Nepeta 22

Thanks for going into detail. I likened that like a debutant thing. But I guess, you can't always compare.. No I didn't watch The Rise of Ning.

Yes, the upstaging was used because it felt like someone had used her to hijack her special event. I guess, I had my biases as I thought the drama would be more like The Story of Minglan where main lead would be put upon, meek and always trodden on. Here, she's the eldest and not a concubine's daughter so she has more privileges here.

Thanks for responding and an interesting comment. I am definitely older than FL but not old enough for grand children. Maybe stamp on seemed like a wrong wording. I meant she doesn't seem to show the understandings of what motivates maids and how it came to be that way.

Also same for how concubines may be trying to better themselves. They also have limited rights so it is natural they will do anything to take out potential opposition. I thought being FL material, she may show a bit more understanding on that.

Yes I saw that but maybe I am a bit old school. I didn't expect the FL to be so hard nut so early on. She's definitely feisty but laced with being a bit spoilt and bratty. Maybe it's me, I do not resonate with this character type because I find it too modern and not at all believable in the way she would have been brought up in the Ming dynasty era. It just feels like a modern day drama with characters playing dress up.

No problem, others have also made this point. Maybe I am a bit old school and not expecting a FL to be so hard-nut so early 😉

OK, thanks for letting me know. I will continue to see how this drama version pans out.

Yes thanks for explaining. I did see that part. But maybe I am a bit old fashion. Usually FL characters need to bide their time and show restraint and the comeuppance happens much later down the line 😉

OK, I guess I have to adjust and get used to these roles.

Yes, I saw that bit but maybe the way the drama is adapted, it didn't really dwell on that for long. It was all quite vague. Even with that, for FL status, usually don't do the eye of an eye angle. The restrained pain works well in these types of stories and usually their comeuppance happens further down the line. Here, it's happening all at once.

OK, I am not that far ahead. Yes, he does seem like a very horrible person.

I'm not defending the parents but the writing of the parents are not convincing in any way. They're all stock characters that all fall neatly in place to uplift the FL. It feels that way. The way the father behaves and always ends up looking silly is cringeworthy and not at all believable. The concubine ( a Yang Zi Lookalike) is also a typical one dimensional character.

BTW, I am not saying she shouldn't do what she does, but it's the pacing of when she starts doing it and how she reacts afterwards comes across as smug and spoilt and not coming from a place of being scarred or put upon. If anything, she had been spoilt for too long by her grand mother. This makes her act too modern and takes away from the Ming dynasty behaviour of the time.

Thanks for letting me know. I feel the drama version for me makes her come across as spoilt and controlling. She seems to get her nose everywhere and happily utilise the maids to do her scheming. I understand her feelings for her parents but when she returns to the household she's not at all afraid or reserved but more in attack mode ready to get her revenge. You can almost feel her rolling up her sleeves. By episode 4 she's already shouting at her step mum and father.

It just feels like I'm watching a modern day drama with actors playing dress-up.

Yes I get that, but if you are watching a costume drama, at least 50% needs to follow a bit of the etiquette of the time and that is not just bowing to elders or those in higher status, but also showing a core restrained behaviour in the early stages of the drama. But in episode 1-2 she's already declaring ML is trying to upstage her coming of age (if there's a thing) ceremony... that was meant to be amusing for the audience?

Who is the SML. Is it the character played by Zuo Ye? Or Win Win? If the latter, yes that character is the classic playboy. But not the whimsical type but more like a lazy teenager type.

Thanks for replying back. That's the scene where she walks past her step mother's maid and sort of had a smug look and walked off while she was being whipped. I was a bit surprised by her reaction. She definitely showed no compassion towards those lower down the social pecking order and had no awareness of the social structure that caused the maid to be whipped in the first place. Worse still, she utilises them to do all her scheming.

Scheming is all good, but they seem to be all for short term gains. Like using her step sister to be able to get out the house and then more or less going off on her own to buy cakes for herself without fear of being spotted. I found these scenes strange.

