Let middle aged women shine !!
I won’t go into the flaws of this drama that others have already pointed out - such as the implausibility of the FL’s character, the monotonous acting, or the distracted screenwriting style.
Instead, I’m interested in The Glory's double edged sword: its treatment of female relationships.
The drama’s strength is, without a doubt, Haiyan’s relationship with her mother: the beautifully cast Wen Zheng Rong. The mother/daughter connection is first presented as a deep emotional knot waiting to be untied over thirty episodes. From her first frames in episode one, Wen Zheng Rong is the strongest presence on screen (with kudos to the costume and makeup department who went above and beyond the brief). Mother figures in historical C-dramas are often depicted as either wicked and cunning or self-sacrificing, willing to do anything to protect their offspring. At first, thanks to some intricate unknotting in the relationship between mother and daughter, it looked like The Glory might break from convention. Unfortunately (without going into spoilers), it was not to be.
The other strength of the drama - albeit a fleeting one - is the subtextual GL relationship between Hanyan and Chai Jing. I was really hoping that I could live in my self-deluded fantasy where they could pursue their unspoken romance while the ML/FL relationship took its lavender-scented course. Alas, my fantasy crashed out a lot earlier than I was expecting.
Which brings me to the flip side of the coin. Surprisingly, I don’t think the ML is the drama’s weakness. The FL/ML relationship is, for the most part, one of mutually beneficial transaction. The ML has red flags, but no more than the FL does. And he’s not the one who destroys the aforementioned relationships between Hanyan and the two key women in her life. The writers are the guilty party.
[Admittedly there is a tiny spoiler in the paragraph below]
The writers find pretexts to remove the FL from her two close relationships with women, leaving her isolated. Unlike the FL in Story of Pearl Girl, for example, the FL in The Glory has no commercial traits that would provide her with financial independence. And thus the historical setting matched with the plot-driven isolation means she turns to the ML as a source of material support (because it’s hard to pursue revenge without food in your belly and a roof over your head). The ML therefore doesn’t need to rely on coercive methods - such as the blackmail marriage trope - because the broader plot effectively does it for him.
When the FL goes on her spree of neoliberal feminist campaigning in middle episodes, it comes across flat and hollow. By this point in the series, the writers have forbidden her from developing deep women/women relationships (romantic or platonic) and unlike other dramas of this genre, she doesn’t even have a close relationship with her maidservants.
Honestly, I could’ve given this a lower star rating. Fortunately, the show is somewhat redeemed thanks to He Hong Shan - who is a delight, as always - and Wen Zheng Rong (100000%). If nothing else, watch it for her. She steals the show.
Instead, I’m interested in The Glory's double edged sword: its treatment of female relationships.
The drama’s strength is, without a doubt, Haiyan’s relationship with her mother: the beautifully cast Wen Zheng Rong. The mother/daughter connection is first presented as a deep emotional knot waiting to be untied over thirty episodes. From her first frames in episode one, Wen Zheng Rong is the strongest presence on screen (with kudos to the costume and makeup department who went above and beyond the brief). Mother figures in historical C-dramas are often depicted as either wicked and cunning or self-sacrificing, willing to do anything to protect their offspring. At first, thanks to some intricate unknotting in the relationship between mother and daughter, it looked like The Glory might break from convention. Unfortunately (without going into spoilers), it was not to be.
The other strength of the drama - albeit a fleeting one - is the subtextual GL relationship between Hanyan and Chai Jing. I was really hoping that I could live in my self-deluded fantasy where they could pursue their unspoken romance while the ML/FL relationship took its lavender-scented course. Alas, my fantasy crashed out a lot earlier than I was expecting.
Which brings me to the flip side of the coin. Surprisingly, I don’t think the ML is the drama’s weakness. The FL/ML relationship is, for the most part, one of mutually beneficial transaction. The ML has red flags, but no more than the FL does. And he’s not the one who destroys the aforementioned relationships between Hanyan and the two key women in her life. The writers are the guilty party.
[Admittedly there is a tiny spoiler in the paragraph below]
The writers find pretexts to remove the FL from her two close relationships with women, leaving her isolated. Unlike the FL in Story of Pearl Girl, for example, the FL in The Glory has no commercial traits that would provide her with financial independence. And thus the historical setting matched with the plot-driven isolation means she turns to the ML as a source of material support (because it’s hard to pursue revenge without food in your belly and a roof over your head). The ML therefore doesn’t need to rely on coercive methods - such as the blackmail marriage trope - because the broader plot effectively does it for him.
When the FL goes on her spree of neoliberal feminist campaigning in middle episodes, it comes across flat and hollow. By this point in the series, the writers have forbidden her from developing deep women/women relationships (romantic or platonic) and unlike other dramas of this genre, she doesn’t even have a close relationship with her maidservants.
Honestly, I could’ve given this a lower star rating. Fortunately, the show is somewhat redeemed thanks to He Hong Shan - who is a delight, as always - and Wen Zheng Rong (100000%). If nothing else, watch it for her. She steals the show.
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