You think its not ok for a 14 year old falling in love with a 19 year old? what if I told you that 12 year olds falling in love with 40 year olds isnt uncommon?
Before you hit me with the Hammer of "righteous morality", I dont condone any of that but here is the kicker, Nature doesnt ask for my opinion (and neither yours for that matter). If I really had a choice, the power to change human nature, I would get rid of sexuality COMPLETELY and find a way to reproduce asexually. Its a disgusting concept to begin with no matter what age!
I also hate the double Standards in Society, when a 12 year old boy has a crush on his 30 year old hot Teacher, he gets pats on the back but if the same thing happens the other way around, people lose their minds.
We still have no idea what exactly love is and how it "works", if we did, we would not have anything to discuss here to begin with. Fact is, there are many young girls coming of age who fall in love with older man and sadly some of these older man also fall in love with them (which is far worse for them) even though they dont want to but they have about as much choice in that as the 12 year olds (same goes the other way around, boy/mature woman). Their maturity enables them to at least resist the urges but thats about as easy as holding back your urge to pee when you absolutely have to and because Society consists of a lot of People who refuse to have any understanding, those man often go through Hell for that.
Men and women reach puberty at around the age of 12. That means that Nature DEMANDS they start coupling at that age! We have no idea why Nature doesnt listen to us and raises that age to 18 but maybe you can convince the INFINITE POWERS to change this rule to your "moral standards".....good luck!
Either way, whether you and I like it or not, this is not gonna change anytime soon!
if you had watched her works, you would understand if there was really any need for strong glamorous make up for…
If there is no need for heavy make up in her Dramas, then whats the point of pointing that out specifically other than bragging about it? lets say she has to play "ordinary" characters in her dramas and they purposely use less make up to make it look more "natural". Wouldnt that be just the nature of the script and not necessarily her own accomplishment?
Whats the message here? that she is a "natural beauty" that doesnt need much Make Up?
Normally I would applaud that but these are Dramas we are talking about, basically the "Barbie World" of Movies/Series, everything and everybody is complete fairy tale fake anyway. In fact, I would even go so far to say that Make Up is an integral part of generating the "perfect worlds" that Dramas normally aim for. Just think of the Dramas that depicts "Gods", surely no one would watch a Drama where the God Characters look like the average person on the street!
Thats like being proud of being not a superhero in a superhero movie! its kind of pointless!
Thanks for your thoughtful comments. I am not a huge fan of these feminist themed dramas either because I think…
fair points! and I agree, defining "strong" (both for men and women) isnt really easy.
Lets take some examples, can a men who reached the peak of fame and fortune and was surrounded by friends, lovers, family etc. BUT decided to hang himself because of "deep depressions" be considered "strong"? (think of Robin Williams)
Can a woman who didnt do much in terms of career and/or power but raised a dozen kids of which one became famous worldwide be considered "strong"?
It is very difficult for us to cope with the Reality of Nature! think of people who are born incurably blind or with any other serious condition.....are they not starting life already on a "weak" position? and can humanity or human systems like the dreaded "Patriarchy" be really blamed for that?
I think Martin Luther King came closest to what really defines "strong" in ALL humans regardless of race, gender etc. when he said "content of character". If a man tries to feed his family by working in life threatening conditions like a Coal Mine and his wife tries to raise her children with whatever is available to them, tirelessly managing the household and even the education of her children and if those two work in unison and are content with their roles and ready to sacrifice....how is that "weak"?, how is that "discriminatory"? arent both just like the cogwheels of a clock working towards a common goal? dont both of them have strong characters enabling them to endure the hardships? each utilizing their strengths and enduring the hardships that comes with it (for the man, hazardous working conditions, low social rank, low life expectancy and for the woman, no appreciation, no "career" opportunities, a life spent at home).
Once people reach a certain point in life, they realize that not every man can become a CEO and not every woman can be beautiful and alluring enough to attract said CEO. Once you reach a point even further, you realize that not every man wants to be a CEO and that not every woman wants to be with a CEO. And if you reach the point after that, you also realize that being a CEO or being with a CEO isnt really as it seems to be. You understand the stress, the pressure, the effort, the risk and the inconveniences behind it.
Let me give another example for this: lets say I take a Gold Bar and put it on a pedestal that can be easily reached and tell you that its yours when you can take it! would you go for it (no strings attached)? Im guessing 99.9% yes. Lets take the same situation but with a slight change. I lay invisible mines around the pedestal with 90% chance of hitting a mine and dying on the spot, would you still go for it?