In no time, she's then seen shouting at her step mum in front of the whole household and even at her father. As for the father, he is just a caricature and not in any way a challenge to her. Even when she bows to Ye Xian, she does it in a way that is so obvious to him and everyone else, she's not at all respectful and not afraid. I find this all a bit too far. I get we the viewer need to know this, but the way it is done is off putting. She comes across as a spoilt brat that is milking her past abandonment as an excuse to behave this way.

For me, it doesn't make her likeable at this stage. I hope it isn't one of those dramas where the "master" ML makes her see "the way" through his commanding mature outlook against her babyish sulky tantrums. She already knows she has pretty privileges and being the eldest another privilege.

Not sure whether adaptation has changed the FL's character or not but if not then it's just a modern day girl playing dress up. Her behaviour does not show even 10% of what a girl her age and background would behave like. She's just coming over as a spoilt brat that likes to stamp over others. This makes the whole drama very difficult to watch. Especially when she has difficult father and classic step mum. Her character has managed to make me feel sorry for her parents.

I never knew it was a book adaptation. I thought it was an original script. Nonetheless, a really interesting drama that at times can be difficult to record as I am sure some crimes with customs, they had to keep from us for fear it can reveal some parts that may be used for those that want to evade customs.

I really liked the group dynamics and thought it was so natural, almost like you were watching a reality programme with the team's interactions. The bigger crime woven in the background was well balanced but as stated, felt a bit rushed in the end.

Being beautiful and being able to act might sometimes be a tall order, but they do exist in China. Maybe I have different standards to you, but I am quite happy with the talent around. There seems to be a healthy line of new actresses that look promising already, and the established actresses a decade before that still are in demand have a place in the field if directors and the audiences want to see more.

I think there is something for everyone. Idol style dramas to slice of life dramas to thought provoking dramas, there are a range of actors that can fill these genres. But yes, it would be nice to see more of the mainstream to be filled with actors that have both looks and skill, but that might still be hard.

As for actors that look more relatable, I think this trend has been going on for a while but, it's often muddled with new stars that come in from the music industry or reality show industry and sadly, as you notice, not all are talented in acting, but more riding off viral fame or youth boy/girl bands.

Whilst I agree on some points you have raised it's no point pretending performing arts still rely on "screen presence" and in many times, above average looks is a big factor into attracting audiences. This is the world over.

I am like a lot of viewers, just a novice at judging what is deemed a good actor/actress, and everyone can have their opinions on a person's performance. We may differ in our opinions on whether the FL is portraying her character well and if a different actress may give a different feel.

I do sometimes feel the need to point out that female actors get more criticism on their portrayal or performances over men, and that is in general, not just here and fair enough, you made your point with being a former Rada student, so you may be over critical of a field you trained in, I understand that. But in China, a fair portion are given plum roles because of their former music fandom, and because fandom culture is big in China, production companies will go for the safer route of borrowed viewers.

Many respected actors in China have not come from a training in acting including RJL, and I welcome that as I believe acting isn't all about training in a top school in Beijing.

It's also an unspoken rule that Xianxias are normally going to have a lot of above average looking actors in them and looks tend to come first because there is a type of requirement which is usually long slim necks, pale and smooth features with minimal angular contours. It's just the traditional way of how lead characters are supposed to look like. Obviously, there is always a bit of bending of rules here and there!

I see this often all across the board. It's sadly not just on forums like this. Mass media generally controlled by men, over the decades have made this more normal and unfortunately, this has influenced a new generation of people to hone in on women more and you'll notice the band of acceptance for women is getting narrower and narrower as time goes on, and the best tool for that is women themselves.

Captivating because for a fair few viewers tend to not watch the drama as a whole, but project what they want from the characters. And this is why a predominately female audience can sometimes be overly critical and opinionated with how female characters are portrayed.

Here, ZKY's character is no nonsense, a dead face killing machine. Only soften for one person (that's not RW character btw), loyal always, for now. Whilst FL is wild, emotional, unstable at times, inconsistent and god forbid too self righteous to a fault, this switches some viewers off. Why? She's just not perfect as she thinks she is. Not self aware.

I think the 2 actresses have portrayed their roles well. Unless someone can tell me I have been not watching the drama properly.