Nepeta 22

Avenue X has just given this drama a 2.5 goldmine. Those that watch her know how she whinges about everything, but she only has 2 gripes with this drama. She's used nearly half an hour to discuss the drama. Hopefully more people will start to watch this drama.

I think part of the problem is this adaptation does not delve too much on how or why she ends up in the army. Based on what you have written, I can see her motivation and character set up is already different to how I interpret it. Anyhow, it is what it is, and I have moved on from this and will not get weighed down with all these small details. Thanks for taking the time to explain your version when you viewed it. I'll keep an open mind for this drama for now...

Yes, me too. Sometimes, it's a class thing. There are insecurities and old hang ups with others. And of course those that can't wait to settle old scores when they think they've been given a platform, they abuse their positions. Sadly this is the same the world over...

That didn't bother me as ML lived a harsh life (prison and then heavy labour work), but my only gripe was when he was out of prison, those scenes of him travelling up to that northern town to meet his inmate's family, he should have been aged more as it will have been about 13 years on...

Yes, I agree, Three Body was a very good example of that. Even the most recent drama This Thriving Land showed how some characters flitted between parties at the time of upheaval, and the narrative was still quite rose-tinted towards past land owners. It was the ironic thing of the most educated land owner's son that was painted as odd and almost fixated in a negative way that joined the communist party. They made the organisation seem like a cult that tore these people from their families.

I think you may have misunderstood my long winded post. I'll tried not to read into these types of dramas too much, but for some reason, this drama seems to rile me up more....

I am like you, don't feel women need to be like men or try to excel or dominate it. Yes, it's cringe how many female writers try so hard to turn the tables to write men into unrealistic cardboard characters that do not really exist. It's almost like they want to get men back for past unfairness, but this is not addressing equality, it's pure revenge and pushing god awful fantasies that don't always resonate with all female audiences, certainly not me.

But in this drama, I felt the subtle message is FL is a star general because she was dominating in men's dominant spaces. Then she gave a big speech to the women about defending borders, and how it's so rewarding. All this against the backdrop of subtle shading traditional female pursuits. Her cooking or doing traditional roles as a choice was also jarring because like usual, female empowerment are only exclusively are for upper-class women. No tackling of normal peasants that make up 99% of the population at the time. Do these women even have choice? Will their families care for them and their rights? Women are marked with a figure to make money out of in poverty at the time. This drama like many before it goes for the easy escapism route.

Women are not men, and women don't need to be doing "men" things to be successful. All this drama does is reinforce the message as being a man, do men things, hang around men, you achieve. That is not empowerment, that is coping in a men dominated world and lose your core identity to get there

When she's playing the female role, it's almost mocking the role of being a woman. If you didn't feel that, fair enough, but I did and felt sad. A large chunk was given to this storyline because of the love story with ML, not really to do with empowerment, or getting to know women more. When given the chance, she was given a big sermonic preach about how great she is. That's jarring but for me, putting extra silly pressure on women. That's why I made my earlier comment about pressure on women. As for author's other works, I have not seen them so cannot comment.

I agree. This type of drama has a place and it was done beautifully because there was undeniable energy and chemistry. The only other drama I have seen that conveyed love in that way was Romance In the Alley. Both beautiful yet haunting dramas for me.

Yes, this is seen quite often now. It has been a while too. Just one example In the drama A Love Never Lost, a drama released this year, it showed some of the earliest pioneers of communism were using women when they needed (ideology about breaking down feudalism with getting women out to work in the name of freedom), and then showed how one (central character)treated his wife. Let's say, it's horrible and gaslighting behaviour. In another, killing innocent people using bombs. It also showed the bickering and back stabbing behaviour within their group.

No problem, we are here to discuss dramas and sometimes, it inevitably falls into politics of that country or other countries. Whenever I watch these types of dramas, I tend to stand back and take some of it as a pinch of salt.

As I said, I view some of these storylines as driven by pride, whether that is collectively or individually. As they say, history is often written by the victors! This may not always transfer well outside of China. I regard this style or type of drama as mainly for their domestic consumption.

I try to keep an open mind on subjects like this as I know the saying 'history is often written by the victors', and this is the same the world over! As for AI, that's another subject altogether....save that for another day 😉

I don't know whether they acknowledge famine or not, but it's a time that is less spoken about and maybe it's still too raw to talk about it. What I do know is China today has put more emphasis on food security as priority. It would seem they do learn from mistakes and take note of any areas that needs improvements.

