By Sophia Jy Chen Lin
The once- upon- a- time fairy tale no longer begins with a beautifully charming young ladyprincess who makes the prince fall in love with her with her rosy cheeks and watery blue eyes. That is all too shallowvery shallow and out of dateobsolete. We all know that a relationship based solely on appearance cannot hold out for so long. Therefore, the writers for Taiwan’s “notoriously famous” idol dramas have different ideas. To make this love-of-a-lifetimeonce-in-a-lifetime love creditable, this girl has to be very special. She can’t be stunningly beautiful (of course the actress herself is always attractive) because since this guy is such a prince charming, he’s ALREADY besieged with femme fatale girls. Instead, the girl is usually in these situations: poverty (the most common status, although she could be wealthy at first but then must go through bankruptcy with absconded or otherwise missing parents), or illness (either an intermittent condition such as asthma that gives her attacks from time to time, or an almost incurable one, usually a heart problem). Nonetheless, but no worries, any illness will be cured after she meets the guy; he will look through all the medical books and find a cure for her. And if the poor girl has to go through cancer, it always comes after she finds her true love. Other situations might be stupidity (compared withto her future genius boyfriend), having sick or no parents, or having awful rustic country manners. Situations vary from one to another, but in every idol drama the girl is always in an inferior situation situation which gives room for allows the guy to come to her rescue. However, these miserable girls all follow the Disney prototype — innocent as Snow White and emotionally strong as Cinderella — combined with characteristics of a modern womaen: independent, self-sufficient, and while everything is crumbling falling apart around them nothing can ever take away their perennial smiles, their unrelenting passion for life, and of course, their fierce persistent belief in true love. This is what makes her stand out from from all the other superficial bimbos beleaguering the handsome guy, and what makes this affluent, usually a spendthrift, charming “prince” give her a few special glances and eventually fall insanely in love with her. Now, here these dramas follow the great Pride and Prejudice plotline, where, no offense to Darcy and Lizzi fans, the girl ineffectively fights off her destined true love for a while, but alas, in vain, for they are not meant to be together. However, Taiwan’s idol dramas pick up where P&P’s ending has left off, and here is where all the icky factors come into play. Hemingway has pointed out the obvious: all sunshine without shade, all pleasure without pain, is not life at all. Therefore, the shade and pain come in the forms of illness, bankruptcy, former jilted lovers, or anything that compels the guy to make a clean break with the girl. Supposedly, the girl should be strong enough to get over this little break-up, since she has just come through so many calamities with steely resolve, remember? Unfortunately, her true love has transformed her into a dependent, “can’t-live-without-him” girl who might still have steely resolve, but it is a resolve solely on winning him back despite all the cruel things he has said to ward her off. Thus, our little heroine waits outside his house in the pouring rain without an umbrella, chases his limousine at the risk of having another heart or asthma attack, goes to his family meeting or press conference declaring her love yet earns even more venomous insults; it has all become a little unbearable to watch. But what about the guy? He mercilessly shuts the door or asks the driver to drive on while maudlin tears trickle down his cheeks. But what can he do? He can’t give her happiness anymore! While the storyline seems to be hitting a dead-end, some miracles, or deus ex machina will certainly come into playcome in to their rescu, and after a few blocks of slow-motion running or rushing to the airport on the guy’s part, the story resolves as the two love birds find themselves in each other’s arms, kissing fervently, swearing that nothing will ever separate them again. Yeah, well, it’s all very romantic, yet it is also a chimera with regard to the story itself and to the way the girl is depicted. She is a ridiculously monstrous combination of an innocent, fragile “little-boy-baby-face” and a pure noble Agnes, who, metaphorically at least, has an enormously strong heart. Why are female characters always so fragile and inferiorabject? Why does the formula always haves to be some combination of thegenius doctor and stupid nurse, the heartthrob superstar and the pedestrian defected girl, or the charming prodigal multimillionaire and his poor thrifty steadfast classmate? Because otherwise there would be be no room for a heroic masculine rescue. But why does the girl need to be rescued? And even if she does, can’t she just rescue herself? For the most part, in real life prince charmings rarely come; waiting for them to set us free is far less realistic and efficient than saving ourselves. Who says girls can’t be as smart and as strong as men are? Girls can ride the white horse, too. Well, obviously, the writers of Taiwan’s idol dramas don’t see it that way. They not only make the girl weak, they also try to make her as innocent as possible. She must represent a “pristine wonderland” where every man is dying to go and also dying to protect. Ok. This girl who is absurdly innocent to the extent of stupidity does need men’s protection. But what happened to the the girl who used to be so brave that nothing could ever knock bring her down? Unfortunately, after her “true love” rampages into her life, causing her irreparable damage, she’s that once strong superwoman is gone. What’s left is a miserable needy pet that depends on her boyfriend for everything. Her former personality has disappeared so completely it makes people wonder whether the writers suffer from amnesia. Perhaps they want to have the girl repeatedly show that the love is so profound that he is indispensable to her. However, this argument proves untenable, since in reality no one “can’t live” without somebody. Losing a lover can be hard, but we always find a way to go move on until another prince charming comes along. Waiting in the rain until he changes his mindturns back? Have some dignity! I know what you are thinking, “Jeez, that girl is wreckage. I am definitely not like her.” Although you watch these idol dramas all the time, you think you are lucid enough not to be influenced. However, these idol dramas are actually magical and powerful enough to find a way to sneak creep into our minds and influence brainwash us. We have all secretly thought that the cutest guy in class is in love with us but now he’s just pretending to be aloof. Then, strolling under the moonlight, we’ve wished this most “perfect guy on earth” would unexpectedly hold our tiny little hands in the dark, or even better, push us violently against the wall, followed with an incendiary kiss. When we are pining for them in the middle of an enervating lecture, we expect them to “coincidentally” text us a passionate love message. After a few years, we would like to find a wedding ring in a neatly decorated cake in a fancy restaurant. At last, despite all the scars and wounds from previous relationships, we still want to believe that true love exists and that it will find a way to come to us, someday, one day. Does all of this rings a bell? Yeah, it all happens in idol dramas. It’’s fine to have a nice little fantasy, but in at the end of the day, just remember to come back to Earth and realizeknowing that anybody can be a princess, but not everyone has to be. And being a princess, you can still slay your own dragon, dream your own dream, and set yourself free. a
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The Taida Student Journal has been active since 1995 with an ever-changing roster of student journalists at NTU. Click the above link to read about the authors Archives
May 2024
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