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The Inspiring Beauty
What does one do when they realise that the lovey-dovey husband and enviable marriage are all a sham, part of an elaborate scam to loot their family's wealth?
Unfortunately for the villains, Yu Meng is not 'beauty with no brains'. She's emotionally grounded, reasonable and intelligent. Rather than wallowing in victim mentality, she takes active steps to protect what is hers and her family’s. I liked how she navigated the complications of divorce and financial entanglements, fighting for what was rightfully hers without letting herself be defined by her circumstances. It's refreshing to see a well-grounded, emotionally stable FL who can think for herself.
The villains were well-written too, with their manipulations, victim complex, lack of self-awareness and refusal to take accountability feeling very realistic.
Unfortunately, the writing stops being realistic there after. A lot of what happens doesn't quite fit the modern setting. You'd expect people to look each other up online when they meet, rather than have a friend spring that information on them as a sudden revelation. Then we have experienced board members blindly trusting Di Liren. Where is the shrewdness that made them successful in the first place? And there's JX, supposedly a well-versed divorce lawyer who charges four times his usual fee but barely does any actual lawyering. Almost every proactive idea comes from the FL. At some point, he feels more like an overpriced emotional sounding board than an actual attorney. Also why is an established villainous care-taker continuously allowed near the patient? How difficult would it be to fire her?
The medical aspect is even more disappointing and a big red flag. The writers seem to have thrown around disease names whenever the plot needed them, without bothering to research the illnesses themselves. Weng Xin being certified mentally ill based on her husband's account was the most disturbing example. It's completely unjustifiable in a modern setting and sends a dangerous message about psychiatric care and patient rights.
Despite these flaws, the drama remains entertaining. The production quality, acting, editing and OST do a lot of heavy lifting, keeping the audience emotionally invested even when the plot falls apart under scrutiny. Too much of the story depends on manufactured incompetence, with characters and institutions behaving in ways that serve the plot rather than make sense for the times.
Unfortunately for the villains, Yu Meng is not 'beauty with no brains'. She's emotionally grounded, reasonable and intelligent. Rather than wallowing in victim mentality, she takes active steps to protect what is hers and her family’s. I liked how she navigated the complications of divorce and financial entanglements, fighting for what was rightfully hers without letting herself be defined by her circumstances. It's refreshing to see a well-grounded, emotionally stable FL who can think for herself.
The villains were well-written too, with their manipulations, victim complex, lack of self-awareness and refusal to take accountability feeling very realistic.
Unfortunately, the writing stops being realistic there after. A lot of what happens doesn't quite fit the modern setting. You'd expect people to look each other up online when they meet, rather than have a friend spring that information on them as a sudden revelation. Then we have experienced board members blindly trusting Di Liren. Where is the shrewdness that made them successful in the first place? And there's JX, supposedly a well-versed divorce lawyer who charges four times his usual fee but barely does any actual lawyering. Almost every proactive idea comes from the FL. At some point, he feels more like an overpriced emotional sounding board than an actual attorney. Also why is an established villainous care-taker continuously allowed near the patient? How difficult would it be to fire her?
The medical aspect is even more disappointing and a big red flag. The writers seem to have thrown around disease names whenever the plot needed them, without bothering to research the illnesses themselves. Weng Xin being certified mentally ill based on her husband's account was the most disturbing example. It's completely unjustifiable in a modern setting and sends a dangerous message about psychiatric care and patient rights.
Despite these flaws, the drama remains entertaining. The production quality, acting, editing and OST do a lot of heavy lifting, keeping the audience emotionally invested even when the plot falls apart under scrutiny. Too much of the story depends on manufactured incompetence, with characters and institutions behaving in ways that serve the plot rather than make sense for the times.
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