First of all – Thank you so much jyl / timeinthegray from sphere of gray for nominating me! Sorry for the lateness since I haven’t been in the mood to watch anything (except for fun episodes of Pleasantly Surprised / BFB) since Occupy Central happened. And I’m such a badass (not!) for breaking the rules. 😛 Sorry.
The Questions:
1. How were you introduced to dramas?
I wasn’t really one of those people who grew up watching TVB Dramas because when I lived in HK, I was only a kid who watched cartoons LOL. (I did remember one or two TVB dramas from my childhood, but that’s about it.) After I moved to Australia my family don’t rent tapes (remember them?) either… so friends would lend them to us so we watched maybe 3 or 4 per year.
For Taiwanese dramas though, I had a friend who was a huge Zai Zai / F4 fan so she introduced me to them. I think it was around 2006 since my first TW drama was Silence.
2. Which do you prefer: the marathon or the live watch?
I think I prefer to marathon. It’s hard to keep up the interest / momentum especially with weekly dramas. I also have a bad memory which doesn’t help. Even for dailies I prefer to watch maybe 2 to 3 episodes at a time.
3. What is the most important life lesson you’ve learned from watching dramas?
Most of my legal ‘knowledge’ probably came from 10+ seasons of Law & Order rather than my studies. Hrm. Is that a life lesson? In general though, maybe I just watch too much fluff to take anything profound away from dramas.
4. What is your go-to form of entertainment when you’re experiencing a drama slump?
Is fangirling a form of entertainment? Or watch variety shows. Less commitment and a bit of stress relief. Or random episodes of Law & Order. I’m weird like that.
5. As drama viewers, we sometimes experience something called Second-Lead Syndrome, wherein we “ship” a protagonist with a supporting character rather than the destined co-star. Oftentimes it is the second male lead we support in his pursuit of the heroine, and rarely do we ever root for the second female lead as a potential companion for the hero. What’s your take on this trend?
I’m not a drama expert, and because historically I’ve watched more HK dramas (where idol dramas are rare), the Second-Lead Syndrome is less obvious. Since HK dramas are more ‘rounded’ (whether it’s a police drama with a romantic storyline, or more family / business oriented), the romantic entanglements are often secondary to the main storyline. The main couple is not as clear cut as idol dramas. So Second Leads often find their happiness with someone else… or they do end up with the main character.
But in actual answer to the question – I think it has a lot to do with perceptions / traditional roles of men and women. The Asian culture (in general, or if you ask my mother) expects the man to take the initiative and be the pursuer. So whatever he does is more ‘noble’ or ‘justified’ than the second female lead if she takes the initiative.
The other thing I don’t know whether it has anything to do with this is the majority of idol drama viewers / bloggers are female (?). Even on a subconscious level you’re naturally going to think in the mindset of the female lead. eg. If a guy did this for me I would be so touched! But if it was the second female lead it’ll come across as competition? eg. How dare she does XYZ to steal him! I don’t know.
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