nycfoodie

Recently, I had a verbal exchange w/ @Mephisto. I actually paid attention to him & immediately realized my error in judgment.
Trust your instincts; he's not worth your time & patience.

I rarely watch K-dramas or J-dramas, so I don't visit MDL (or any other) discussion forums about them.

Given that K-dramas, especially, cater to their international audience , MDL originally began as a K-drama fan website (I'm guessing because among other things, MDL publishes more articles about K-dramas than C-dramas & other Asian ones combined.), all of which suggest that MDL K-drama fans outnumber C-drama ones), I'd be surprised if MDLers weren't very much more likely to judge C-dramas by K-drama standards, rather than the other way around (assuming they even bring up C-dramas at all), though I'd love to learn otherwise.

I see where you're coming from, but people (especially MDLers) shouldn't judge China by South Korean or Japanese standards either.

(cont'd)

Imagine the reverse situation .

Would Netflix ever cast a White actor to play a Black historical figure, let alone get away with it? Or worse, cast a White actor wearing "blackface?" Of course not.

And not too long ago, Hollywood had no problem casting White actors (in "yellowface") to play Chinese (& other Asian) people. Even now, intentionally offending & mocking (non-White American) racial & ethnic minorities is verboten unless they're Chinese or Asian, in which case, they're fair game. A prototypical example would be the "ching-chong, "sing-song" caricature of Chinese & Asian accents. International C-drama (especially White American) fans that call out China for censorship & propaganda, but don't hold the US (& Europe) accountable suffer from holier-than-thou hypocrisy of the highest order.

Why is Chinese censorship is frequently censured as propaganda (w/ evil intent), but Western censorship & propaganda are supposed to advance social justice?

I'd say that all countries deal with entertainment & media "censorship" in some form or another.

Take, for instance, Netflix's recent "documentary" re: Cleopatra, casting a Black actress in the title role. The real Cleopatra had Hellenistic (Greek) ancestry, not to mention, all archeological & historical evidence point to the fact that she had olive skin & European features. Basically, Cleopatra looked like a modern-day Greek or European w/ Mediterranean roots. If Netflix
doesn't care about alienating half its American audience, fine. But it's disrespectful & disingenuous to try to pass off Cleopatra as Black not only to history, but also to its MENA (Middle Eastern & North African) as well as Egyptian audiences. And Netflix lacked the self-awareness & self-restraint from offering this so-called "documentary" to its Egyptian subscribers. Not surprisingly, Egyptians boycotted & protested against Netflix, and rightfully so.

Yeah, that's kinda what I'm not sure about.

It probably depends on how the written policy & regulation are worded as well as what they explicitly say (or not say).

That's why I think Chinese entertainment companies are likely to find some kind of loophole.

For example, Flourished Peony got around the one-year interval rule by changing its (Chinese) name, so it could release the 2nd part (which exceeded the 40 episode limit) within the year.

There's no way any regulatory body, in China or elsewhere, could possibly anticipate every conceivable loophole(s) or counter-move.

Even if the stricter interpretation holds, all the Chinese entertainment company would have to do is more evenly distribute their costume dramas. I'm guessing in some months during less busy seasons, none or only one costume drama is released in a given month. If so, simply move the release date for certain dramas towards these drier months.

At the end of the day, it probably wouldn't make much difference either way. And quality should take priority over quantity anyway. This rule is intended to encourage Chinese entertainment companies to focus & devote greater resources on fewer (costume) dramas to come up with better production value per drama, which is a good thing.

Yes, if you're open to experiencing another (popular) culture, why not try to see things from that culture's point of view?

Gotcha!

Oh, I see.
But don't other countries already adapt Chinese stories (i.e. Disney's Mulan)? Or were dramas (as opposed to films) off-limits before?
Lastly, do other countries still have to ask for China's permission first? And can China veto the final cut if it doesn't meet their approval?
Again, thanks! I've been looking this up myself, but I'm afraid my Chinese reading apprehension may be insufficient.

