My Sister of Eternal Flower (TVB 2011)

My Sister of Eternal Flower <花花世界花家姐>
Producer: Kwan Wing Chung
Genre: Modern, Romance Comedy, Drama
Episodes: 20

Rating:

Cast

Charmaine Sheh – Sister Fa
Raymond Lam –  Hugo Zhang
Pierre Ngo – Mike, Hugo’s Friend, Xenus Employer
Toby Leung – Jenny, Sister Fa’s younger sister
Bowie Wu – Zhang Sum, Owner of Xenus and Hugo’s grandfather
Jazz Lam – Danny, Sister Fa’s younger brother
Yoyo Chen – Agnes, Hugo’s love interest
Catharine Chau – Kau Kau, Sister Fa’s best friend

Synopsis

The story centers around Sister Fa (Charmaine Sheh) who has the mental capacity of a 10-year-old.  Through bumps and accidents, she met Hugo (Raymond Lam).  Hugo is a spoiled man in his 30s who suffers from Peter Pan Syndrome.  Because of this, his grandfather, CEO of Xenus, took away his power and position from the company and handed it to Mike (Pierre Ngo) by changing his will.  Because of Hugo’s irresponsibility and lies, his grandfather suffered a heart attack and goes into coma.  Mike used this opportunity to usurp the company and sent Hugo to the streets.  This is where Sister Fa and Hugo developed their uncommon relationship but can it last through society and their families’ judgment and restrictions?

Quotes:

Hugo’s Female Friend:  Hey, is Tuesday sing kay yee (Tuesday in Cantonese) or sing kay say (Thursday in Cantonese)?
Hugo’s Male Friend: Are you stupid?? Of course it’s Thursday!

Kau Kau (playing mahjong): Still playing East?! (Jong da dong?!)

Hugo: Why are you taking a cab?! You live next door!

Yina: Okay, there are tons of topics and questions I want to cover, so let’s get started!

Controversy: Charmaine Sheh’s Sister Fa Versus Roger Kwok’s Ah Wong

Let’s just knock this one out first. I’m tired of talking about it but it should still be written about regarding this drama.  There’s been numerous accusations of Charmaine Sheh copying Roger Kwok’s acting style as a a mentally retarded person, Ah Wong from Life Made Simple <阿旺新傳>.  I agree.  At first, I gave a benefit of a doubt that maybe Charmaine was told to do it this way.  I mean, it was so obvious their acting styles are the same.  Charmaine gave an interview in Ming Pao denying copying his style and called accusers ‘Prejudiced by first impression.’ I think not, Charmaine.  We all know everyone has a different personality, what makes mental retardation a personality of its own?  Did Charmaine’s research in this role only include watching Square Pegs <戆夫成龙>?? So normal people have different personalities but mentally challenged people don’t?  Yes, there are some characteristics shared by all mentally retarded people, but the audience is not stupid nor ignorant that there should be a difference between speech, movement, and face expression.  Not all 10-year-olds act the same.  In fact, this brings me to another topic.  In fact, I find her acting and character here really annoying and her ‘funny’ marks not funny.

Sister Fa’s Character Should Be Smarter

I have a 8-year-old niece who is smarter than Sister Fa.  (I also taught kids aged 4 to 15.) I’m not talking about book smarts.  I’m talking about common sense and logic.  It was marketed that Sister Fa has the mental capacity of a 10-year-old which is not believable.  If they marketed her as a 7-year-old, now that is more believable.  But maybe they raised the age so it’s more believable for her to know what romantic love is?

Not Believable Scenes

Agnes (Yoyo Chen) who seems to be a strong woman who’s occupation is modeling got a tiny scar on her face.  She freaks out and says she will never ever model.  The scar?  Took about two episodes and it was completely gone.  I thought this is completely out of character for her.  What’s the deal, writers?