There is absolutely nothing wrong with having entertainment with "strong women" in it, thats what they are for after all, as I said already "wish fulfilment". The problems start when this idea leaves the medium and starts invading everyday life where things do not follow a script and where wrong decisions can lead to very unfortunate results that cannot be easily repaired especially if we lack understanding of the natural mechanisms/forces behind.
While I really liked your review and find no fault in it and even share your opinion for the most part, I do have to get something off my mind.
That is the "independent strong woman" trope that seems to be the fashion for while now.
The depiction in this series is NOT that of a "strong woman" since giving up your femininity in order to achieve what a male centric view would call a "success" isnt "woman" but man.
Our Society still refuses to accept the obvious differences in males and females. We still act as if they were the same despite numerous, obvious, empiric evidences that it is not so!
I never understood how a woman posing as a man to become a "general" or "emperor" is considered "stronger" than a woman who simply with her beauty and feminine elegance can play around with numerous Generals and Emperors and what not like Puppets. Sun Tzu, who wrote the Art of War, said "it is not the one who achieved 1000 victories in 1000 battles who is the best General, it is he who can achieve his goals without fighting a battle". Same applies here, why do what men do if you can let them do it for you? (and happily so IF you are a real woman).
We have an epidemic of women who are insecure about their femininity and fall for feminist self serving traps and propaganda. They believe that the only way to a successful life is to be a man. To a man, this sounds like a bad joke coming from people who clearly have no idea what being a man is!
The number of men who are successful is minimal compared to the whole. Most men would be happy if they can lead a stable life let alone become CEO. Those few who do get top Positions, pay for it with enormous stress and work, hardly having time for personal affairs. Thats why many of them are caught in deviant activities since some of them have so little time, that they have to vent their pent up desires in moments of decadent behavior.
Sadly this is seldom shown in movies or series, who are more interested in portraying "ideals" to gather viewership and revenue.
The strongest men will turn into obedient slaves in the hands of a TRUE woman and that is their real Power. A woman who tries to be a man will at best be a second rate man and nobody needs those!
Never forget that films/series are fictional "wish fulfilment fantasies". Just as you would fall to your death in reality if you tried to do the same as "Superman" in the Movies, whoever thinks this series represents any kind of formula for female success, may end up owning a lot of cats and a life that can only be described as Hell.
"it really rubbed me the wrong way, i hate this manpain kind of shit esp when women are just seen as collateral damage and their deaths are just used for HIS character development."
Hey there, wanna play a little game?
Its easy really, you go ahead and find me dramas where women die for "manpain" character development and I go ahead and find dramas where men die for women in general!
Or lets play another game! take 10 random historical dramas with killings in them and count the number of CASUALLY killed men and women and see what comes out!
I am so sorry that you have to avoid two dramas for "manpain". I hope the thousands of others where entitled women manipulate and play with men like toys can make up for it!
Well, actually if you must, Shen Du has his own ambitions and goals, and the arranged marriage was a restriction,…
I think I made it clear that misogyny is a word that describes hatred towards all women. Even if he really hated her for whatever reason, that would not warrant the use of the word since it is only one specific person.
Once people interact with each other long enough, the character of the persons becomes more important than secondary attributes like race, gender or group identity. That means that even if a man isnt a misogynist and in fact loves women, he may still be unfavorable towards a single woman whose character traits are not to his liking. I shall give a radical case as example! think of a woman who betrays her husband and sells their children into prostitution. If her husband would hate her for that, would you consider this still misogynistic and claim he hates all women? if yes, take the man from the example, who finds a new woman and remarries and loves her very much and lives happily with her to the end of his days. Would that really work if he was indeed a misogynist?
The word misogynist has become sort of a fashion lately. Now everyone and their grandmother uses it in all kinds of occasions without understanding the true implications of the word. A misogynist (by the way, its not just men who can be misogynistic, women can also have a hatred towards females) is a severe psychological case. Its not as simple as people think it is. Simple arguing with a woman or saying no occasionally, does not even come close to the true extend of the psychological condition. Misogynists are filled with true hatred towards females and they will not discriminate between good or bad females, they will simply hate all of them and avoid them like the plague.
Allow me to repeat myself since this is very important to understand, the hatred of a single or even multiple persons of a gender, as long as it does not include all of them, can NOT be considered misogyny since the very definition of the word clearly states that the hatred must be towards ALL of them and not a limited amount.