Even in drama adaptations like 3 Body, they have shown more graphic details of what happened during the 1970s.

Sounds traumatic. But I'm glad you can look back at it in a more refreshed way to see that individuals when sometimes given the upper-hand will and can abuse the system. Very sad but unfortunately, this happens to all societies the world over. Your mum did so well to remain calm and measured throughout these hard times and still keep her composure. Like you said, there is light at the end of the tunnel!

It's been like that for a while. In War of Faith, most characters are grey including early days communist party members. In A Love Never Lost, it goes further painting some of the earliest pioneers as disgraceful towards women in general and treated loved ones in horrible ways. They killed a lot of innocent people through terrorist style bombings in the name of change. In Fearless Blood, some of the main characters were shady as hell and violent as hell. Put it this way, you wouldn't want them living near you. In modern day standards, they're simply criminals.

I understand. Sometimes we want escapism, not all doom and gloom. In regards to propaganda/politics, I felt like you when I first started watching some of these republican dramas, but soon I realised, I'm just putting my own views and ideas onto another country that simply had a far different history to the one I grew up in and realised, the cynicism I have grown accustomed to and the distrust of politics in general may not be so for those living in other countries, including China.

After all, they are really a new country with a relatively new system. With such a big upheaval and war not so long ago, it's not at all unusual for a young country and system to be very proud and have massive pride.

Collective trauma can make some countries unite even if there are minor discord. The general feel is everyone is working and going in the same direction to make it work. Some of us outside China may look at that as propaganda, but in the end, I see it as more national pride more than propaganda. So whenever I see these types of storylines, I re-think it again. It's just a lot pride and China's quite proud right now.

BTW, this word is used positively in China but the word is often negative outside of China, something to think about on that one!

Thanks for sharing this. I can now see how the latest storyline can be quite relatable for you. I like how you have processed this and don't harbour any deep seated hatred to those that bullied your family. To also know how lucky you are when compared with the orphaned.

In the end, this is the same the world over. Jealousy, and insecurities are normally the key drivers of this sort of behaviour. That bubbles to the surface at the first instance when given a chance, be it a war or new ruling parties that edges in these people's favour.

I'm glad to hear your family came out the other side and that there is light at the end of the tunnel as you say.

I think her demeanor and the way she seems a bit distant to others that may make some feel she's unlikeable. But for me, I completely understand.

Yes her arc will be possibly complex because of the time it's set in and her complex relationship with her sister-in-law, which I feel will also play a big part. With her husband missing and she's left with not grieving, but a changing environment that makes her an easy target for those more small-minded that want to settle old scores and feel they can do so hiding behind the new ruling party.

I was looking forward to this part of the drama to be honest, but very happy with Ryan Cheng and Lin Yun's parts too.

You have to remember, he once told others on another drama he is the spokesperson for YouKu international! 😁

I have my front row seat here to see how this unfolds. I will see from today up to the 20th to see what happens. The melon accounts on Twitter are not reliable by the way. The one that put this up is the same one claiming a producer did a runner and drama has been pulled according to them, only for Tencent to post something with lead actor the next day to dispute lies made up by paid accounts. That's the extent of the reliability.

No problem, thanks for being so honest. Many say she resembles actress Zhang Ziyi, and some say the latter has a bitch-face. Maybe this may play into the sub-consciousness 😅!

To be honest, there is saturation of dramass over there, and unless there is proper in-yer-face daily promotions, people just cannot be bothered to seek them out. It's sad as I have seen many very good productions missed in China alone. I believe if more eyes were on this, then more will be discussed and talked about.

But even the top promoted dramas are normally fake, as many bought searches are just to inflate chatter and not genuine organic viral stuff. From that they do get watchers there. but the peak is often quick and they never sustain their place. Only This Thriving Land did this with very little promotion and through word-of-mouth it started to gain momentum,

I think this drama, "Twelve Letters" will have a more cult like status that will grow very slowly.

No problem, I misunderstood your original post. I remember a quick scene of Cha Dong on his boat. Not sure if that was a dream sequence or real, but I suspected the director wanted us to know he's fine but strategically left out his childhood sweetheart.