Drama Tea<p><strong>Perfect Match – is it as bad as people say?</strong></p><p>So, I watched the first two episodes of <em>Perfect Match</em>. I’m the sort of person who is more motivated to watch a drama if people talk badly about it—I’ll check it out just out of curiosity. Initially, I didn’t feel I’d be watching it because a drama primarily about romance isn’t my kind of thing, but after hearing all the hullabaloo on Reddit and xiaohongshu about it, I wanted to see for myself whether it was as misogynistic as people claim.</p><p>I actually like the drama’s concept: A gaggle of sisters arrive in town with their eccentric mother who is determined to marry them off to good husbands. Very <em>Pride and Prejudice</em>, which is my all-time favourite Jane Austen novel (besides <em>Emma</em>, that is.)</p><p>But in the first episode, I already have a problem with Chai An (Wang Xinyue) when he lectured his cousin’s wife, the second Li sister, about being a bad wife due to her “jealousy” and “hot temper”. They’re the kind of men women would warn their sisters about!</p><p>While I found the whole exchange sexist, I wasn’t entirely surprised by it or even offended because this was something a man would say during that time period (Song dynasty). </p><p>As I continued watching, I realized the main issue with <em>Perfect Match </em>isn’t entirely because of the misogyny or sexism (though it contributed quite a bit). For one, there are far worse dramas with more blatant and problematic misogyny that are popular and celebrated. (Readers of this blog will know that I have massive problems with <a href="https://dramatea88.wordpress.com/2023/12/04/story-of-kunning-palace-review/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Story of Kunning Palace</a> for that reason.) Compared to those dramas, <em>Perfect Match</em> isn’t <em>that bad</em>. </p><p>See, the real problem with <em>Perfect Match</em> is that the male suitors are all <strong>very unlikable</strong>. </p><p>I presume that <em>Perfect Match </em>is a Chinese drama targeted at women. So, you’d think that the writers would make the story somewhat <em>appealing to the demographic </em>by making the male suitors of the sisters somewhat likable. </p><p>After all, the “reforming rakes into loving husbands” trope is one of the most popular romance plots there is, so the problem isn’t that they are not suitable husbands. The problem is that these rakes are just not the kind of suitors a woman would want. </p><p>Chai An giving his cousin’s wife a lecture on proper wifely behavior was arrogant and rude. Is he a senior or respected family member? Who was he to give <em>her </em>a lecture? An why shouldn’t the second Li sister be angry at her husband’s roving eye?</p><p>And then, I heard that in a future episode Chai An will be interfering with the livelihoods of five women who have no other means of support. That’s dishonorable. These women lacked male support, which meant that if their business failed, they could end up destitute.</p><p>Then there’s the ball-kicking incident. I didn’t mind the idea of the scene, but the execution was poor. If it had been framed as an accident, it might have worked better. Instead, it felt like he did it on purpose to hurt one of them, which left a bad impression.</p><p>To me, the main issue with the drama is the writing. We all love reformed rakes, and with five suitors, there is so much potential for a compelling narrative about their redemption. </p><p>However, the writers failed to make these men worth rooting for early on. </p><p>Modern viewers have short attention spans, after all, and you need to show that these men have redeemable qualities at least by the second episode. </p><p>If the men come across as outright unlikable or abusive from the start, why would any woman want to root for these men? </p><p>Women want to see dependable, responsible men with good hearts, not irredeemable jerks. You have to give viewers a reason to root for the characters early on and this drama failed to do it early.</p><p>So, to me, in the end, the drama’s primary problem wasn’t the sexism. It was the bad writing. They went a little too heavy on the “rake” and didn’t show that they had some decency beneath their rakishness.</p><p>I will probably give this drama a few more episodes to see if it gets better, but I think this drama is meant for those who are very patient and who won’t take the men’s shenanigans too seriously.</p><p>After all, it’s supposed to be a comedy.</p><p>I think.</p><p><span></span></p><p><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://dramatea88.wordpress.com/tag/cdrama/" target="_blank">#CDrama</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://dramatea88.wordpress.com/tag/cdramas/" target="_blank">#CDramas</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://dramatea88.wordpress.com/tag/china/" target="_blank">#China</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://dramatea88.wordpress.com/tag/chinese-drama/" target="_blank">#ChineseDrama</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://dramatea88.wordpress.com/tag/costumed-drama/" target="_blank">#CostumedDrama</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://dramatea88.wordpress.com/tag/perfect-match/" target="_blank">#PerfectMatch</a></p>