Besides, the character of Shen Du is clearly depicted at first as sort of a "cruel" man who is not very friendly towards males either. So it is unfair to "cherry pick" his behavior towards her and label him according to that. According to your logic, Shen Du could easily be labeled as misanthrope or misandrist as well.
Regarding the SFL (second female lead), dont forget that in the story of the FL, she was supposed to be the Heroine and the FLs meddling basically "derailed" her. The SFL is not really evil as in her heart being black but she becomes "evil" due to the circumstances generated by the FLs actions to "correct" her Story.
Just put yourself in the SFLs position for a moment and understand that she doesnt have the full picture of the Story and only can judge by what she sees with her own eyes. In her eyes, the FL is scheming and putting her in increasingly odd situations that harm her. So she logically assumes that the FL is actually the "evil" that tries to destroy her and take away everything. Looking at it like that, it makes sense for her to resort to desperate measures to basically defend herself.
Thats why Karma doesnt strike her as hard as it normally would. If her "evilness" was deliberate and planned and with full understanding and intent, then you would be right but this was not the case. You could even go so far to say that she was a "victim of the circumstances".
Besides, think of all the wrong the FL does for the right reasons. She nearly gets some Characters executed with her meddling. She tries to make everything well but she doesnt have enough control over the situation to succeeds, which leads to all kinds of "accidental evil".
I hope this explanation helps you to shed some light why the SFL acted the way she did and why it was not necessary for Karma to punish her as severely as you would have expected.
I believe in ancient times securing a high position was generally very hard for EVERYONE not just females.
There is this modern thinking that all males had to do over the course of History to become "CEO" is to let down their pants and show their dingdong, which of course is ridiculous. The competition for high places is and was always extremely demanding and the reason why it was mostly males is because they were usually willing to make sacrificies that women would not.....in fact no sane person would.
Dramas, Movies, Series etc. who are HIGHLY FICTIONAL often distort our views from the Reality of things. Being a CEO is not riding in a expensive Car picking up chicks, thats only the perception of those ignorant of reality. I have been assistant for a while to a CEO (not high enough of a position to get a chinese drama chick though :) and the work hours, the stress, the effort he was required to put in to even remain in that Position was insane. There was no 9 to 5 for him, he was basically working every hour of a day he could. That opened my eyes quite a lot and made me appreciate my "humble position" more.
Some people are willing to go to those lengths but most are not! if there is any discrimination in there, than it mainly comes from Nature/Reality and not necessarily from "evil Patriarchs". In fact, those so called "Patriarchs" are highly overrated to begin with. They are just as much slave to Nature as anybody else.
I hope I didnt bore you with those ramblings, just wanted to provide a different viewpoint to your (justified) criticism.
Its rare to see people who have the guts to criticize Female Leads in Dramas these days.
Yet I have to wonder if you choose the right Category to make this criticism in first place. This is Chinese Drama after all and from what I have seen thus far, pretty much all the women in Chinese Dramas are "entitled".
Just look at the professions the MLs usually occupy in Chinese Dramas. Even if they start from humble backgrounds, it always turns out they are CEO, Gods, Emperors or Big Kahunas who basically can do pretty much everything and the women in those Dramas expect those Men to be exclusively there for them and them only, granting them all their wishes.
If he doesnt do it, he is a "misogynist".
Sadly most Dramas are basically "porn" for women. It is highly "wish fulfillment" where women are presented with their "Dreamboats". The funny thing is, if we would make something similar for men, the Story would be about an average guy with average looks, average talents, average income getting a Harem of 100 of the most beautiful women who cant wait to "service him" in all kinds of kinky ways, without talking and demanding anything....and they would be replaced by 100 younger and more beautiful women over the course of the series constantly. This is EXACTLY what Dramas are for women.
So you could say the "entitlement" is a baked in Feature of such kinds of Dramas.
You are aware that his initial attitude towards her that you label as "misogynistic" was not because he actually hates women but because he was trying to prevent a MANDATED marriage he didnt wanted!
How come everybody is full of understanding for Female Leads in the same position but call males "misogynistic". Besides, do you really believe a man dont have any right to hate a SINGLE woman without becoming labeled as someone who hates ALL women (thats what misogynist means after all).
Also, if I hate any human, be it a criminal or someone "evil" like Adolf Hitler, does that make me a Misanthropist (someone who hates ALL Humans)?
