John Hart

REBEL PRINCESS has one giant fault: all sorts of actors are either too old or too young for their roles. Like a daughter and Dad are roughly the same age in real life, lol. And a Mom looks like a grandmom. Now that I've warned you it won't be as bad.

What's wonderful with REBEL are the characters, the music, the plot twists, the romances -- and some of the battle moments are great.

If it's not your cup of tea you'll know fast, but trust me -- it improves as you go.

"is there a rule that forces Chinese screenwriters to specify their period dramas as pure fiction?" It's not a Chinese issue because America does it too. It's called: bad writing.

The specific name I gave it in my teaching days was WRITERS WRITING ABOUT WRITING. If you ever start a movie and it's about a lonely writer who isn't appreciated, this is where writers writing about writing starts. Like a disease.

You see -- the bad writer sits at a computer and says, "What will I write about?" After 15 seconds of thought, they start writing about how hard it is for a writer to come up with an idea. Then they see a romantic interest who's with someone beautiful and sighs, and they wish their interest would look past appearance and value a writer who thinks they are witty. Towards the end of the story, the romantic interest has inspired a book or screenplay out of the writer, they read it, and they say the writer is the best writer ever.

If you think I'm making this up, I'm not. It's EVERYWHERE. And to my frustration, even in China. Try REBEL PRINCESS for a few episodes. If it takes its a long ride, but a really fun one.

I'm halfway thru and David Lynch is everywhere

That was fantastic. THANK YOU! (When I'm less tired I'm going to re-read a few times.) Two quick thoughts --

1. Last night wifey and I saw episode 26ish, where the Nationalist people were in a meeting and someone said, hey, "some sort of very big American bomb was dropped on Hiroshima". Instead of them cheering, they were like, hmm, that could help us. lol

2. I believe America and China underestimate our ally potential.

What's tough for me here is that most of these dramas have all new young faces. THE FORTUNE WRITER is the only one I noticed a familiar face, Daisy Li (from DREAM OF SPLENDOR).

I'm not opposed to new faces, since Daisy was new to me in that drama. It's just I like to have at least one familiar face in the mix. It's like seeing an old friend somehow.

Now that I've completed this series I kind of agree with you about the acting. In my opinion the actors had little to do but constantly react to what someone else said. Too much exposition inside a needlessly complicated story reduces how often actors get to do things beside react.

I thought it was some sort of style... lol... like Republican Era Organized Crime Story...

They talked a little too much about architecture but the soap opera parts were great, right? I loved the story of the villain's son who didn't know he had a son of his own. Very touching.

subGNIKCUFtitles!

I have no clue what WONG KAR WAI is but I'll wholeheartedly agree with you anyway

No problem. Thanks for the discussion.

Thanks for this interesting conversation and your thoughts.

I want to say watching quality Chinese Dramas has simply opened this American to the entire Eastern world. What just a few years ago felt like another planet is now far more 'closer' and understandable.

When I watched the underrated THE GREAT CRAFTSMAN I saw something super fascinating, that has nothing to do with the Japanese. The Chinese were meeting and greeting Americans at a restaurant. The show presented American businessmen as 'BIG' and 'BLOND' and 'STRONG' and,... kinda like... Greek Gods walking among the 'little Chinese people'.

These 'Gods' ate at 'American' restaurants, with their big 'steaks'. Wallace Huo's character couldn't quite hide his AWE at these powerful American characters named 'David' and 'Tom'.

Watching C-Dramas concerned me I'd be watching propaganda, but it's been anything but. It's in fact FASCINATING to see what Americans then looked like to the Chinese. That they wanted to eat steak like Americans do --

-- as we like to eat Chinese dumplings and Japanese sushi.

Living in the melting pot of California has been such a great cultural experience.

I know you're replying to Alexandria but I wanted to share some thoughts. As an American I was aware of Pearl Harbor and such, but I was unaware (until Chinese Dramas) that the Japanese behaved... essentially... as Asian Nazis.

This brings up an interesting problem. I feel you are correct to say that 'Japs' as a term shouldn't be used. I cringed a little when Alexandria said it too. But certainly their behavior at that time is worthy of slurring.

In Germany the Nazis were often referred to as 'The Germans' and everyone knew what that meant. But if people turned them into 'The Germs' -- would that be wrong? To slur the 'Germ' of fascism spreading across Europe?

