TalkingWithYou

Next month I am going to stop watching k & c dramas all together, unless I am with a friend and they are watching something on their tv. Since I can't stomach to watch most newer western shows/movies (btw, I am a westerner), I think I'll focus on painting, and reading lol.

In one South Korean drama that I watched on Netflix, in the first episode the characters mentioned the white skin of the female lead at least 4 times within the first 15 minutes. It was done in such an obvious way, which made it super weird. Additionally, the director of this drama kept focusing in on the white extras (literally the camera would zoom in). The message that it is sending is that all white people are prettier than Asian people. I am not opposed to people appreciating a standard of beauty. However, when it gets to the point where it turns into colorism, and racism, I draw the line.

I am pretty naive when it comes to knowing who have had plastic surgery, eating disorders, and skin bleaching but after watching a Chinese award show, I was almost in tears because most of the women bodies literally looked skeleton like (I am pointing this out respectfully - I don't believe in body shaming). So, I vowed to stop watching Chinese dramas but that was short-lived.

BTW, I am adding The Disguiser to my must watch list!

Ah, I understand! What you're saying is, after watching dramas that have so many conflicts in the storyline, sometimes people just want to watch dramas in which there is little to no conflict; no antagonist, no poor communication, almost a perfect loving relationship, with humor.

I can understand why people would want to watch those types of dramas, but I find it hard to watch because I cannot relate to it. However, I have watched 2 dramas that I find realistic, somewhat light hearted, and humerus and they are Mr. Queen (which I love) and Hello Me (which I hated the ending). I also found The Story of Ming Lan to be a feel-good drama that has depth, a good storyline, and has a deeper meaning.

So, this was my first time watching a gaming drama and I actually really liked the concept. Since I like Chinese historical and period dramas so much, I wanted to like their romcoms too but I hadn't found one that I liked. I'll have to check out the dramas that you've recommended. Someone else mentioned Love o2o in their review, so it must be really popular!

I do think that a lot of people rated this drama based upon their feelings (their personal desire of wanting the romance that they saw between the male and female lead), as opposed to the storyline as a whole, and the acting. This drama has such a high rating that it's surpassing some masterpieces lol, and I don't get it. The first drama that I watched with Dilraba in it was The Long Ballad. Her and I are about the same age, and she looks fantastic, and she seems like a kind person. To be honest, I often question myself if I should support certain Chinese and K-Dramas because I believe the toxic beauty standards, are pushing actresses to be unhealthy (e.g. bulimia and anorexia, skin bleaching, etc). Sometimes I do have concerns when supporting entertainment that is dangerous socioculturally.

Btw, I am currently watching Good Bye My Princess, and wow, the first 11 episodes will blow you away (in a good way lol). I must admit, you may have to stomach through the first 2 episodes but once you do, it'll be worth it.

I totally agree with your review. The only exception is that I do believe Ethan is rather handsome.

"Ethan (ML) is a surprise and I can't see any other actor playing this role but him. He reminds me of Chen Kun in "The Rise of Phoenixes".

I saw Legend of Fu Yao before seeing The Rise of Phoenixes. When I saw The Rise of Phoenixes, I literally said the same thing about Ethan and Chen Kun lol.

One word..... yes!

Ah, I will have to check this drama out. It reminds of me the Chinese drama titled My Heroic Husband which is also full of cliches, perhaps not presented as obvious as the drama that you've recommended. Below is a snippet/spoiler of my review of the Chinese drama My Heroic Husband.

"This review may contain spoilers
Feminism - The Academy of Male Virtuousness
I hadn't finished watching this drama yet but what I LOVE about it thus far, is that it's not the usual toxic historical Chinese drama, in which the female lead is a damsel in distress that needs saving and the male lead is perfect and doesn't make mistakes. This drama reminds a little of Mr.Queen (a Korean historical drama that is a remake of Go Princess Go, a Chinese historical drama). The difference is the roles are reversed; the male lead is the stay at home husband who wakes up with amnesia, while the female lead is the business woman. Episode 3, at the 39 minute mark is my favorite. It's the scene at The Academy of Male Virtuousness."