Please be careful with using such words, especially if they are unfounded like in this case. There is no implication in the series at all, that would warrant labeling the Character as someone who "hates ALL women". You would understand that very well if you had met someone who is truly a Misogynist and trust me, the differences are severe!
If there was a betting game on which of the Dramas listed here is overrated, my money would be on "Hidden Love". Not that I think its bad but I think it does not really deserve a 9/10 rating and is mostly pushed by fans of the actors regardless of the overall quality of the Drama.
I just love it when someone else does the work for me so I only need to click the "useful" button :).
This is basically the review I would have written, except I would have described the MLs one face expression as "angry beaver". The range of his facial expressions rival Keanu Reeves.....but at least Keanu recognized this and only plays a "poor mans Terminator" roles since. This guy thinks he is General Casanova but looks like Private Douchebag. Most unsympathetic ML I have seen so far, to the point of insufferable.
How people can honestly claim there can be anything, resembling a human chemistry between this dolt and ANY lifeform on Earth (let alone Zhao Lusi but more on her in a bit), that is any higher than the interaction between a Calculator and an ATM, is beyond me.
Regarding Lusi! I dont get the hype around her. Yes, I admit, her performance in Tiger and Rose was out of this World but I havent seen her perform like it again in ANY of her other dramas (maybe except in Mr. Ling, where she got some moments). Also, these kinds of "serious" roles just dont fit her. There are better candidates for this.
To the point where "everyone falls in love with her". This is one of the tropes that makes me immediately drop any series (the moment I notice it). This is nothing but catering to the absolute rock bottom of teenage girliness wish fantasy where EVERY man of QUALITY (this is important, only Princes, General, Emperors, CEOs and other bigwigs allowed. You are 9 to 5? F off, no sugar for you) is interested in her scrawny little behind because...reasons. This is the EXACT equivalent of PRON for Boys, where the best looking women are always ready to have intercourse with any stranger. Its cheap and its bad for your health ;).
Thank you for your thoughtful response. I can tell you enjoyed this immensely. Perhaps I will rewatch this at…
You might find this funny but I hate "dream within reality" genre too :).
Yet I am glad to make an exception for TaR because if you watch carefully, you will notice that it is not just a RomCom but a "Parody" RomCom. There are multiple scenes where fun is made about typical tropes and cliches. Like when she says she "jumped on the bandwagon" using so called "aphrodisiac insence", which is basically a BS Device for Lazy Writers :), thereby criticizing herself as a scriptwriter and the drama genre at whole.
No there is no "outside the dream" repercussions (sadly) but thats what a potential Season 2 is for. As far as I am concerned though, one part of the Story was successfully and satisfyingly told. If they do or can tell part 2 keeping up the same level of acting, story, comedy and parody elements, remains to be seen.
Even if not, I can live with it. The Series ended when they both found out that they were somehow connected in an "extraordinary" event. Overwhelmed by Emotions they got physical and hugged each other (considering last time she saw him was as a dying man, not really unexpected). I can think what happens next, their Emotions subside but their liking toward each other remains and they both get together and try to work their new relationship into their modern lives....with the realistic 50/50 Chance of it ending either in Happy Marriage or Rose War Divorce (or anywhere in between :).
Read some spoilers in the comment section so basically: FL marries her brother-in-law...just wow. The real Sang…
You know, I have a simple "Formula" that determines whether I like a Movie/Series or not.
Nobody is perfect and that goes for Movies/Series as well. If one is determined to find a flaw and looks carefully enough, one will find flaws in even the highest rated "Masterpieces". So the quest looking for the "perfect Movie/Series" is a fools errand.
So for me there is one simple question: "does the positives outweigh the negatives?".
If a Movie has great Action Sequences but weak Story, I might still watch it if the action sequences are satisfying enough to make up for the lack of Story. However, if the weakness of the Story is so obvious and pervasive, even great Action Sequences may not make up for it and I might not watch it.
Let me give you two examples, one positive (watched despite flaws) and one negative (dropped despite goodies):
- the positive example would be this drama (twin flower). The Story is so full of Holes and convenient accidents that normally it would completely put me off and the FL was so annoying at the beginning but there was Ding Yu Xi whom I quite like as an Actor and the immediate Dilemma in the beginning (FL is someone completely different and people around her are constantly baffled) kept me going....oh and there is Gui Bai who is really low key funny. Later on I accepted the weakness in the Story and considered it just as a vessel to support the interactions of the Characters, which I immensely enjoyed.
