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More C-drama, other thoughts
Went on to watch My Heroic Husband (trailer) while waiting for Word of Honor updates and it's... entertaining?
Ning Yi is supposedly a contemporary businessman that somehow gets hit on the head and wakes up in the body of Ning Yi, a poor scholar in Hengdian feudal China who is a 'zuixu' 赘婿, i.e. who 'marries into' the wife's family due to poverty. The set-up is undoubtedly sexist, and it's meant to be, with many digs being made at him being the son-in-law who lives with his wife's family (and similar digs made at his friends who are in the same position), and his business accumen is supposed to all the more surprising because of this. The implication being that since he's so capable, he shouldn't have had to 'lower' his position to be a 'zuixu' in the first place. Hmmm. The patriarchy is still there but we're supposed to ignore it. There's some mockery in the way that he's initially meant to be in a subservient position but later as he triumphs, he 'regains' his position. *sigh*
(For the most part, Ning Yi seems to be uncharacteristically accepting - uncharacteristic because being a 'zuixu' is meant to be something embarrassing in feudal times - by his role, either because he's just so shocked to be reborn as Ning Yi or his psyche is essentially that of a modern, enlightened male* who is unbothered by the loss of his alpha male status, etc, etc. Hah, right. I go along with it because the pace of the drama is quite fast and distracts you from dwelling on this, and also the tone is mostly lighthearted enough that I take it as harmless entertainment. But it's there. What is also charming - and I'm sure it's meant to come across as such, not that I disapprove - is that as the modern, enlightened male who is respectful of females, Ning Yi doesn't harass Su Tan-er, his wife and the two don't consummate the marriage until much later when they have come to know and like each other.)
I really enjoyed it for the first 20 episodes or so, when the excitement was all about making century eggs (ikr ^___^) and outfoxing your business rivals, etc. Then they went to a whole other arc of encountering bandits who sacked the city they had travelled to, and Ning Yi, since he's just a genius, is forced to become the strategist for the bandits. Later in the arc presumably he manages to defeat them; I haven't got that far yet. It's annoying. I mean, I get that you have to raise the stakes somehow to show that the male lead is meant for bigger things and they managed to ratchet up the tension but... I was here for 'merchant strategises and comes out on top', not 'merchant becomes saviour'. I dunno. I've stopped watching halfway through because lack of time, and also waiting for iQiyi to release more episodes. I'll see if I can catch up over the weekend.
Speaking of male-male interactions (and btw, My Heroic Husband is a very male-intense, albeit heterosexual-only show: about 70% of the characters are male), I was still squeeing over Word of Honor and vaguely wondering how HiStory4 was going to stack up, since WoH is doing its best to show that the main leads are clearly a pair so in one way, it's as explicit as we get - in jianghu at least.
Then I caught HiStory4 trailer (beware spoilers). And I was wrong, okay? Going by the trailer, HiStory4 is loads better in acknowledging male-male attraction, being gay, stress of coming out, family tensions, society expectations, and changing relationships, romantic and friendship and familial. It's still rather idealised - it's BL after all - but at least I didn't have to keep raising my eyebrows at every instance of 'we're bros' and 'we're soulmates' and mentally do the nudge-wink 'actually this means they're into each other' interpretation for them**. But of course, HiStory4 is a Taiwanese production and they don't have to fear China's censorship***. I was just smiling dreamily while watching the trailer without even realising it. I watched it twice in a row, which I hardly ever do. OMG. I need it now like chocolate****. Of course, it's just the trailer and caution is called for. My expectations may be dashed. Drama aside, anyone remembers HiStory3: Makes Our Days Count? >__< Yeah.
*Male leads in China dramas, if they're meant to be good guys, are typically modern, 'enlightened', i.e. they treat women as equals, say something vaguely feminist, support women's goals and even though this is objectively a good thing, I'm usually rolling my eyes - realistically it doesn't ring true. It's so damning to say, but I'd expect a leetle sexism or just a tiny bit of toxic masculinity at least because that's just the way the world is, especially when the male lead has led his life triumphing over other males (like, the whole boardroom is male) and most of the women in his life have played only supporting roles as mother, girlfriend, wife, secretaries, junior staff, etc. I mean, a background like this doesn't typically make a man assume that the next woman he meets will be a leader of men. He may not be a prejudiced or sexist person, but it's simply not the first thing that will leap to his mind, I daresay. I may be underestimating the men in China, I admit... (ETA for clarification)
**A common way of discussing male/male relationships in China-made dramas is to simply frame it as 'who's the wifey, who's the husband, and these are their children': see, they are a family unit and so it must be okay! Is it just me? I mean, *sigh*. Not that everyone does it, but it happens often enough. It was irritating for the Untamed and just as annoying in WoH. Not everything has to follow the great heteronormative.
***Yet another reason I can never see the point of 'Taiwan is part of China' narrative. It rings falser and falser with every turn that Taiwan takes. Politics aside...
****I should add that I'm still thoroughly stuck on Word of Honor because pretty, and secondly I do love a good plotty jianghu yarn, full of fantastic kungfu, eccentric old men in mountains, secrets from the past and intensely loyal male-male friendships (though no doubt we can do a pretty good homosocial reading of the characters' feelings) AND long-suffering characters plotting to avenge their parents' deaths, etc, etc. It's the stuff of wuxia, and I eat that up with a spoon. But HiStory4!!!!!
