The idea of torture at the heat of passion appeals to people who are into passionate and lustful love. It is a perversion of the 'push and pull' mentality in a relationship. In its heightened form, it can take the form of BDSM (sado-masochism, dominance, submission, bondage etc) which is all the rage now with the popularity of novels such as 50 Shades of Grey. In Asia, it is depicted in Kiss & Slap dramas and in some smut mangas & anime. "Rape" or "forced copulation" where the man is the dominant and forcing his will on the woman as a form of punishment is a form of BDSM which explains why the sub (the woman) ended up falling for the man. To many people, it is a sick idea but to equally many, it heightens their sexual appetite which explains why such dramas and novels are so popular now. In short, people are attracted to the idea but in reality, not many will actually indulge in it. Rape is a serious crime and in reality most people who hate each other end up hating each other for the rest of their lives. Therefore, such dramas provide an outlet between fantasy and reality.
Growing up in the 1940s-1950s, I'd watched many Asian dramas and movies over the decades. Here are my firsts (that I can remember!):
First movie ever (in a proper cinema): Butterfly Lovers (1962)
First wuxia:Come drink with me (1966)
First modern drama: The Bund (1980)
First Japanese movie: Rhapsody in August (1991)
First Japanese drama (during the Japanese wave): Heaven's Coin (1995)
First Korean drama (Hallyu wave): Winter Sonata (2002)
First Korean movie: Time Between Wolf & Dog (2007)
First Thai lakorn (recent Asian wave): Love Never Dies (2011)
First Pinoy Movie: My Amnesia Girl (2010)
First Phillipino-Thai collab movie: Suddenly It's Magic (2012)
I've excluded Bollywood movies, Telegu and Tamil films in here even though they are Asian entertainment because I think they are a separate category. :)
Megan Lai sure can pass as a metro guy - pretty good looking as a guy too! I think she's the most manly and convincing woman pretend to be a guy character. Even her body language is like a guy's! Looking forward to see how this will progress.
Great article! I've watched Seven Samurai; Infernal Affairs; House of Flying Daggers; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Hero; Rashomon, The Road Home; Ong Bak & In The Mood for Love. Brilliant movies! I do not mind re-watching them again to refresh my memory about the storyline. I'll also check out the others. Thanks!
Good idea to survey drama OSTs. My comments for future improvement:
1) The Chinese OSTs are not expansive enough. I am surprised that not one Cantonese OST make it to the list. Hong Kong is China too, you know. And there are many nice Hong Kong series/drama OSTs. Many of those OSTs listed are not exclusively Chinese production. S.H.E, Della Ding, Peter Ho etc are Taiwanese artists, the actors & actresses in those dramas are a mix of China & Taiwanese artists and the dramas are actually collaborations between China & Taiwan (with dual versions released for China(dubbed into Chinese standard accents) and Taiwan viewers)- so they can, in principle, go under Taiwanese OSTs as well.
2) The JDrama OST list is again quite limited. Most of the dramas listed are post-2000. There are plenty of great OSTs from older JDramas. This is the first indication that the cohort that responded to this survey are mostly young (perhaps in their late teens to 20s?).
3) The Koreans produced many good OSTs but I can see a trend in the OSTs listed...they are all from popular dramas! There are many great OSTs that come from average to poor ranking dramas. If we are to really focus on OSTs as the topic, then drama rankings and popularity should not be an influencing factor.
4) The Taiwanese OSTs suffer the same fate as the Korean OSTs - limited range and it is limited to OSTs from the popular dramas only.
5) Granted Thai lakorns are just gaining popularity but I am sure if we further explore, there will be worthy OSTs from older lakorns that could make it into that list.
All in all, a good effort and although I disagree with most of the results here due to the biases as stated above, I am not surprised by the outcome of your survey as I understand that most of MDL, drama fan and popular drama sites' members are of the younger cohort. Thank you for your effort.
I'm not really into Angelababy but I am a follower of Huang Xiao Ming's career as an actor since early 2000s. He's one of the more mature and better-known Chinese actors. Another Chinese actor that I like is Hu Ge. They are two very big names in the Chinese entertainment industry. In fact, I attributed Angelababy's sudden jump in popularity and ranking to her association with HXM who is already a very successful and popular actor in Asia even before Angelababy started her entertainment career. This is not to say she is not talented as I do enjoy her movies as well but there are many talented actresses out there who didn't get as acknowledged as Angelababy because they do not have the association and support from a more experienced and influential partner as Angela did. She's one lucky girl! I wish them all the best and happy marriage.