- the negative example would be (for me at least) "who rules the world". It started quite promising and had a lot going for it. I already like Zhao Lusi and the ML seemed fine as well. The fighting was mostly well done and there was quite a lot of action and the story started promising as well. However, later I got extremely annoyed by the shallow and clearly "feminist wish fulfillment" driven plot in the drama. Every male of high stature would somehow immediately fall for the FL regardless of any rational logic and two of them would even fall for her in EXACTLY THE SAME FASHION, with a flashback to their Mothers (lamest trope for showing a male falling in love with a female imo). I dont care how good the Production is, I cant handle Cringe of this magnitude. So I dropped it like an Apple with a worm in it.
So I know where your coming from and I understand why you could not watch it! we all have personal "limits" of what we are willing to endure and what not and that is just fine!
You think its not ok for a 14 year old falling in love with a 19 year old? what if I told you that 12 year olds falling in love with 40 year olds isnt uncommon?
Before you hit me with the Hammer of "righteous morality", I dont condone any of that but here is the kicker, Nature doesnt ask for my opinion (and neither yours for that matter). If I really had a choice, the power to change human nature, I would get rid of sexuality COMPLETELY and find a way to reproduce asexually. Its a disgusting concept to begin with no matter what age!
I also hate the double Standards in Society, when a 12 year old boy has a crush on his 30 year old hot Teacher, he gets pats on the back but if the same thing happens the other way around, people lose their minds.
We still have no idea what exactly love is and how it "works", if we did, we would not have anything to discuss here to begin with. Fact is, there are many young girls coming of age who fall in love with older man and sadly some of these older man also fall in love with them (which is far worse for them) even though they dont want to but they have about as much choice in that as the 12 year olds (same goes the other way around, boy/mature woman). Their maturity enables them to at least resist the urges but thats about as easy as holding back your urge to pee when you absolutely have to and because Society consists of a lot of People who refuse to have any understanding, those man often go through Hell for that.
Men and women reach puberty at around the age of 12. That means that Nature DEMANDS they start coupling at that age! We have no idea why Nature doesnt listen to us and raises that age to 18 but maybe you can convince the INFINITE POWERS to change this rule to your "moral standards".....good luck!
Either way, whether you and I like it or not, this is not gonna change anytime soon!
I remain unconvinced sorry!
I do remember referring to the Drama Genre specifically in my original comment though, especially asian!
Is Dogma an Asian Drama?
Normally I would applaud that but these are Dramas we are talking about, basically the "Barbie World" of Movies/Series, everything and everybody is complete fairy tale fake anyway. In fact, I would even go so far to say that Make Up is an integral part of generating the "perfect worlds" that Dramas normally aim for. Just think of the Dramas that depicts "Gods", surely no one would watch a Drama where the God Characters look like the average person on the street!
Thats like being proud of being not a superhero in a superhero movie! its kind of pointless!
Lets take some examples, can a men who reached the peak of fame and fortune and was surrounded by friends, lovers, family etc. BUT decided to hang himself because of "deep depressions" be considered "strong"? (think of Robin Williams)
Can a woman who didnt do much in terms of career and/or power but raised a dozen kids of which one became famous worldwide be considered "strong"?
It is very difficult for us to cope with the Reality of Nature! think of people who are born incurably blind or with any other serious condition.....are they not starting life already on a "weak" position? and can humanity or human systems like the dreaded "Patriarchy" be really blamed for that?
I think Martin Luther King came closest to what really defines "strong" in ALL humans regardless of race, gender etc. when he said "content of character". If a man tries to feed his family by working in life threatening conditions like a Coal Mine and his wife tries to raise her children with whatever is available to them, tirelessly managing the household and even the education of her children and if those two work in unison and are content with their roles and ready to sacrifice....how is that "weak"?, how is that "discriminatory"? arent both just like the cogwheels of a clock working towards a common goal? dont both of them have strong characters enabling them to endure the hardships? each utilizing their strengths and enduring the hardships that comes with it (for the man, hazardous working conditions, low social rank, low life expectancy and for the woman, no appreciation, no "career" opportunities, a life spent at home).
