Loving the Leads, Hating the Message
I would wait until the end of the show to write a review, but halfway through this drama is good enough. I doubt anything will alter what I have seen so far. Here we go:
Besides everything I'm about to highlight, you will find yourself loving the drama and the incredible lively personality of the lead character and support character Wu Suo Wei and Jiang Xiao Shuai. I found myself gravitating to shipping these two, but 🤷♂️. I loved the other lead and support character too - great acting. Beside my critique in the following paragraphs, the rest of the story is good, and the acting and execution is decent and among the best for dramas of the same genre and culture and region.
But here's my real take: It's sad that this show learns nothing from many before it, and it's sadder that it got so popular yet rooted at its core is a glorification of rape culture. This reflects a disturbing pattern I keep seeing - too many BL productions have an unsettling fascination with abuse, assault, and romanticized Stockholm syndrome. Asian LGBTQ+ media seems particularly drawn to these harmful tropes, and frankly, it's gross and shouldn't be tolerated.
My heart broke watching sexual consent get thrown out the window in this series. Literally every romantic interaction - save for maybe one or two by episode 13 - was non-consensual. What the hell? Perhaps the community often consumes this content anyway because of severely limited representation on screen - that is at least true for me. And with so few high-quality queer productions available, viewers feel they have no real choice.
Why do writers, directors, and producers keep romanticizing rape? Is this supposed to be entertainment? What kind of fetish finds this content worthy of an 8 or 9 rating? The broader story has potential. But this needs to stop. This should be the last series that suggests forcing yourself on another person through threats, brute force, or manipulation is remotely acceptable.
I'm a BL fan, and I genuinely found myself enjoying parts of this drama. But these scenes and storylines robbed it of any special place in my heart.
While I should be talking about the funny moments in the drama, or portrayal of genuine love(don't hold your breath), nuanced societal and cultural themes on LGBTQ, good acting, I'm reduced to rant about how repeated rape could ever possibly be a show of love.
Oh, and this drama is another of those - gay person falls for a straight person who then "turns" queer.
irl, gay culture is often marked by experiences of inequality, societal ostracization, and lack of legal protection or acceptance worldwide - which unfortunately includes cultures of assault and abuse. This drama mirrors that reality and, worse, glorifies it.
Besides everything I'm about to highlight, you will find yourself loving the drama and the incredible lively personality of the lead character and support character Wu Suo Wei and Jiang Xiao Shuai. I found myself gravitating to shipping these two, but 🤷♂️. I loved the other lead and support character too - great acting. Beside my critique in the following paragraphs, the rest of the story is good, and the acting and execution is decent and among the best for dramas of the same genre and culture and region.
But here's my real take: It's sad that this show learns nothing from many before it, and it's sadder that it got so popular yet rooted at its core is a glorification of rape culture. This reflects a disturbing pattern I keep seeing - too many BL productions have an unsettling fascination with abuse, assault, and romanticized Stockholm syndrome. Asian LGBTQ+ media seems particularly drawn to these harmful tropes, and frankly, it's gross and shouldn't be tolerated.
My heart broke watching sexual consent get thrown out the window in this series. Literally every romantic interaction - save for maybe one or two by episode 13 - was non-consensual. What the hell? Perhaps the community often consumes this content anyway because of severely limited representation on screen - that is at least true for me. And with so few high-quality queer productions available, viewers feel they have no real choice.
Why do writers, directors, and producers keep romanticizing rape? Is this supposed to be entertainment? What kind of fetish finds this content worthy of an 8 or 9 rating? The broader story has potential. But this needs to stop. This should be the last series that suggests forcing yourself on another person through threats, brute force, or manipulation is remotely acceptable.
I'm a BL fan, and I genuinely found myself enjoying parts of this drama. But these scenes and storylines robbed it of any special place in my heart.
While I should be talking about the funny moments in the drama, or portrayal of genuine love(don't hold your breath), nuanced societal and cultural themes on LGBTQ, good acting, I'm reduced to rant about how repeated rape could ever possibly be a show of love.
Oh, and this drama is another of those - gay person falls for a straight person who then "turns" queer.
irl, gay culture is often marked by experiences of inequality, societal ostracization, and lack of legal protection or acceptance worldwide - which unfortunately includes cultures of assault and abuse. This drama mirrors that reality and, worse, glorifies it.
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