Thank you so much for this! I noped out after the first episode because it reminded me of how mainland india makes films about kashmir and the people there and that scene with batai's father at the station was super uncomfortable to watch. I've watched so many raving about the drama but the things they seem to have loved - the scenery, the "culture", the things they found funny... made me feel this wasn't for me. But it's good to know that there are threads of all these other things! Makes me want to give it another shot.
From the first episode I can see why we can be deterred from it for sure! And I absolutely agree with you. A lot of the online ravings about it miss its point, which is a shame. People were saying how this cures their existential anxiety and mental burnout about their life, which is valid - but there’s so much more to it. I think you need to be alert to dissenting messagings to be able to identify it, almost like an inside joke between us and the production crew. The director of the show, Teng Congcong has a track record of portraying female desires/resistance, so she definitely meant this show to be a subtle fuck you. Cinematography was indeed stunning and I loved how a few scenes are shot, but I really couldn’t warm up to the female lead and was so done with her by the end. Maybe when you’re really really bored, you can give it a go. :D
A great read, thank you! H/t to Bill Bishop for sharing this—and in the process alerting me to another account worth following.
"I thought, at this point, that it was going to be a suffocating watch of raging pro-party and pro-unity discourses. I couldn’t be more wrong. It’s a lot more bone-chilling than that because it is subtle as much as engaging."
As I read I confess to having these thoughts, too. Not unreasonably, I'd argue, given the prescribed narratives about "the miracle in China's west". So it was as encouraging as it was surprising to read this wonderful review of 我的阿勒泰, which I am now very keen to watch (in part because we spent two weeks in Zhaosu County on the Kazakh border in 2019).
I wasn’t even sure if I was going to finish reading this when I saw the topic, but credit to your talents and also the redeeming features of this show, it does honestly seem interesting. I’m still not going to watch it (although I don’t really have time to watch any cdramas), but I’m impressed.
Haha thanks! Glad you found it interesting. Besides the stunning cinematography that I didn't have the space to convey with words, all the highlights are in this piece - A lot of AF is just “I watched it so you don’t have to”. It’d be interesting to keep monitoring the public reception, follow-up promotion and other official comments from the gov about the show. I saw it trending again on Weibo yesterday and I wonder if when the summer peak season comes authorities will bring up the show again to boost tourism in Xinjiang. It might become a recurring topic and even stimulate other similar projects.
From the Far West, I am learning a great deal about cultural art such as this subject introduces. Thank you for interpreting the content for western readers. We are out here!
If we're talking about a more subtle resistance that has to, on the surface, resolve into stability, then Tender Light is another drama I'd recommend. It's jaw droppingly ACAB in all but the last half of the last episode.
Wow thanks for this - I’ve heard good reviews about the show, but obviously barely anyone on Weibo talks about how ACAB it is. From the online chattering I’ve seen, Tender Light seems to have a very prominent love line as the main story that might have obscured other messaging? To the Wonder doesn’t, which is interesting in itself.
Thank you so much for this! I noped out after the first episode because it reminded me of how mainland india makes films about kashmir and the people there and that scene with batai's father at the station was super uncomfortable to watch. I've watched so many raving about the drama but the things they seem to have loved - the scenery, the "culture", the things they found funny... made me feel this wasn't for me. But it's good to know that there are threads of all these other things! Makes me want to give it another shot.
From the first episode I can see why we can be deterred from it for sure! And I absolutely agree with you. A lot of the online ravings about it miss its point, which is a shame. People were saying how this cures their existential anxiety and mental burnout about their life, which is valid - but there’s so much more to it. I think you need to be alert to dissenting messagings to be able to identify it, almost like an inside joke between us and the production crew. The director of the show, Teng Congcong has a track record of portraying female desires/resistance, so she definitely meant this show to be a subtle fuck you. Cinematography was indeed stunning and I loved how a few scenes are shot, but I really couldn’t warm up to the female lead and was so done with her by the end. Maybe when you’re really really bored, you can give it a go. :D
A great read, thank you! H/t to Bill Bishop for sharing this—and in the process alerting me to another account worth following.
"I thought, at this point, that it was going to be a suffocating watch of raging pro-party and pro-unity discourses. I couldn’t be more wrong. It’s a lot more bone-chilling than that because it is subtle as much as engaging."
As I read I confess to having these thoughts, too. Not unreasonably, I'd argue, given the prescribed narratives about "the miracle in China's west". So it was as encouraging as it was surprising to read this wonderful review of 我的阿勒泰, which I am now very keen to watch (in part because we spent two weeks in Zhaosu County on the Kazakh border in 2019).
I wasn’t even sure if I was going to finish reading this when I saw the topic, but credit to your talents and also the redeeming features of this show, it does honestly seem interesting. I’m still not going to watch it (although I don’t really have time to watch any cdramas), but I’m impressed.
Haha thanks! Glad you found it interesting. Besides the stunning cinematography that I didn't have the space to convey with words, all the highlights are in this piece - A lot of AF is just “I watched it so you don’t have to”. It’d be interesting to keep monitoring the public reception, follow-up promotion and other official comments from the gov about the show. I saw it trending again on Weibo yesterday and I wonder if when the summer peak season comes authorities will bring up the show again to boost tourism in Xinjiang. It might become a recurring topic and even stimulate other similar projects.
would be happy to read!
From the Far West, I am learning a great deal about cultural art such as this subject introduces. Thank you for interpreting the content for western readers. We are out here!
I see you out there! Thanks for enjoying AF and letting me know that it’s worthwhile - that means so much. <3
If we're talking about a more subtle resistance that has to, on the surface, resolve into stability, then Tender Light is another drama I'd recommend. It's jaw droppingly ACAB in all but the last half of the last episode.
Wow thanks for this - I’ve heard good reviews about the show, but obviously barely anyone on Weibo talks about how ACAB it is. From the online chattering I’ve seen, Tender Light seems to have a very prominent love line as the main story that might have obscured other messaging? To the Wonder doesn’t, which is interesting in itself.
(Wait - am I allowed to call a bg relationship 年下?! 😱)
bloody bbc bullshit bogus crap filer...