Once people reach a certain point in life, they realize that not every man can become a CEO and not every woman can be beautiful and alluring enough to attract said CEO. Once you reach a point even further, you realize that not every man wants to be a CEO and that not every woman wants to be with a CEO. And if you reach the point after that, you also realize that being a CEO or being with a CEO isnt really as it seems to be. You understand the stress, the pressure, the effort, the risk and the inconveniences behind it.
Let me give another example for this: lets say I take a Gold Bar and put it on a pedestal that can be easily reached and tell you that its yours when you can take it! would you go for it (no strings attached)? Im guessing 99.9% yes. Lets take the same situation but with a slight change. I lay invisible mines around the pedestal with 90% chance of hitting a mine and dying on the spot, would you still go for it?
There is absolutely nothing wrong with having entertainment with "strong women" in it, thats what they are for after all, as I said already "wish fulfilment". The problems start when this idea leaves the medium and starts invading everyday life where things do not follow a script and where wrong decisions can lead to very unfortunate results that cannot be easily repaired especially if we lack understanding of the natural mechanisms/forces behind.
That is the "independent strong woman" trope that seems to be the fashion for while now.
The depiction in this series is NOT that of a "strong woman" since giving up your femininity in order to achieve what a male centric view would call a "success" isnt "woman" but man.
Our Society still refuses to accept the obvious differences in males and females. We still act as if they were the same despite numerous, obvious, empiric evidences that it is not so!
I never understood how a woman posing as a man to become a "general" or "emperor" is considered "stronger" than a woman who simply with her beauty and feminine elegance can play around with numerous Generals and Emperors and what not like Puppets. Sun Tzu, who wrote the Art of War, said "it is not the one who achieved 1000 victories in 1000 battles who is the best General, it is he who can achieve his goals without fighting a battle". Same applies here, why do what men do if you can let them do it for you? (and happily so IF you are a real woman).
We have an epidemic of women who are insecure about their femininity and fall for feminist self serving traps and propaganda. They believe that the only way to a successful life is to be a man. To a man, this sounds like a bad joke coming from people who clearly have no idea what being a man is!
The number of men who are successful is minimal compared to the whole. Most men would be happy if they can lead a stable life let alone become CEO. Those few who do get top Positions, pay for it with enormous stress and work, hardly having time for personal affairs. Thats why many of them are caught in deviant activities since some of them have so little time, that they have to vent their pent up desires in moments of decadent behavior.
Sadly this is seldom shown in movies or series, who are more interested in portraying "ideals" to gather viewership and revenue.
The strongest men will turn into obedient slaves in the hands of a TRUE woman and that is their real Power. A woman who tries to be a man will at best be a second rate man and nobody needs those!
Never forget that films/series are fictional "wish fulfilment fantasies". Just as you would fall to your death in reality if you tried to do the same as "Superman" in the Movies, whoever thinks this series represents any kind of formula for female success, may end up owning a lot of cats and a life that can only be described as Hell.
Hey there, wanna play a little game?
Its easy really, you go ahead and find me dramas where women die for "manpain" character development and I go ahead and find dramas where men die for women in general!
Or lets play another game! take 10 random historical dramas with killings in them and count the number of CASUALLY killed men and women and see what comes out!
I am so sorry that you have to avoid two dramas for "manpain". I hope the thousands of others where entitled women manipulate and play with men like toys can make up for it!
Once people interact with each other long enough, the character of the persons becomes more important than secondary attributes like race, gender or group identity. That means that even if a man isnt a misogynist and in fact loves women, he may still be unfavorable towards a single woman whose character traits are not to his liking. I shall give a radical case as example! think of a woman who betrays her husband and sells their children into prostitution. If her husband would hate her for that, would you consider this still misogynistic and claim he hates all women? if yes, take the man from the example, who finds a new woman and remarries and loves her very much and lives happily with her to the end of his days. Would that really work if he was indeed a misogynist?
The word misogynist has become sort of a fashion lately. Now everyone and their grandmother uses it in all kinds of occasions without understanding the true implications of the word. A misogynist (by the way, its not just men who can be misogynistic, women can also have a hatred towards females) is a severe psychological case. Its not as simple as people think it is. Simple arguing with a woman or saying no occasionally, does not even come close to the true extend of the psychological condition. Misogynists are filled with true hatred towards females and they will not discriminate between good or bad females, they will simply hate all of them and avoid them like the plague.
Allow me to repeat myself since this is very important to understand, the hatred of a single or even multiple persons of a gender, as long as it does not include all of them, can NOT be considered misogyny since the very definition of the word clearly states that the hatred must be towards ALL of them and not a limited amount.
