I understand what you're saying but the problem with it as a narrative choice is that it perpetuates so many harmful myths about a very serious subject. Even XS's reaction hints that some people may "secretly have wanted it." In 2021, I just don't think the subject should be portrayed as anything other than the heinous crime that it is.
YJ already had troubling issues with antisocial behaviour and boundary issues. They were enough to work with. Adding rape to the list wasn't a necessary choice and it serves to only make the character even more dislikable.
They didn't romanticise it at all. it was definitely the opposite. Xing Si literally went home crying and his…
No it wasn't. The half assed discussion before Yong Jie made his move? The string accompaniment? How blatant of an attempt at romanticisation did it have to be? As for the follow up: Xing Si's friends should have hauled Xing Si and that boy to the nearest police station to file rape charges.
QUOTE from wei ying lover: "Come on guys, be chill. This is a fun series and it is probably going to be HE, so don't take everything in a -ve way. The director may have done this to spice up the drama."
Can you explain to me how "fun" the topic of rape is?
Right. So, Yong Jie gets Xing Si drunk with the express intent to have sex with him. None of the "conversation" before hand negates that it constituted rape. The deliberate use of a mood altering substance; be it rohypnol, alcohol, or any other substance to manufacture the illusion of consent or solicit participation is criminal. Further, the next day, Yong Jie tells Xing Si "whether you like it or not, having you forever is my gift to myself."
I was willing to go along with the notion of Yong Jie being having some sort of mental health and boundary issues, but this crossed a line. Unless this series has the guts to handle and address this for the crime it was, I won't be able to continue watching it. Rape is not a necessary component of a narrative unless the narrative follows up with the consequences. Yong Jie was messed up as it was, but now...
And what the hell was that garbage Li Cheng and Mu Ren were spouting about the bottom being the one in power?! That's some seriously messed up thinking.
I've cried with almost every episode since the third one. Sometimes they've been tears of sadness, sometimes they've…
I agree. Earth and Mix were set aside so that we could see Phupha and Tian come to life. I'm sure this series will do much for the two of them, as actors.
My primary interest is in BL stories and the majority of the shows I watch are BLs. I haven't been much involved with Korean dramas. I do like horror stories, though, and was getting into this show for that reason.
I have to be honest and say that I find aspects of Korean culture mystifying, like the furors that occur among the Korean internet community. There's an air of hyper-vigilance and instances of mob mentality that really lack perspective. Their entertainment industry is under a scrutiny like I've never seen while actual societal issues in S. Korea can all too often be overlooked or ignored. I just don't get it...
At 53, I see both of them as having something to learn from the other...Thus far, Tian has acted impulsively to…
LOL: thanks!
I've only started watching BLs this year, due largely to the fact that I'm home alone a lot because of Covid restrictions here, in Canada.
I had been hesitating for a long time because I knew about the Japanese YAOI manga genre that they have evolved from and I was a bit concerned about the limited scope and almost fetishisation of gay men and love that I had seen in some of those works. I was also hesitant because I knew that the primary demographic that BLs are targeted to are pre-teen and teenaged girls. I don't have a problem with that but I was concerned that they wouldn't really have much to offer to me as a gay man in his 50s. (As opposed to LGBTQ cinema from around the world, which I've been watching since 1984, when I was 17...)
It's been a real pleasure to find shows that don't play to just young girls. More and more, it seems, the people writing and making BL shows seem to see that there is a broader audience they can reach. (Especially true in Thailand, the Philippines, and Taiwan. Japanese productions still seem more traditionally formulaic and S. Korea is still so strongly conservative toward LGBTQ+ issues to offer much more than rather bland fluff with their series. I stay away from mainland Chinese productions made after the PRC started neutering characters. I just don't feel right giving my tacit approval to that by watching.)
So far, it's been a really entertaining and rewarding journey! I've seen some series that I've really loved, and it's peaked for me with 1000 Stars. This show, to me, isn't just a great BL. It's the gift of a fairytale love story between two men such as I've never seen.
Like you, though, I do tend to value plot, tone, and good acting, over chemistry and "cuteness"...
I agree about the quality of ATOTS; it is top-notch. That said, felt the pain more in ITSAY. (Translation: cried…
I liked ITSAY but i wasn't as keen as most. People have commented that this show's episode 8 was too melodramatic: I found that to be the case with ITSAY. My own emotions kept getting short-circuited because I was agog at how overplayed I found the characters' reactions: Yes, I mean the ugly crying. That's not meant as a slight to anyone who loves the show, though.
ATOTS tops the list for me as I view this series not just as a fine BL, but also as a special gift from P'Aof to the gay community for providing us with our first gay fairytale romance. I've never seen anything so touching and tender involving two men.
Tbh it is a kind of job decsription for him. He could have taken that bullet for just about anyone.
Agreed. (Now don't drop dead of shock that we can agree on something. If you look at my posts for this series, you might see that I'm not the single-note poster you may believe me to be.)
YJ already had troubling issues with antisocial behaviour and boundary issues. They were enough to work with. Adding rape to the list wasn't a necessary choice and it serves to only make the character even more dislikable.
Can you explain to me how "fun" the topic of rape is?
I was willing to go along with the notion of Yong Jie being having some sort of mental health and boundary issues, but this crossed a line. Unless this series has the guts to handle and address this for the crime it was, I won't be able to continue watching it. Rape is not a necessary component of a narrative unless the narrative follows up with the consequences. Yong Jie was messed up as it was, but now...
And what the hell was that garbage Li Cheng and Mu Ren were spouting about the bottom being the one in power?! That's some seriously messed up thinking.
I have to be honest and say that I find aspects of Korean culture mystifying, like the furors that occur among the Korean internet community. There's an air of hyper-vigilance and instances of mob mentality that really lack perspective. Their entertainment industry is under a scrutiny like I've never seen while actual societal issues in S. Korea can all too often be overlooked or ignored. I just don't get it...
I've only started watching BLs this year, due largely to the fact that I'm home alone a lot because of Covid restrictions here, in Canada.
I had been hesitating for a long time because I knew about the Japanese YAOI manga genre that they have evolved from and I was a bit concerned about the limited scope and almost fetishisation of gay men and love that I had seen in some of those works. I was also hesitant because I knew that the primary demographic that BLs are targeted to are pre-teen and teenaged girls. I don't have a problem with that but I was concerned that they wouldn't really have much to offer to me as a gay man in his 50s. (As opposed to LGBTQ cinema from around the world, which I've been watching since 1984, when I was 17...)
It's been a real pleasure to find shows that don't play to just young girls. More and more, it seems, the people writing and making BL shows seem to see that there is a broader audience they can reach. (Especially true in Thailand, the Philippines, and Taiwan. Japanese productions still seem more traditionally formulaic and S. Korea is still so strongly conservative toward LGBTQ+ issues to offer much more than rather bland fluff with their series. I stay away from mainland Chinese productions made after the PRC started neutering characters. I just don't feel right giving my tacit approval to that by watching.)
So far, it's been a really entertaining and rewarding journey! I've seen some series that I've really loved, and it's peaked for me with 1000 Stars. This show, to me, isn't just a great BL. It's the gift of a fairytale love story between two men such as I've never seen.
Like you, though, I do tend to value plot, tone, and good acting, over chemistry and "cuteness"...
ATOTS tops the list for me as I view this series not just as a fine BL, but also as a special gift from P'Aof to the gay community for providing us with our first gay fairytale romance. I've never seen anything so touching and tender involving two men.