Its a drama act of social conscience comparable to putting up a warning sign - Quicksand Ahead.😅😂 Happy…
Happy New Year dear PBG! Looking forward to more of your insightful reviews and sense of humor. Here’s hoping we can avoid the entertainment quicksand!🦋💕
"While I appreciated the social commentary, the resolution left a bad taste in my mouth. So much suffering could have been avoided if one selfish, ungrateful, and cowardly person—incapable of empathy or reciprocating affection—had spoken up and given everyone closure years earlier. I loathed this character so much I wished the killer had shoved them down a well instead."
Totally relate. Have seen this in too many dramas/films. Thanks for the heads up! 🙏
I'd like to agree with what you said, but also not on some aspects. Just sharing my opinion! I like talking about…
No offense taken from your comments. This was a tough drama to review and everyone has their own life experiences they bring which gives us different perspectives.
Jen Yao's emotional journey is where I think the writers let us down. They wanted the shock moments like the reveal that HT had multiple personalities which I thought was obvious from the beginning. His murder of the child was another one of those "gotcha!" moments for which the road had not been carefully enough paved. "Maybe I was always a monster," wasn't enough for me. It was this comment they threw in that I used for my last thought in the review. He did have an emotional or mental issue whether biological or the abuse from his father or both which caused him to be hyper fixated on HT-his sun. They focused on explaining HT's mental illness, but didn't delve into his. Most perplexing to me was what did HT see in JY? She came from a loving family, was a talented dancer, and fairly well adjusted. Even as the blind radio personality, what did he offer? They had almost no conversations. She did all the talking. He was cute and devoted which brings me back to the romantic wish fantasy and why Chi Chi was so angry with him. He failed in the one thing he was supposed to do for her.
Right up until the end after she walks into the ocean, the romance was a focal point. How did his murdering a child and to a lesser extent the abusive mother who had nothing to do with her case not give her pause? I've seen so many comments from people talking about the romance. As someone who has been through more revolutions around the sun than most on MDL, I'm always quick to offer a word of caution in my reviews to young girls and women who are willing to excuse heinous behavior in the name of love. You and I see something closer to obsession but I'm not sure that's exactly what the writers were conveying or what a majority of viewers saw. Most of what I heard was about the "tragic romance".
Both JY and Yun Chen who loved her were willing to kill HT's attackers which was believable after seeing how she continued to suffer. He'd wanted to hunt down Ouyang after his prison stint. And because one of HT's personalities blamed him, he believed he had to die, too, which erased any qualm he might have about mass murder.
The moved up execution date was supposed to be an emotional punch to the viewer and HT. After he killed the child, I lost all sympathy for him. I can handle adult characters being horrible to other adult characters in dramas and films but to kill a child steps over the line for me and turns off my empathy button.
Does the FL continue being a bit annoying? I want to like it, but the FL's confusion and disorganized state is…
I’m on episode 7 and Pin Yu and the acting choices are still not to my taste. Fortunately, there are flashback episodes where she is only minimally in them.
Hi! I would suggest to watch the director's cut the version that is 3 hours and 38 minutes which depicts better…
Thanks! I will look for it! ^^
I did feel bad that he was brought up in an isolated, cold manner. Certainly not the way to raise an emotionally healthy individual. Where I had a problem with him, not just from this film but also reading about and watching other versions of this story, was his torture of servants through the years. Not just when he was young, but also in Manchukuo where it was a daily routine. Those servants were basically imprisoned as well. One that tried to escape was beaten to death. He was horrible to his wife Wan Rong and she died a terrible death. Like many elite of any country, he was unaware of the suffering of (or didn't care about) those below him and until the re-education camps he suffered no real consequences for his behavior. The system may have created the monster, but that would be small comfort to his victims.
Goodness I've been waiting forever to watch this with eng subs. Why in the world would a streaming service only…
Totally agree. I checked both versions and couldn’t find anyway to watch with the original language. The dubbing wasn’t as bad as some. Small comfort. 🙄
Hi, I was visiting the page of Oasis because I thought about it randomly because it's one of my favorite films…
I appreciate your thoughtful and kind comments. 😊
I had given thought to much of what you said as I was watching and upon reflection. All of us come to entertainment with different life experiences and views. Too often in my life have I heard that a raped woman should “just get over it” or “rape is like rain, you can’t stop it so you might as well enjoy it.” Even with women’s groups reminding people that rape isn’t about sex it’s about power and violence.