Also, Sister Fa’s best friend, Kau Kau (Catherine Chau), came off more as ‘crazy’ than ‘slow’.  Her eyes were wide and unable to focus and her movements were as if it was uncontrolled.  I thought this is a huge disrespect to the mentally challenged.  She did redeem herself after that episode and stopped doing that.

Love Between a Normal Person and a Mentally Retarded Person. Realistic?

This topic was mentioned to me by the lovely Jayne herself.  Now, as I answer this question.  Exactly, what is realistic?  I believe anything can happen among humanity.  We like to believe sometimes we make decisions according to pattern but in so many instances, we are also individuals making our own choices.  In Sister Fa’s situation, it does seem believable because of two things:  1) Sister Fa can pretty much function on her own with the assistance of a close community.  2) When Sister Fa and Hugo met, Hugo was really stupid, selfish..in other words, acts like a spoiled brat and had no sense of money or responsibility.  Which is pretty much like the general 10-year-old.  So that’s why I think their relationship development is believable.

On that note, I’m going to refrain from talking about the sexuality aspect of love pertaining to a mentally retarded person.  TVB kept it family friendly and I’m not educated on this subject to comment on it.

Saying ‘I Love You’

We all know, it’s not common in Chinese culture to say ‘I love you’ in Chinese to family members.  So I really appreciated this scene.  It was important for it not to be said between lovers but between a brother and sister.  It’s refreshing against the ‘hold everything in, they already know how I feel’ thinking.

The Wise Man is Wrong?

After learning Sister Fa is mentally challenged, Hugo’s grandfather objects towards Hugo in continuing a relationship with her.  It’s quite common despite any culture or background to expect children to listen to their elders.  It is refreshing to see an elder making a wrong decision.  It is annoying to see the elder push his decision onto his grandson.  Every couple has problems despite whether they’re ‘normal’ or not.  But if Sister Fa and Hugo really do exist, I say their relationship can outlast any normal couple out there because they are best friends.

Abortion

I noticed whenever  TVB writes a scenario where a mother is contemplating abortion or not they always opt for the pro-life decision.  I’m pro-choice.  I personally don’t believe the media has the power to stop a mother from abortion if she decides it.  Of course, in this drama, they show that they are financially able to take care of a baby and that the father isn’t really a bad person.  I’m interested to finally watch a story one day about the life after an abortion.  Is TVB afraid they might upset advertisers or something? I just want to see something different.

Really Unnecessary, Hyper Dramatic Characters and Plot

This annoys the hell out of me.  Guy has cancer, pretends to be bad guy, actually is a bad guy who is also stupid and dramatic for NO reason.  We all know for the sake of the drama, there…needs to be drama.  But this is completely just……I think the characters are too bored.  Out of nowhere, Mike plays a bad guy and takes advantage of his girlfriend’s sister so he can make money and then leave the money to his own sister? WOW. Really?  Then he opens a press conference and announces that Sister Fa is a liar so that Hugo will soon realize he loves her? OMG. *Pulls hair out!* And out of nowhere a car accident! (This scene is actually funny.)  After watching all that towards the end of the drama, I realized…..hey are they ending this drama? But it’s only 20 episodes.  Well, according to TVB formulas, I was right.

Notable Performances:

Jazz Lam as Danny: Along with Myolie Wu and Wong Jo Lam, Jazz Lam is one of those few talented actors whom I think TVB is VERY lucky to have. His character is completely believable and comedic, different and refreshing from the usual TVB acting.  I think TVB recruits new actors through pageants and their own acting school correct?  Jazz Lam seemed to come from left field.

Overall

I do enjoy this drama, and it’s easily digested. There’s nothing really serious or dark and heavy

What do you think of the series? Do you agree or disagree on how TVB portrayed Sister Fa’s character?  Do you think Hong Kong has an obsession with creating dramas with mentally challenged people in it?

Note: This review was written by Yina for JayneStars.com. Please visit Yina’s blog.