Hating On Chinese Dramas
I have so much hatred and scorn for Chinese television dramas, on Cable. In any and all genres and time periods which they choose to portray. And by that, I met Chinese language dramas from China, not dubbed Taiwan or Hong Kong or Korean or Japanese offerings (They have another place of scorn all by themselves).
This all stems from Dad - who is now retired and staying at home - who constantly watches Chinese language programs. From the morning, to the last channel at night. Sure, in-between there might be other channels and languages, and I even manage to slip in some DVD-movies once in a while when Dad goes out, but generally I listen to more Chinese than I ever had in my entire life, adult or otherwise.
It's not that I dislike the Chinese language - I speak it myself at home, and sometimes with friends. And while my command of Mandarin is pedestrian and simply at best, and mainly orally (can't write for poop and can hardly read it, to the dismay of my Chinese Educated Parents, perhaps ;p), it is still "Singapore-Mandarin", which essentially means it is halfassed but somehow mild and monotonous, which admittedly, is fine by me and my standard of conversation, anyways.
Ironically, as a Chinese first born in Singapore, I literally think in English and am more comfortable speaking in English (NOT spectacular English, I might add lol), and am constantly frustrated by my lack of ability to speak or write or read Chinese hahahaha
The thing about Chinese Dramas from China, are that the actors/actresses EMOTE to the EXTREME. When they cry, the tears are torrential with agony on their faces, it looks as if life on Earth is at an end … and when they argue, they shout with such intensity, my eardrums vibrate. When they fight, is is likened to two wild animals screaming at each other, and the face-slaps are so visceral, it literally "hurts" from where I am sitting, I shit you not.
And this happens with such ridiculous regularity, it has become a bane to my existence. Even right now - as I am typing this - two "soldiers" in a period drama, are cussing at each other with so much venom, it's like stabbing butter-knives down my spine.
Imagine "Stage Drama", where actors emote with more intensity than whispers in feature films - to compensate the distance and sensory absorption of the audience - and now have a camera doing a close-up of their actions and audio. Dammit I can feel their spit on my face.
And while I cannot fault them for being totally absorbed in their roles - they are after all acting their guts out instead of phoning it in - the negative energy I receive, is unnerving. Somedays they really screw up my temperament for the day, somedays, they take away the smile from a decent nights' sleep.
I blog a mere distance away from the telly. Not more than 10 meters apart, and buffered by a pair of earphones, in an attempt to help keep my sanity at bay. I do not always like to have a pair of earphones on. I value silence more than anyone suspects, especially in the mornings. Personal-quirks aside, I really do not have much of a reprieve nor ability to change my lot in life right now.
Moving into my bedroom to work is not a real option for the time being, and having my own office space away from home, has become such a pipe-dream of immense proportions, it is tragic, comparable to me falling victim to Stroke (...okay, I exaggerate a bit here ;p).
Having this much scorn for the first entry in this new personal blog of mine, was never the intention. But then again, the intention was to blog about my life - the good and bad - so this'll work as good as any a first post, I reckon.
Now to go put on my earphones, and listen to Journey's Greatest Hits again for the umpteenth time, and hoping my Friday can cruise to a better calm sometime soon…
This all stems from Dad - who is now retired and staying at home - who constantly watches Chinese language programs. From the morning, to the last channel at night. Sure, in-between there might be other channels and languages, and I even manage to slip in some DVD-movies once in a while when Dad goes out, but generally I listen to more Chinese than I ever had in my entire life, adult or otherwise.
It's not that I dislike the Chinese language - I speak it myself at home, and sometimes with friends. And while my command of Mandarin is pedestrian and simply at best, and mainly orally (can't write for poop and can hardly read it, to the dismay of my Chinese Educated Parents, perhaps ;p), it is still "Singapore-Mandarin", which essentially means it is halfassed but somehow mild and monotonous, which admittedly, is fine by me and my standard of conversation, anyways.
Ironically, as a Chinese first born in Singapore, I literally think in English and am more comfortable speaking in English (NOT spectacular English, I might add lol), and am constantly frustrated by my lack of ability to speak or write or read Chinese hahahaha
The thing about Chinese Dramas from China, are that the actors/actresses EMOTE to the EXTREME. When they cry, the tears are torrential with agony on their faces, it looks as if life on Earth is at an end … and when they argue, they shout with such intensity, my eardrums vibrate. When they fight, is is likened to two wild animals screaming at each other, and the face-slaps are so visceral, it literally "hurts" from where I am sitting, I shit you not.
And this happens with such ridiculous regularity, it has become a bane to my existence. Even right now - as I am typing this - two "soldiers" in a period drama, are cussing at each other with so much venom, it's like stabbing butter-knives down my spine.
Imagine "Stage Drama", where actors emote with more intensity than whispers in feature films - to compensate the distance and sensory absorption of the audience - and now have a camera doing a close-up of their actions and audio. Dammit I can feel their spit on my face.
And while I cannot fault them for being totally absorbed in their roles - they are after all acting their guts out instead of phoning it in - the negative energy I receive, is unnerving. Somedays they really screw up my temperament for the day, somedays, they take away the smile from a decent nights' sleep.
I blog a mere distance away from the telly. Not more than 10 meters apart, and buffered by a pair of earphones, in an attempt to help keep my sanity at bay. I do not always like to have a pair of earphones on. I value silence more than anyone suspects, especially in the mornings. Personal-quirks aside, I really do not have much of a reprieve nor ability to change my lot in life right now.
Moving into my bedroom to work is not a real option for the time being, and having my own office space away from home, has become such a pipe-dream of immense proportions, it is tragic, comparable to me falling victim to Stroke (...okay, I exaggerate a bit here ;p).
Having this much scorn for the first entry in this new personal blog of mine, was never the intention. But then again, the intention was to blog about my life - the good and bad - so this'll work as good as any a first post, I reckon.
Now to go put on my earphones, and listen to Journey's Greatest Hits again for the umpteenth time, and hoping my Friday can cruise to a better calm sometime soon…
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