matter its relevance. As we continue moving through these interesting times, perhaps we should take a note from Alphonso Wong, and “take a break and find humour in our daily activities” as he intended with Lao Fu Zi.
