The Sparkle in Your Eyes
This was a very beautiful drama. It was well-done and I liked the actors. I watched it because several people recommended it to me, both here and elsewhere. It is definitely worth watching but with the understanding that this is the opposite of a fluffy BL. This is about some serious sh*t.
I do have some things to say about it. TW: rape. I put off watching the third and last acts of this drama because I was scared of what would happen. I was right. Pei Jia never had the guts to admit Fang Run Zhi was a sexual predator and as a result Su Yi was raped. I never completely forgave Pei Jia for this, even if Su Yi did. It was very hard for me to watch all of this. Yes, many shows have rape and assault, but some are harder to watch than others. Somehow the fact that this might have been prevented made it even worse for me. Also, I know many people who have been raped, so when a show is more realistic about the trauma of this kind of experience, it hits harder. The show never tried to say Su Yi would be ok after Fang Run Zhi was brought to justice, and I appreciate that, because even if Run Zhi ends up in jail Su Yi still has to live with the trauma for the rest of his life. This isn’t the kind of trauma that just goes away. So for that reason the ending was sad for me.
regarding su yi ending up blind, I like that the show didn’t end with him being cured. If a show is going to deal with disability I prefer that they show it as something people can adapt to and live with. Pei Jia wanted to understand Su Yi’s experience of being blind, not change it, and both were learning braille. Now it’s possible Su Yi might have surgery at some future date, but we are only left to speculate. But the ending implied that whatever happens they can love and appreciate each other regardless.
one more thing. This show also hit me hard because the abuser was someone in a position of power in the entertainment industry. We all know of so many cases where things like this have happened in real life, and I’m sure for every case we know about there are two (or twenty) we don’t know about. It’s easy to take advantage of people who need you to secure their future, especially in entertainment but also in other areas. I just feel so much pain and anger thinking about how many people—men mostly—get away with this. And about how many victims have trouble talking about it.
don’t think for a moment that people who are sexually assaulted can’t get on with their lives. They can and do. Basically every woman I have ever met has been molested or raped. Those that haven’t have at least been harassed. i dont know enough queer men to know how many have gone through this as well. But we all just keep going because we have no other choice. I am lucky to have experienced something relatively mild compared to most of the women I’m close to. But be assured, even if you’re a teenager, you know someone who has been through this.
ok, I got too serious and on my soap box a little too much. This show really made me think and feel a lot. I don’t know if I could watch it again for that reason. But I was still impressed with it.