mione

there are so many positives about aol that you couldve pointed out but didn’t, thus l&r really took the spotlight in this article. it’s kind of unfair and makes this article a little...pointless? it’s supposed to be a “comparison” after all...

personally, i think the story in aol had more depth than l&r, which made its quality better. this can be backed up by the many accolades it received. l&r was simply just a love story, while aol actually paired romance with some confronting life values that are worthy to reflect in rl, making it artistically fulfilling to enjoy and analyse (i’m speaking as someone who used to study films). the one major flaw about aol was probably that runyu had more character development than xufeng, and perhaps the screen time between xufeng and jinmi was not as satisfying as the novel.

read through a lot of the comments... some people might disagree with me here, but if we can have the diversity to portray ‘normal’ people with their own life experiences and styles, why can’t it be the same for people with autism (as they too, have their own life experiences and lifestyles)? in the case of iotnbo, this was just one side of an individual dealing with ‘that’ level of autism. while there are different levels of autism, must all (or the less shown type) be shown in one drama to represent everyone who has been diagnosed with autism? and to what degree is deemed as appropriate to show on the screen to a huge audience of ‘normal’ people and for the portrayal of autism to not be seen as “stereotypical”? <— anyone see what’s so wrong with this question? because i do.

^my point is, not all autistic people are the same, nor the non-autistic people are the same either...so...should we also call-out these writers for not representing the non-autistic people enough and say they are poorly depicting us? honestly, there are so many of us, all with different life experiences and personalities. it’s impossible to represent all. in iotnbk, a part of sangtae felt like he was a burden to gangtae because he knew that he is not like everyone else, and a part of the drama was trying to say that we shouldn’t treat autistic people any different from the non-autistic ones even though they may seem very different to us. at the end of the day we’re all humans and we all have life problems, therefore it’s okay to not be okay. the way gangtae gave sangtae the special treatments to let him know that he is different is exactly what this article is unconsciously repeating and this is what may make people feel that characters like his is “stereotypical” —which was not the intention of the story/drama. as a result, i was not surprised to see some people with autism or know someone who is autistic being offended by this article. i would feel the same too because it can make me question my independence, how uncomfortable to know that the type of autism that i have is labelled “stereotypical” (or just sympathising for friends i know on this same spectrum) or the annoying fact of being reminded that i am different and that there must be a certain way that autism should be depicted to represent me and my autism community... like come on, we’re not talking about the stereotypes of girls should play with dolls and boys should play with cars. autism is a disability and yes, differs from person to person, but to label the severity of their autism as “stereotypical” can really rub people the wrong way.

the article said, “ such representations would just foster the cycle of autistic people feeling helpless and others being judgmental of them,” —i was feeling okay with the author’s opinions before i read to the part “judgemental” because i don’t think the author fully understood the character of sangtae, the story and what makes him the star of the show, and this really left a bad taste in my mouth after reading the article.

the drama chose to write a character with autism which may not represent all autistic people, but it certainly gave representation to the autism community by showing a story involving autism (honestly, just like how many of us are asking for more asian representation in hollywood ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ but are we really all the same (lifestyle and experience wise) and can everything really be represented? it’s the same for works that try to give the autism community representation like in iotnbo. sangtae may not have been depicted or could’ve been shown with other levels of autism, but every autistic person is their own individual and has their own story to tell. in iotnbo, this was sangtae’s story and was the level of disability he had to live with. so how can this be poor depiction since there are actually people in this world with the same condition? if the writer had written his character as someone with autism but only show him stuttering throughout the show to make him stand out and shows no other signs of autism —this is one example of what would be considered as poor depiction. on the other hand, there are real people like sangtae in this world; so i really don’t understand how his character was poorly depicted...

i hope i got my pov delivered because i’m terrible at explaining things :’) not meant to offend or change anyone’s mind either. just some questions to think about ;)


edit — something i would like to add which i think is more subjective: it feels kind of wrong to say that portrayals of autism on the spectrum like sangtae’s is “stereotypical” because it makes it seem like we should exclude/cancel from portraying them like that anymore on the screen/in the media...because it’s too “stereotypical”. i’m not saying those with other levels of autism should be ignored, but many of them actually live a normal life and we might not even be aware that they have autism. not saying these people should be not represented either, but in the case of iotnbo, without a character like sangtae then there wouldn’t be a story like that to begin with. moreover, there are many people sitting on the same spectrum as him. should we see their disability as stereotypical?

i think characters sitting on the same spectrum as sangtae gets shown more often because they are more expressive for the act and it is clearly evident to the audience that, well, they have a disability. in sangtae’s case, it allows for his character to not only be more expressive, but its impact helps us see how it affects his level of traumas and his ways of thinking about life and people in the story. essentially, his character gave growth (because of who he is) to gangtae and mun yeong, and even to himself. and honestly, if there was anything that’s stereotypical about his condition then it’s the fact that there are some people who think people like sangtae cannot live a normal life, have ambitions and has his own way of thinking and coping with situations. this drama addresses these issues and raises the awareness that autistic people can in fact be treated just like everyone else. so yeah, i strongly disagree that there was a poor depiction of autism in the drama, because while —as the author of the article expressed —it can be seen as “stereotypical”, it does not mean that it was poorly depicted or represented.

honestly, well said!