Besides, the character of Shen Du is clearly depicted at first as sort of a "cruel" man who is not very friendly towards males either. So it is unfair to "cherry pick" his behavior towards her and label him according to that. According to your logic, Shen Du could easily be labeled as misanthrope or misandrist as well.
Thank You for this insightful post!
Regarding the SFL (second female lead), dont forget that in the story of the FL, she was supposed to be the Heroine and the FLs meddling basically "derailed" her. The SFL is not really evil as in her heart being black but she becomes "evil" due to the circumstances generated by the FLs actions to "correct" her Story.
Just put yourself in the SFLs position for a moment and understand that she doesnt have the full picture of the Story and only can judge by what she sees with her own eyes. In her eyes, the FL is scheming and putting her in increasingly odd situations that harm her. So she logically assumes that the FL is actually the "evil" that tries to destroy her and take away everything. Looking at it like that, it makes sense for her to resort to desperate measures to basically defend herself.
Thats why Karma doesnt strike her as hard as it normally would. If her "evilness" was deliberate and planned and with full understanding and intent, then you would be right but this was not the case. You could even go so far to say that she was a "victim of the circumstances".
Besides, think of all the wrong the FL does for the right reasons. She nearly gets some Characters executed with her meddling. She tries to make everything well but she doesnt have enough control over the situation to succeeds, which leads to all kinds of "accidental evil".
I hope this explanation helps you to shed some light why the SFL acted the way she did and why it was not necessary for Karma to punish her as severely as you would have expected.
There is this modern thinking that all males had to do over the course of History to become "CEO" is to let down their pants and show their dingdong, which of course is ridiculous. The competition for high places is and was always extremely demanding and the reason why it was mostly males is because they were usually willing to make sacrificies that women would not.....in fact no sane person would.
Dramas, Movies, Series etc. who are HIGHLY FICTIONAL often distort our views from the Reality of things. Being a CEO is not riding in a expensive Car picking up chicks, thats only the perception of those ignorant of reality. I have been assistant for a while to a CEO (not high enough of a position to get a chinese drama chick though :) and the work hours, the stress, the effort he was required to put in to even remain in that Position was insane. There was no 9 to 5 for him, he was basically working every hour of a day he could. That opened my eyes quite a lot and made me appreciate my "humble position" more.
Some people are willing to go to those lengths but most are not! if there is any discrimination in there, than it mainly comes from Nature/Reality and not necessarily from "evil Patriarchs". In fact, those so called "Patriarchs" are highly overrated to begin with. They are just as much slave to Nature as anybody else.
I hope I didnt bore you with those ramblings, just wanted to provide a different viewpoint to your (justified) criticism.
Yet I have to wonder if you choose the right Category to make this criticism in first place. This is Chinese Drama after all and from what I have seen thus far, pretty much all the women in Chinese Dramas are "entitled".
Just look at the professions the MLs usually occupy in Chinese Dramas. Even if they start from humble backgrounds, it always turns out they are CEO, Gods, Emperors or Big Kahunas who basically can do pretty much everything and the women in those Dramas expect those Men to be exclusively there for them and them only, granting them all their wishes.
If he doesnt do it, he is a "misogynist".
Sadly most Dramas are basically "porn" for women. It is highly "wish fulfillment" where women are presented with their "Dreamboats". The funny thing is, if we would make something similar for men, the Story would be about an average guy with average looks, average talents, average income getting a Harem of 100 of the most beautiful women who cant wait to "service him" in all kinds of kinky ways, without talking and demanding anything....and they would be replaced by 100 younger and more beautiful women over the course of the series constantly. This is EXACTLY what Dramas are for women.
So you could say the "entitlement" is a baked in Feature of such kinds of Dramas.
How come everybody is full of understanding for Female Leads in the same position but call males "misogynistic". Besides, do you really believe a man dont have any right to hate a SINGLE woman without becoming labeled as someone who hates ALL women (thats what misogynist means after all).
Also, if I hate any human, be it a criminal or someone "evil" like Adolf Hitler, does that make me a Misanthropist (someone who hates ALL Humans)?
Please be careful with using such words, especially if they are unfounded like in this case. There is no implication in the series at all, that would warrant labeling the Character as someone who "hates ALL women". You would understand that very well if you had met someone who is truly a Misogynist and trust me, the differences are severe!
