Chatty about Silence
Jul. 31st, 2006 07:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dangermousieI've started out watching Silence on youtube. It's a Taiwanese drama that really feels quite Victorian. The heroine of the story, Shen Shen, is a half-Korean girl who has been mute since a childhood accident (she looks about 12 at the time of when this happened). She was in a severe bus wreck and the fright made her mute (it's a psychological condition. It's certainly real as I had that when I was a kid. Mine went away after speech therapy and a couple of weeks, hers lasts into adulthood). When she was in the hospital recuperating, she met and made friends with a boy who was on crutches, Wei Yi. Both of them felt alien so bonded with each other and even fell into a childhood sweethearts type thing, very Victorian. He didn't know she was mute, and he only knew her Korean name. Oh, and he left her his phone number but even if she could call, she's lost it.
When the proper story starts, Shen Shen is a grown-up woman, living with her loving family, sunny and unretiring, and not cowed by her handicap. Her father figure gets fired by the young, icy CEO of a company he's worked at for years and ShenShen crosses the man's path as she tries to get him to rehire Uncle. And it goes from there. Of course, the CEO in question is the grown-up Wei Yi. But neither of them know of the fact.
It is so freaking good! And it's the first dorama where I like all the clothes, even when the characters aren't wearing suits. I do find it interesting how many of these doramas seem to deal with alienation, one way or another. It's very blatant there, with child Wei Yi calling himself a Martian and child Shen Shen thinking she could only bond with an alien, no human being, but I've seen it plenty in other doramas, from Mars to Long Vacation to Meteor Garden. Interesting.
I really love that Shen Shen is that very overused word, spunky. Yes, she is handicapped, but she enjoys life and she is warm and fun. Which is something that will probably come in pretty handy to Wei Yi, whose family seems quite dysfunctional. His father is a workaholic who is emotionally abusive to his wife, and WeiYi himself seems set to follow his father's footsteps. The family atmosphere at that house is quite different from the small and happy place Shen Shen lives at.
ShenShen is adorable. I just want to hug her and cosset her and eeeeee.
I was cracking up at Shen Shen (who sells noodles at a stall) taking left-over noodles and pouring them on Wei Yi's car. "I am treating you to dinner." And the whole comedic cute scene that followed. Wei Yi is not the nicest person ever but you really do see glimmers of someone who is not his father in him: he barks orders at people but he looks ridiculously boyish when texting his girlfriend. He is just as amused as he is annoyed by Shen Shen. This is a guy who doesn't have much fun. And I love that after driving her to the top of a mountain and telling her she has to walk down, when push comes to shove he offers her a ride and then after she refuses he sends a taxi to pick her up. There is niceness in him and someone needs to bring it out. Geeee, I wonder who it will be. Though he does have a gf who is really approved by his father, so it won't be fun. Why am I getting a doleful feeling that Wei Yi will die and Shen Shen will end hiding her broken heart in the manly bosom of her quasi-brother who so clearly adores her. Boooo. Hopefully not.
OMG! He (Wei Yi) kept that same phone number all those years! He chose it for his cell after they changed the house number, just in case she'll call. Meeeeeeelt.
ETA: Oh Noez! This is a 30-ep series. How fast do they show these? If it's once a week and it started in May, I'll be 90 by the time it's done.
When the proper story starts, Shen Shen is a grown-up woman, living with her loving family, sunny and unretiring, and not cowed by her handicap. Her father figure gets fired by the young, icy CEO of a company he's worked at for years and ShenShen crosses the man's path as she tries to get him to rehire Uncle. And it goes from there. Of course, the CEO in question is the grown-up Wei Yi. But neither of them know of the fact.
It is so freaking good! And it's the first dorama where I like all the clothes, even when the characters aren't wearing suits. I do find it interesting how many of these doramas seem to deal with alienation, one way or another. It's very blatant there, with child Wei Yi calling himself a Martian and child Shen Shen thinking she could only bond with an alien, no human being, but I've seen it plenty in other doramas, from Mars to Long Vacation to Meteor Garden. Interesting.
I really love that Shen Shen is that very overused word, spunky. Yes, she is handicapped, but she enjoys life and she is warm and fun. Which is something that will probably come in pretty handy to Wei Yi, whose family seems quite dysfunctional. His father is a workaholic who is emotionally abusive to his wife, and WeiYi himself seems set to follow his father's footsteps. The family atmosphere at that house is quite different from the small and happy place Shen Shen lives at.
ShenShen is adorable. I just want to hug her and cosset her and eeeeee.
I was cracking up at Shen Shen (who sells noodles at a stall) taking left-over noodles and pouring them on Wei Yi's car. "I am treating you to dinner." And the whole comedic cute scene that followed. Wei Yi is not the nicest person ever but you really do see glimmers of someone who is not his father in him: he barks orders at people but he looks ridiculously boyish when texting his girlfriend. He is just as amused as he is annoyed by Shen Shen. This is a guy who doesn't have much fun. And I love that after driving her to the top of a mountain and telling her she has to walk down, when push comes to shove he offers her a ride and then after she refuses he sends a taxi to pick her up. There is niceness in him and someone needs to bring it out. Geeee, I wonder who it will be. Though he does have a gf who is really approved by his father, so it won't be fun. Why am I getting a doleful feeling that Wei Yi will die and Shen Shen will end hiding her broken heart in the manly bosom of her quasi-brother who so clearly adores her. Boooo. Hopefully not.
OMG! He (Wei Yi) kept that same phone number all those years! He chose it for his cell after they changed the house number, just in case she'll call. Meeeeeeelt.
ETA: Oh Noez! This is a 30-ep series. How fast do they show these? If it's once a week and it started in May, I'll be 90 by the time it's done.
