“The Beauty of War” Criticized for Plagiarizing ATV’s “A Dream Named Desire”
Starring Jeannie Chan (陳瀅), Moon Lau (劉佩玥), Hera Chan (陳曉華), and Angel Chiang (蔣家旻), TVB drama The Beauty of War <美麗戰場> is praised for its exciting storyline. The drama revolves around Jeannie, who struggles to balance her newfound fame and struggles in the entertainment industry, while maintaining longtime friendships with her two best friends, Moon and Hera.
As the story progresses, viewers notice many similarities between The Beauty of War and 2000 classic ATV drama, A Dream Named Desire <美麗傳說>. Specifically, netizens pointed out that Angel’s evil character is eerily similar to Kristal Tin’s (田蕊妮) character in A Dream Named Desire.
Many netizens felt that The Beauty of War plagiarized A Dream Named Desire too blatantly. Both dramas also explore the friendships, competition, jealousy, and fallouts between women. Additionally, the dramas use beauty pageants as a backdrop and does not shy away from gruesome scenes and plotlines.
One netizen wrote, “The actresses in The Beauty of War could not portray their emotions adequately, making it difficult for the audience to engage. Viewers should instead watch A Dream Named Desire, because it has many talented artistes with good acting skills. The storyline is also rich and touching, leaving lasting memories for its viewers.”
Despite the negative feedback, Angel delivers the most memorable performance as the drama’s main antagonist. A gold-digger who shamelessly seduces men, her character elicited hate but also pity from viewers. Netizens praised her use of facial expressions and body language, and touted her as one of the strongest contenders for this year’s Best Supporting Actress award.
Source: World Journal
This article is written by Huynh for JayneStars.com.
Angel is adequate for tvb quality but can’t compare to kristin tin…
No surprise there. TVB isn’t known for originality. Practically all their dramas and variety shows were plagiarised or “inspired” from other work
I think we expect too much from modern media. Most modern songs and tv shows aren’t original and gets inspired or samples from past works. Yes, it’s like that even with foreign media. That’s part of art. Most of the current generation have not seen the ATV series. It was over 20 years ago. It’s not like they have two dramas airing at the same time with similar plots.
Well, I’m enjoying beauty at war, decent series,
I don’t remember a dream named desire, that’s 22 years old,
Not fan of angel chiang but she does a pretty good job in her role.
She will win best supporting actress award, theres no one close…
I like the drama series and story line but can not for the life of me stand Jeannie and Alex Fong. They are horrific actors who had no range or is too over the top. Complete miscasts as the leads. Everyone else I think is out performing them and running laps around them. I literally look away or skip parts when they both get on screen.
I can’t agree more. What a huge miscast. She cannot live up to the character that she’s supposed to be. She doesn’t have the charm of a super star. Her line delivery is so monotone. Every one is acting circles around her. Even Regina Ho, who plays a much smaller role has made a bigger impression than me. The supporting actresses are all out acting her.
Totally agree with you tt23!!
now it’s already final 5episodes of the drama? I did not see the “Ah Bo (Jeannie Chan) real character development yet, or maybe she had show it , I’m not sure, just by yelling and talk slowly does not really impress me.
But the side character such as Cheng Yi and Xiu Mei quite good, I’m not sure whether it’s actress problem or the writing
The show was terrible and the ending was ridiculous. Angel just shows up after missing for half the show. Just a bunch of women screaming. Horrible.
For one thing the girls were very good looking in “A Dream Named Desire” and the story made sense. “The Beauty Of War” is a “story” about some people acting very strange and screaming at each other.