As a linguist I'm torn here. To offer those Japanese 'respect' by calling them 'The Japanese' seems as wrong as calling them 'Japs'. And does the term 'Japs' mean 'the Japanese race' or 'the Japanese Nationalists'?

As a child I grew up with THE THREE STOOGES. During the war they did two anti-Japanese sshort comedy films. The sweet and lovable Curly once felll out of character to say, "I spit on the Japs!" (CRINGE) But is he spitting on the race or or the warriors?

I will NOT. (I won't taste the cake for you, you must taste it.) I will say the cake tasted pretty good.

I was born in the mid-60s. I thought this type of madness would stay in our past. But as we in America are learning: madness is bread by leaders speaking madness to generate chaos.

It turns out that many people are barely hinged, and if you want to make them unhinged, just spew madness at them.

Where thinking people recognize that no Presidential candidate should be praising the life of a fictional psychotic killer who ate his enemies for dinner, there's an entire population that embrace madness -- because it reminds them of their inner madness.

THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS was a huge hit but not because of Batman. Because of THE JOKER. More people than we realized identify with the Joker and think he's 'great'.

I don't know this for a fact but I'm convinced this is how the Japanese were brainwashed into doing these atrocities. The crazy ones were encouraged, and the rest is tragic history.

Thank you.

What a journey. Happy you are settled in! AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR REPLIES!

We in America really hope Kamala Harris wins so that we can avoid packing up and moving. By international standards you can see our 'Nationalist' party is corrupt and out of control.

If it's not personal, where did they move to? Just curious. Or where are you now?

I'm 60 years old. From America Western propaganda, I was taught to see the Chinese with great suspicion. If someone rips you off in America, you were 'Shanghai'd'. Anything 'Made in China' was 'cheap crap'.

Hell, and forgive me, 'slitty' eyes means Asians are 'dishonest' people because honest people let you see their eyes. Oh yeah: Chinese restaurants don't really serve anything but pork, but some of it might be unspeakable meat.

So I watch these C-Dramas. And what do I see? Human beings. A proud people, with ugliness and beauty just like all of humanity. And I've seen history that boggles my mind. There's so much to take in about it -- it's ENDLESS.

At first the Mandarin was so foreign it hurt my ears. My lips couldn't begin to say a word of the language. It was like Martians talking. But with continued exposure I find the language to be beautiful. Sometimes my wife and I replay a few lines of dialogue, just to listen to the words. It can be like poetry.

I live in a town with a white male military history. So many residents are old and Anglo. A few houses up a neighbor passed away and who moved in? A Taiwanese family. The Dad's a Doctor that speaks English but half of his family doesn't.

I welcomed them with a hand and a big smile. I know more about them as a people than they'd imagine. A Grandmother eyed me with a big smile in her eyes and said 'Hello' in perfect English.

She knew I wasn't afraid of them. She knew I was glad they would be my neighbor.

We need this attitude globally, because I believe China and USA would make great allies.

If you're talking about the American PEARL HARBOR film, a little side trivia of interest.

1. Before 9/11, a bunch of American Extreme Conservatives had a semi-secret meeting about how to get their fascist goals achieved in America. They concluded they'd need a 'Pearl Harbor' event to make it happen.

2. The PEARL HARBOR movie was released in the summer of 2001.

Ahem

Thank you for your replies. Here's the first missing piece I was lacking --

"And these westerners at their appointed territories, they are given high ranked government positions, such like the chief police, high judge, customs officers, port officers. And the Chinese people worked under them. Because of these not "suppose authorities", these westerners misused their authorities, they received bribings, unlawful acts, bullied the Chinese and raped any ladies as they liked. The Chinese was coolie to them. That was the main reason after many years the Chinese been bullied by the westerners, then later was forced out of Shanghai.
But these unlawful authorities wasn't granted by the Communism party, it was granted by the Nationalist party, because they too are equally filthy."

I watched THE GREAT CRAFTSMAN and -- despite being a great soap -- it touched upon this era in great detail, but it avoided making a political statement about the Americans, Brits, French. It just sort of acted like they were 'of course' there, and so I felt the Chinese welcomed them there. Like how America has 'Chinatowns', these were 'Ameri-towns."

But if they weren't welcome that changes everything.