Yikes! Seems like the producers ruined what could have been a good thing. Sometimes it's best not to have sequels.

Thanks for calling out the VERY CLEAR racism.

I thought she was IU from Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo

Yes, Duo Duo! I think season 2 may show some chemistry between Duo Duo and Fan Xian, at least I hope it does.

For me, I had to forward over a lot of her scenes in Princess Agents. Maybe, I just don't like that specific kind of character. I tend to like characters like Duo Duo, and Chu Qiao. I think watching Disney movies in the 90's spoiled it for me lol.

Sure is! I am currently rewatching it for the 5th time this year.

LOL! The whole chicken bit was weird. I kept asking myself why is the male lead head over heels for the princess who love chicken? There was nothing awe dropping that made their connection sensible. Originally, I also thought it was a poorly written character, but then I saw Princess Agent and I realized it was the actress.

What made up for their unrealistic/child-like love scene, was the female warrior character (I forgot her name). However, she doesn't appear until like episode 30 lol.

My comfort drama is Mr. Queen!

I agree with your comment, minus not wanting to watch season 2. I really disliked the actress acting who played Lin Wan'er. There's a way of making the damsel in distress character less obnoxious. The same actress also plays a damsel in distress character in Princess Agent.

I agree with your article. However, in the Long Balled the male lead actor is young. He played an older character, and was able to act his character. I don't believe older actors are necessarily needed to be able to act. I believe talented actors are needed in order to be able to act (the main requirement is talent, not age).

Also, I believe consumers don't want to watch historical war/romantic dramas with teenagers as the lead actors, even if the characters are supposed to be young. All around the world, the older population in most countries supersede their younger population. I am in my 30's and don't care to watch historical dramas with actors who look like they are 14. 14 year olds in the 14th century had more responsibility, and a different lifestyle than 14 year olds in the 21st century. Thus, a lot of older viewers wouldn't be interested in young folks love story, no matter how good the writing is.

You're welcome! =)

I am American, but not of Asian heritage. Allow me to recommend some dope dramas. Btw, it's also hard for me to watch newer American shows because everything is overly sexualized.

Recommended dramas:
1. Mr. Queen (highly recommend) - strong female lead
2. The Legend of Dugu (currently watching) - strong female lead
3. The Story of Ming Lan
4. Queen for Seven Days
5. Legend of Fu Yao (I watched up until episode 41, read my review to find out the reason why)
6. Save me (highly recommend)
7. The Long Ballad - strong female lead
8. The Princess Wei Young
9. Record of Youth - strong female lead
10. Love in the Moonlight
11. Joy of Life
12. Princess Agent - strong female lead
13. The Sword and The Brocade (I watched up until episode 32 because it really didn't need an additional 40 episodes)

OMG! Yes, I agree with everything that you wrote about this drama. It's a historical soap opera. I just finished watching episode 11, and I replayed one scene like 4 times because it was dramatically amazing. Regarding the eldest DuGu sister, her character is so different than what I am used to when watching Chinese dramas, and I love it! I am noticing a trend with the newer Chinese dramas; the female leads are lovably strong, and the antagonist are more of the damsel in distress.

Oh boy, regarding Untamed! My review is on the second page (click on the link below). I tried watching Untamed 3 different times because of the reviews but I just couldn't. Read the comments under my review lol. I think the drama Untamed, is like the BTS of South Korea, I ought not to say anything negative or else people will be upset lol.
https://mydramalist.com/28723-the-untamed/reviews?sort=recent&page=2

I understand where you are coming from, although I respectfully disagree.

Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo is a drama focused on sports but it is still a romcom. The setting is at a college campus, in an environment where teamwork is idealized. How is physical abuse in this drama necessary? I can see it being necessary in historical dramas that are focused on politics, but not in this drama. Also, I think you may have misunderstood my original reply. I never wrote that I dropped the drama because of the toxicity. I wrote that I liked it less because of the normalized toxicity. After the female lead sick dad physically abuses his daughter for not gaining weight, and the issue leading up to this situation was resolved. No one in the drama addressed how the situation was poorly handled. The writers could have kept the scene and had the lead actor speak about how she felt after her dad treated her (e.g. I hate it when he hits me and diminishes me for my choices). I believe if there is toxicity in a drama, after the situation leading to the toxicity is handled, make it clear by writing it in the script and having the characters mention that the behavior was not okay. There's a way that movies and dramas can involve necessary toxicity, and still point out subliminally that what happened is not okay. This goes back to what I wrote before " I do believe to an extent authors and artist should be held responsible for their work, and the impact that it has on sociocultural values, and the lives of others. Instead of being able to freely produce content just to make tons of money, and not care how it impact different cultures, races, genders, and society."

NCBI( National Center for Biotechnology Information) is a well accredited research website in the USA. Below is a snippet of research that was done to see if exposure to violence in movies, impacts the brain and if so, how.

Url to the article: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2778277/

"A growing body of scientific literature documents the negative effects of exposure to violent media on children, adolescents, and adults. This work has been performed with diverse methods and samples, and the researchers have examined a broad range of both short- and long-term outcomes, consistently finding that exposure to violent video games, television, films,1 and music has been linked to increased aggression and violence.2,3 Taken together, a clear picture has emerged that exposure to violent media increases the likelihood of aggressive thoughts, emotions, and behavior.4–6 In addition, recent work has begun to extend our understanding of the effects of exposure to violent media in several ways. Experimental work has demonstrated that video game violence can lead not only to changes in attitudes and behavior but also to physiological desensitization, such that after playing violent video games, participants were less aroused by watching scenes of actual violence.7 Moreover, brain-imaging studies have suggested that a child's brain does not distinguish between real acts of violence and viewing media violence, and also that the “impact of [television] violence viewing may extend in time beyond the simple act of viewing [television] violence.”8 Therefore, even if children, on a conscious level, report knowing the difference between entertainment violence and real violence, their brains respond as if they were being exposed to a real threat. In addition, exposure to media violence may affect the development of other risk cognitions such as alcohol and marijuana use.9 Thus, the effects of viewing media violence may extend beyond aggressive behavior.

The weight of the scientific evidence has led organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Psychological Association, and the American Psychiatric Association to sign a joint statement on the negative effects of exposing children to media violence, which stated that “at this time, well over 1000 studies…point overwhelmingly to a causal connection between media violence and aggressive behavior in some children.”10

Given widespread agreement about the harmful effects of exposure to violent media, it is important to better understand from where the exposure comes. Studies on media violence have tended to focus on television shows2 and video games.9 Although the National Television Violence Study reported that 91% of the movies on television contained violence,11 beyond anecdotal reports12 we can find little empirical work published on adolescent exposure to movies that are rated R (under 17 requires accompanying parent or guardian) for violence. One recently published study estimated exposure of early adolescents in northern New England to violent movies and found it to be widespread, with extremely violent movies being seen, on average, by 28% of the sample.13 In this article we test the generalizability of this finding by reporting estimates of the percentage and number of early adolescents in the United States with exposure to extreme violence. We also describe characteristics of adolescents who are most likely to watch these movies and classify the different forms of graphic violence commonly portrayed in these movies."

I do agree that dramas have to have a level of toxicity in them because most stories/dramas are depicting events that has happened throughout history. However, in the drama Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo the toxic scenes were not needed and could have been replaced with less or no toxic scenes. When I rate a drama, and I decide to lower the rating I think about the storyline, and if whether or not the writer could have changed the scene, while still staying true to the story and character.

I disagree with you regarding the accountability of triggers. What if movies about rape became super popular world wide? Studies show that entertainment (e.g. movies, shows, books, video games, social media, etc) does alter the way that a person perceive truth. While older adults who are mentally sane, do have to be accountable for understanding what's acceptable based upon their culture, there are still a lot of young people who take in what's being shown, and because they are not emotionally intelligent, they are unable to separate the truth from a lie. I do believe to an extent authors and artist should be held responsible for their work, and the impact that it has on sociocultural values, and the lives of others. Instead of being able to freely produce content just to make tons of money, and not care how it impact different cultures, races, genders, and societies.

Btw, I am over 30 =)