this is nice. i was looking for a comment with some detailed experience like this (was going to write one myself if i couldn’t find any) because i do disagree with what was written in the article....although it was an interesting read.

what’s more heartwarming behind sangtae’s character is that the actor who played him actually went on a date at an amusement park with a kid (who is autistic) who have watched the show with his mother, and really felt represented. i personally also know a few people with autism and have witnessed what a difficult job it is to be a caregiver (like you’ve mentioned). so i disagree that there was a poor depiction relating to autism in iotnbo too.

omg i didn't even noticed! thanks for pointing it out :D

ermmmm, thanks for the insight....but i never claimed that gu man was the first person to write mmo novels...?

it will be wholesome if the screenwriter makes no major changes from the novel. can only finger cross haha

i guess the cast are all grateful to gong jun now since this drama can finally see daylight, lol :’)

oh.... xD

casting bai lu in this adaptation? would be nice since her acting is good. but impossible because yu zheng (who owns the agency bai lu is signed under) already flopped the 2014 version by casting michelle chen :/

and agree that carmen’s version is the best. but liu yi fei’s beauty fits today’s beauty trend more (and this has been approved by jin yong himself in the past).

omg this comment made me burst a laugh xD /thumbs up/

you mean 2014?
2017 adaptation was about huang rong and guo jing + different director.

then we can also say huang rong is the queen of girl power for most wuxia nowadays with a strong fl, like legend of fei, or gu xiang from word of honor xD

oh i’ve already watched it —grew up with it, actually haha. i only said so because my friend had a hard time watching the 1983 version when i recommended it to her. she said it’s too “dramatic” and that she was not used to the cantonese tone. i know that language doesn’t matter for some of us, but it actually does to some other people who are a bit more sensitive.

the reason why i recommended for new viewers to start with the 2017 version is because that version was actually a tribute to the ‘83 version, even the opening song is from the ‘83 version. it is also the second adaptation most faithful to the novel following the ‘83 version. so since it’s the newer and most recent adaptation, i don’t see why people shouldn’t give that a go first because the acting and aesthetic fits the palate of nowadays generation better.

‘83 version had superb acting, but i feel that for new c-dramas and wuxia viewers, they won’t be able to easily enjoy it like the way we did back in the days.

good to hear that a mando version is available! :)

to all the millennials new to wuxia, i would recommend starting with the 2017 adaptation because the acting style is less dramatic, lol. plus, they might not be use to listening to cantonese :)

oh! /raises hand/ a few themes i would like to throw in :D

- not forgetting your roots (ancestors, cultural heritage and etc.)
- learning to forgive
- you reap what you sow
- it’s never too late to redeem oneself
- it’s not about being no.1, but it’s about one’s merit and the values they believe in life + putting those values into action
- good vs evil — what is right, and what is wrong? it’s like pluto questioning what is real and what is considered unreal? :’)
- rich vs poor — are the rich always right and are the poor always wrong? or the other way around?
- what truly defines a “hero”?
- does one control their own fate or do they let fate control them? (my favourite character representing this is yang guo)

it’s easy to mix it up for wuxia because like what estelll said, it contains many elements of wuxia (which is not uncommon in xianxia to have wuxia elements). but what makes the untamed an obvious xianxia is that it has a lot of daoism influence in the story, which is very typical for xianxia to have.

in a wuxia, the characters usually cultivate to become the strongest in the martial arts world (and it’s usually in a ‘real’/believable/‘normal’ world). while in a xianxia, the characters would usually cultivate to reach the immortality status (and this is usually set in a world we know does not exist in real life or is impossible to exist in real life due to the high fantasy elements).

i think an easier way to differentiate wuxia and xianxia nowadays would be to think, in the simplest way:

wuxia: anything involving martial arts.

xianxia: high fantasy involving gods and chinese mythical creatures (notice how i didn’t say immortal? ...although technically speaking, it should be about immortals because of ‘xian’) .

tbh, the wuxia genre has evolved a lot in the past decade. it used to just be purely about martial arts, but now there can be other elements introduced to it. and with advanced technology, producers tend to love using special effects to engage the audience for aesthetic purposes, which may be why some viewers can mistaken it for ‘fantasy’.

a bonus fact that would be nice to include would be how influential jin yong’s stories have contributed to the wuxia genre since he’s regarded as the “father” of wuxia :) with no doubts, many of today’s wuxia dramas borrows a lot of elements from his stories. many c-writers also make references to his characters in their writing.

as the saying goes: “jin yong in the east, stan lee in the west.” :D

i agree with kedia. in you are my glory, the fl and ml were also schoolmates, and ml was fl's crush during her high school year. so it's definitely different compared to love scenery. i also agree that you are my glory will probably be better than love scenery, just basing on how successful gu man's other drama adaptations have been in the past + the message/moral from you are my glory is rather more inspiring than love scenery's imo. for example, the idea of pursuing one's dream and working hard towards achieving it and realising one's worth —this is emphasised more in you are my glory than love scenery, even though they both share a similar theme.

i also reckon you are my glory is a more mature story compared to love scenery. the vibe of the drama will probs be similar to my sunshine/you are my sunshine/silent separation because the novel really gives off that similar vibe —it's very gu man-style.

add an extra point, you are my glory will most likely be more light-hearted than love scenery :D that is....there will be no unnecessary drama or illogical characters.