This is basically the review I would have written, except I would have described the MLs one face expression as "angry beaver". The range of his facial expressions rival Keanu Reeves.....but at least Keanu recognized this and only plays a "poor mans Terminator" roles since. This guy thinks he is General Casanova but looks like Private Douchebag. Most unsympathetic ML I have seen so far, to the point of insufferable.
How people can honestly claim there can be anything, resembling a human chemistry between this dolt and ANY lifeform on Earth (let alone Zhao Lusi but more on her in a bit), that is any higher than the interaction between a Calculator and an ATM, is beyond me.
Regarding Lusi! I dont get the hype around her. Yes, I admit, her performance in Tiger and Rose was out of this World but I havent seen her perform like it again in ANY of her other dramas (maybe except in Mr. Ling, where she got some moments). Also, these kinds of "serious" roles just dont fit her. There are better candidates for this.
To the point where "everyone falls in love with her". This is one of the tropes that makes me immediately drop any series (the moment I notice it). This is nothing but catering to the absolute rock bottom of teenage girliness wish fantasy where EVERY man of QUALITY (this is important, only Princes, General, Emperors, CEOs and other bigwigs allowed. You are 9 to 5? F off, no sugar for you) is interested in her scrawny little behind because...reasons. This is the EXACT equivalent of PRON for Boys, where the best looking women are always ready to have intercourse with any stranger. Its cheap and its bad for your health ;).
Yet I am glad to make an exception for TaR because if you watch carefully, you will notice that it is not just a RomCom but a "Parody" RomCom. There are multiple scenes where fun is made about typical tropes and cliches. Like when she says she "jumped on the bandwagon" using so called "aphrodisiac insence", which is basically a BS Device for Lazy Writers :), thereby criticizing herself as a scriptwriter and the drama genre at whole.
No there is no "outside the dream" repercussions (sadly) but thats what a potential Season 2 is for. As far as I am concerned though, one part of the Story was successfully and satisfyingly told. If they do or can tell part 2 keeping up the same level of acting, story, comedy and parody elements, remains to be seen.
Even if not, I can live with it. The Series ended when they both found out that they were somehow connected in an "extraordinary" event. Overwhelmed by Emotions they got physical and hugged each other (considering last time she saw him was as a dying man, not really unexpected). I can think what happens next, their Emotions subside but their liking toward each other remains and they both get together and try to work their new relationship into their modern lives....with the realistic 50/50 Chance of it ending either in Happy Marriage or Rose War Divorce (or anywhere in between :).
Nobody is perfect and that goes for Movies/Series as well. If one is determined to find a flaw and looks carefully enough, one will find flaws in even the highest rated "Masterpieces". So the quest looking for the "perfect Movie/Series" is a fools errand.
So for me there is one simple question: "does the positives outweigh the negatives?".
If a Movie has great Action Sequences but weak Story, I might still watch it if the action sequences are satisfying enough to make up for the lack of Story. However, if the weakness of the Story is so obvious and pervasive, even great Action Sequences may not make up for it and I might not watch it.
Let me give you two examples, one positive (watched despite flaws) and one negative (dropped despite goodies):
- the positive example would be this drama (twin flower). The Story is so full of Holes and convenient accidents that normally it would completely put me off and the FL was so annoying at the beginning but there was Ding Yu Xi whom I quite like as an Actor and the immediate Dilemma in the beginning (FL is someone completely different and people around her are constantly baffled) kept me going....oh and there is Gui Bai who is really low key funny. Later on I accepted the weakness in the Story and considered it just as a vessel to support the interactions of the Characters, which I immensely enjoyed.
- the negative example would be (for me at least) "who rules the world". It started quite promising and had a lot going for it. I already like Zhao Lusi and the ML seemed fine as well. The fighting was mostly well done and there was quite a lot of action and the story started promising as well. However, later I got extremely annoyed by the shallow and clearly "feminist wish fulfillment" driven plot in the drama. Every male of high stature would somehow immediately fall for the FL regardless of any rational logic and two of them would even fall for her in EXACTLY THE SAME FASHION, with a flashback to their Mothers (lamest trope for showing a male falling in love with a female imo).
I dont care how good the Production is, I cant handle Cringe of this magnitude. So I dropped it like an Apple with a worm in it.
So I know where your coming from and I understand why you could not watch it! we all have personal "limits" of what we are willing to endure and what not and that is just fine!
Let haters hate, they cannot take this away from us anyway!