Ning Yi is supposedly a contemporary businessman that somehow gets hit on the head and wakes up in the body of Ning Yi, a poor scholar in Hengdian feudal China who is a 'zuixu' 赘婿, i.e. who 'marries into' the wife's family due to poverty. The set-up is undoubtedly sexist, and it's meant to be, with many digs being made at him being the son-in-law who lives with his wife's family (and similar digs made at his friends who are in the same position), and his business accumen is supposed to all the more surprising because of this. The implication being that since he's so capable, he shouldn't have had to 'lower' his position to be a 'zuixu' in the first place. Hmmm. The patriarchy is still there but we're supposed to ignore it. There's some mockery in the way that he's initially meant to be in a subservient position but later as he triumphs, he 'regains' his position. *sigh*
(For the most part, Ning Yi seems to be uncharacteristically accepting - uncharacteristic because being a 'zuixu' is meant to be something embarrassing in feudal times - by his role, either because he's just so shocked to be reborn as Ning Yi or his psyche is essentially that of a modern, enlightened male* who is unbothered by the loss of his alpha male status, etc, etc. Hah, right. I go along with it because the pace of the drama is quite fast and distracts you from dwelling on this, and also the tone is mostly lighthearted enough that I take it as harmless entertainment. But it's there. What is also charming - and I'm sure it's meant to come across as such, not that I disapprove - is that as the modern, enlightened male who is respectful of females, Ning Yi doesn't harass Su Tan-er, his wife and the two don't consummate the marriage until much later when they have come to know and like each other.)
I really enjoyed it for the first 20 episodes or so, when the excitement was all about making century eggs (ikr ^___^) and outfoxing your business rivals, etc. Then they went to a whole other arc of encountering bandits who sacked the city they had travelled to, and Ning Yi, since he's just a genius, is forced to become the strategist for the bandits. Later in the arc presumably he manages to defeat them; I haven't got that far yet. It's annoying. I mean, I get that you have to raise the stakes somehow to show that the male lead is meant for bigger things and they managed to ratchet up the tension but... I was here for 'merchant strategises and comes out on top', not 'merchant becomes saviour'. I dunno. I've stopped watching halfway through because lack of time, and also waiting for iQiyi to release more episodes. I'll see if I can catch up over the weekend.
Speaking of male-male interactions (and btw, My Heroic Husband is a very male-intense, albeit heterosexual-only show: about 70% of the characters are male), I was still squeeing over Word of Honor and vaguely wondering how HiStory4 was going to stack up, since WoH is doing its best to show that the main leads are clearly a pair so in one way, it's as explicit as we get - in jianghu at least.
Then I caught HiStory4 trailer (beware spoilers). And I was wrong, okay? Going by the trailer, HiStory4 is loads better in acknowledging male-male attraction, being gay, stress of coming out, family tensions, society expectations, and changing relationships, romantic and friendship and familial. It's still rather idealised - it's BL after all - but at least I didn't have to keep raising my eyebrows at every instance of 'we're bros' and 'we're soulmates' and mentally do the nudge-wink 'actually this means they're into each other' interpretation for them**. But of course, HiStory4 is a Taiwanese production and they don't have to fear China's censorship***. I was just smiling dreamily while watching the trailer without even realising it. I watched it twice in a row, which I hardly ever do. OMG. I need it now like chocolate****. Of course, it's just the trailer and caution is called for. My expectations may be dashed. Drama aside, anyone remembers HiStory3: Makes Our Days Count? >__< Yeah.
*Male leads in China dramas, if they're meant to be good guys, are typically modern, 'enlightened', i.e. they treat women as equals, say something vaguely feminist, support women's goals and even though this is objectively a good thing, I'm usually rolling my eyes - realistically it doesn't ring true. It's so damning to say, but I'd expect a leetle sexism or just a tiny bit of toxic masculinity at least because that's just the way the world is, especially when the male lead has led his life triumphing over other males (like, the whole boardroom is male) and most of the women in his life have played only supporting roles as mother, girlfriend, wife, secretaries, junior staff, etc. I mean, a background like this doesn't typically make a man assume that the next woman he meets will be a leader of men. He may not be a prejudiced or sexist person, but it's simply not the first thing that will leap to his mind, I daresay. I may be underestimating the men in China, I admit... (ETA for clarification)
**A common way of discussing male/male relationships in China-made dramas is to simply frame it as 'who's the wifey, who's the husband, and these are their children': see, they are a family unit and so it must be okay! Is it just me? I mean, *sigh*. Not that everyone does it, but it happens often enough. It was irritating for the Untamed and just as annoying in WoH. Not everything has to follow the great heteronormative.
***Yet another reason I can never see the point of 'Taiwan is part of China' narrative. It rings falser and falser with every turn that Taiwan takes. Politics aside...
****I should add that I'm still thoroughly stuck on Word of Honor because pretty, and secondly I do love a good plotty jianghu yarn, full of fantastic kungfu, eccentric old men in mountains, secrets from the past and intensely loyal male-male friendships (though no doubt we can do a pretty good homosocial reading of the characters' feelings) AND long-suffering characters plotting to avenge their parents' deaths, etc, etc. It's the stuff of wuxia, and I eat that up with a spoon. But HiStory4!!!!!
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I've not yet tried any of the HiStory shows. Hmmmm....
Thanks for writing this up!
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thanks for the rec :D