So while I get that she was desperately lonely and isolated, I think the story would have made more sense without the violation, especially on someone who had zero ability to defend herself or even call for help. He knew what he was doing was wrong by his words and responses. He didn’t lack control around her again. For me, the act came with too much societal baggage of acceptance of sexual violence against women and minimizing it. She did indeed get over it rather quickly regardless of her situation showing that sexual assault isn’t much of a mental and emotional violation (as well as a physical one) nor a loss of any sense of personal agency and sense of security. It was a bridge I could not cross in this film.
I know this was just my perspective as I’ve read glowing reviews of this film and no one else seemed to be as bothered by it. I can see where this film would be a favorite of yours. It called out ableism in a gritty, often realistic manner. Without the problematic scene, I would have rated it much higher.
Thank you again for sharing your viewpoint, it was well thought out and presented. 🙏🏻
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Totally relate. Have seen this in too many dramas/films. Thanks for the heads up! 🙏
Tyvm for the gift 🦋💕
Jen Yao's emotional journey is where I think the writers let us down. They wanted the shock moments like the reveal that HT had multiple personalities which I thought was obvious from the beginning. His murder of the child was another one of those "gotcha!" moments for which the road had not been carefully enough paved. "Maybe I was always a monster," wasn't enough for me. It was this comment they threw in that I used for my last thought in the review. He did have an emotional or mental issue whether biological or the abuse from his father or both which caused him to be hyper fixated on HT-his sun. They focused on explaining HT's mental illness, but didn't delve into his. Most perplexing to me was what did HT see in JY? She came from a loving family, was a talented dancer, and fairly well adjusted. Even as the blind radio personality, what did he offer? They had almost no conversations. She did all the talking. He was cute and devoted which brings me back to the romantic wish fantasy and why Chi Chi was so angry with him. He failed in the one thing he was supposed to do for her.
Right up until the end after she walks into the ocean, the romance was a focal point. How did his murdering a child and to a lesser extent the abusive mother who had nothing to do with her case not give her pause? I've seen so many comments from people talking about the romance. As someone who has been through more revolutions around the sun than most on MDL, I'm always quick to offer a word of caution in my reviews to young girls and women who are willing to excuse heinous behavior in the name of love. You and I see something closer to obsession but I'm not sure that's exactly what the writers were conveying or what a majority of viewers saw. Most of what I heard was about the "tragic romance".
Both JY and Yun Chen who loved her were willing to kill HT's attackers which was believable after seeing how she continued to suffer. He'd wanted to hunt down Ouyang after his prison stint. And because one of HT's personalities blamed him, he believed he had to die, too, which erased any qualm he might have about mass murder.
The moved up execution date was supposed to be an emotional punch to the viewer and HT. After he killed the child, I lost all sympathy for him. I can handle adult characters being horrible to other adult characters in dramas and films but to kill a child steps over the line for me and turns off my empathy button.
This was a disturbing watch. I’m hoping the second half brings everything to a proper conclusion whatever that may be.
I did feel bad that he was brought up in an isolated, cold manner. Certainly not the way to raise an emotionally healthy individual. Where I had a problem with him, not just from this film but also reading about and watching other versions of this story, was his torture of servants through the years. Not just when he was young, but also in Manchukuo where it was a daily routine. Those servants were basically imprisoned as well. One that tried to escape was beaten to death. He was horrible to his wife Wan Rong and she died a terrible death. Like many elite of any country, he was unaware of the suffering of (or didn't care about) those below him and until the re-education camps he suffered no real consequences for his behavior. The system may have created the monster, but that would be small comfort to his victims.
It can be found on YouTube, but with auto-generated subtitles. If you speak Spanish one channel has Spanish subtitles.
Tyvm for the gift. 🦋💕
I had given thought to much of what you said as I was watching and upon reflection. All of us come to entertainment with different life experiences and views. Too often in my life have I heard that a raped woman should “just get over it” or “rape is like rain, you can’t stop it so you might as well enjoy it.” Even with women’s groups reminding people that rape isn’t about sex it’s about power and violence.
So while I get that she was desperately lonely and isolated, I think the story would have made more sense without the violation, especially on someone who had zero ability to defend herself or even call for help. He knew what he was doing was wrong by his words and responses. He didn’t lack control around her again. For me, the act came with too much societal baggage of acceptance of sexual violence against women and minimizing it. She did indeed get over it rather quickly regardless of her situation showing that sexual assault isn’t much of a mental and emotional violation (as well as a physical one) nor a loss of any sense of personal agency and sense of security. It was a bridge I could not cross in
this film.
I know this was just my perspective as I’ve read glowing reviews of this film and no one else seemed to be as bothered by it. I can see where this film would be a favorite of yours. It called out ableism in a gritty, often realistic manner. Without the problematic scene, I would have rated it much higher.
Thank you again for sharing your viewpoint, it was well thought out and presented. 🙏🏻