Can you recall any (relatively recently) instance in which a single platform released more than two costume dramas in a single month? Off the top my head, I can't think of any.

Also, it's not clear what counts as a "platform." For example, Tencent has multiple affiliates, including WeTV. So do Tencent & WeTV count as one or two platforms?

If one: this could conceivably be an issue, although Tencent in-house lawyers would probably look and find some legal loophole(s). If two: this is a non-issue.

Please clarify what's meant by "any country can adapt stories in drama." Thanks for sharing!

In the meantime, I'll do some research.

Generally, to appreciate something you have to see it for what it is rather than what you wish or expect it to be.

A lot of times I hear (especially new) C-drama viewers watch C-dramas by Hollywood or (more Westernized) K-drama standards. But the Chinese entertainment industry isn't the American & South Korean industries; nor is trying or wanting to be. Its primary target is the Chinese (domestic) audience; its secondary target is the Chinese (& Chinese speaking) diaspora.

For non-Chinese (especially those who don't even know any Chinese language, history, culture, etc.) international viewers to expect Chinese entertainment to cater to them and meet their (usually Westernized) expectations is at best arrogant & presumptuous, at worst ethnocentric & culturally imperialistic.

No offense, but if you expect Chinese entertainment to be like American or South Korean entertainment, just give up C-dramas and stick to Hollywood & K-dramas/K-pop instead.

I know these aren't the kind of expectations you're specifically talking about, But i'm talking more generally about something I see a lot more on MDL (& other online discussion forums such as reddit), so I took this opportunity to get on my soapbox.

Please ignore my comment if this is something that you don't have a problem with or don't particularly care about.

Never said you committed a crime, let alone a "capital" one. Nor did I ever say you deserve "beheading. "

If you're saying this yourself, I for one cannot stop you from doing so (not being a MDL moderator and all).

Buh-bye!!

Ok, hypothetically speaking, let's say I were being "passive aggressive" in every other comment, prove that I was being "passive aggressive" in my response to you.

For the record, I'm not sensitive about this show, tho I'm kinda annoyed (and getting more so) by the the same & unnecessarily repetitive (spam-like) questions about this show. See the difference??

And when you say that you will ignore me, do you mean this as a promise or a threat?

You said verbatim: "But he didn't ask only if the the drama is worth his time," right?

Insofar as the OP asked "would we enjoy this drama if we..." AND "WE" by definition includes "HE," the OP is implying (or at least, strongly suggesting) that "HE" is indeed asking whether or not "HE" would enjoy this drama by referring
to "HIMSELF" as "WE," provided that "WE" by definition includes "HE."

Not really, at least I don't think so. I didn't (explicitly) tell the OP how & what to post. I merely gave an opinion about how what the OP posted "can quite plausibly" come across to readers.

If I were being "contradictory" here & elsewhere (or, for that matter, anywhere that you could've been subjected to my possibly contradictory opinions), I humbly beg for your forgiveness and will try to learn from my possibly contradictory mistakes.

Oh, by the way, why do you think it's safe to ASSUME that the original poster is a "HE," especially when a highly-disproportionate percentage of the C-drama (both domestic & international audience
Is female (or non-
male)?

Doesn't "we" (by definition) include him/her they?

And unless you're a MDL moderator, kindly refrain from telling how & what to post. Even on the off-chance that you are a moderator, it's still "sh1tty" to call other people names (such as "pieces
of sh1t")! Or, maybe you see something "of value" in calling people "pieces of sh1t"!?!?

It has nothing to do with "romance," which I could take or leave.

It has to do with MDLers who feel the need to ask others for their opinions, when they can easily make their own.

These multiple (daily, if not hourly) "is this worth my while" type of inquiries can quite plausibly come across as somewhat annoying & attention-seeking (if not downright trolling & spamming).

Since you apparently appreciate assuming, feel free to keep assuming my (so-called "passive aggressive") intentions. You're only proving my point for me!