First 2 episodes were funny! But I can see how the story will slowly turn serious as the mystery surrounding Wu…
Yes, I did. I Eng-sub Chinese Wu Xia and historical dramas in my free time; however, not involved in subbing this drama at the moment due to work commitments. Will see how this drama goes.
First 2 episodes were funny! But I can see how the story will slowly turn serious as the mystery surrounding Wu Xin unravels. Can't wait for the next episodes!
Oho! This is a topic close to my heart! I categorise my drama OSTs by country/ language and genre (Ok! It's basically Wuxia and Non-Wuxia for me). There are too many of them to mention in a comment box and I can probably come up with a few articles just based on the 'most memorable OSTs by country' option. Looking forward to Part 2 of your article!
I won't comment anything else but this: As a hardcore SS501 fan I will still listen to their music and watch his…
No matter what his private life is like, a man SHOULD NEVER raise his hand against a woman. Once you do, it's the end for you. Maybe the woman is not a good person either. Maybe she hit him as well or maybe he's just acting in self-defense but no matter the fault of the woman, a man MUST NEVER hit a woman. We must have a zero tolerance towards men who hit women, regardless of the reason!
The man's an abuser. I have no respect for men who hit women. Is this the sort of person you idolise? I hope you'll realise soon what an ugly person he is. His career is over.
Watching it now. First impression is ok. First episode itself all of the characters are introduced. Fast paced and from previews of episodes 3 & 4 (airing tonight), looks like the fast pace will continue. Let's hope it won't drag in the middle!
Once again, love your weekend movie recommendations. Ghost House is funny. I'd say all three are light entertainments worthy of weekend viewing. Looking forward to read your recommendations next weekend! :)
One of my fav Korean actor. Nicely written though I must contest the 'average looking' part. I reckon he's a handsome…
Yes, he's definitely in the 'solid actor' group and one who rose to fame based on talent and not on looks. I think people (and not just actors) should be appreciated for their talent, hard-work, good character instead of from looks.
One of my fav Korean actor. Nicely written though I must contest the 'average looking' part. I reckon he's a handsome looking man. Beauty's in the eye of the beholder! ;)
First movie ever (in a proper cinema): Butterfly Lovers (1962)
First wuxia:Come drink with me (1966)
First modern drama: The Bund (1980)
First Japanese movie: Rhapsody in August (1991)
First Japanese drama (during the Japanese wave): Heaven's Coin (1995)
First Korean drama (Hallyu wave): Winter Sonata (2002)
First Korean movie: Time Between Wolf & Dog (2007)
First Thai lakorn (recent Asian wave): Love Never Dies (2011)
First Pinoy Movie: My Amnesia Girl (2010)
First Phillipino-Thai collab movie: Suddenly It's Magic (2012)
I've excluded Bollywood movies, Telegu and Tamil films in here even though they are Asian entertainment because I think they are a separate category. :)
1) The Chinese OSTs are not expansive enough. I am surprised that not one Cantonese OST make it to the list. Hong Kong is China too, you know. And there are many nice Hong Kong series/drama OSTs. Many of those OSTs listed are not exclusively Chinese production. S.H.E, Della Ding, Peter Ho etc are Taiwanese artists, the actors & actresses in those dramas are a mix of China & Taiwanese artists and the dramas are actually collaborations between China & Taiwan (with dual versions released for China(dubbed into Chinese standard accents) and Taiwan viewers)- so they can, in principle, go under Taiwanese OSTs as well.
2) The JDrama OST list is again quite limited. Most of the dramas listed are post-2000. There are plenty of great OSTs from older JDramas. This is the first indication that the cohort that responded to this survey are mostly young (perhaps in their late teens to 20s?).
3) The Koreans produced many good OSTs but I can see a trend in the OSTs listed...they are all from popular dramas! There are many great OSTs that come from average to poor ranking dramas. If we are to really focus on OSTs as the topic, then drama rankings and popularity should not be an influencing factor.
4) The Taiwanese OSTs suffer the same fate as the Korean OSTs - limited range and it is limited to OSTs from the popular dramas only.
5) Granted Thai lakorns are just gaining popularity but I am sure if we further explore, there will be worthy OSTs from older lakorns that could make it into that list.
All in all, a good effort and although I disagree with most of the results here due to the biases as stated above, I am not surprised by the outcome of your survey as I understand that most of MDL, drama fan and popular drama sites' members are of the younger cohort. Thank you for your effort.